Psst Dr. Joe Reed! Let's give them "THEIR party back" #GotToGiveThePeopleWhatTheyWant

It's that time of year again, when the white wing of the Alabama Democratic Party tries to infiltrate the the black wing of the party , and is stonewalled again by the racist dictator, aka,  Dr. Joe Reed. 

The Alabama Democratic Party's executive committee meeting today erupted into loud disagreements when a voting bloc rejected about 18 nominees for vacant seats on the committee.State Sen. Vivian Davis Figures, D-Mobile, called the meeting a "travesty" and said it was wrong to allow a "yellow sheet" compiled by the party's minority caucus to dictate today's votes."If your name is not on that sheet, that means that these people must be people who do not want to kiss the ring," said Figures, drawing cheers."And we all know what ring that is."Figures did not give a name, but committee members knew she was talking about Joe Reed, who heads the party's black caucus.

It's like DejaVu all over again.

This meeting cannot be understood without accounting for the role in Party affairs of Dr. Joe Reed, head of the Alabama Democratic Conference and Vice Chair for Minority Affairs of the SDEC for far longer than the lifespans of the Millennials who make up the bulk of the Obama rank and file. Through fair means or foul, Reed controls the largest single bloc of votes on the SDEC. Of the numerous questions on which division of the house was called at Saturday’s meeting, every one went Reed’s way by a roughly 95-15 vote. Even if you assume, as I do, that Reed had almost all of his firm supporters present at the Embassy Suites, a bloc of 95 votes on a 285-member Committee is significant.

And therein lies the problem, the bloc of votes that comprise the Alabama Democratic Conference, aka the Minority Caucus of which Joe Reed is the Chair. 

In 1975, Joe Reed led the efforts to get equitable representation for blacks on the Montgomery City Council. His efforts resulted in four blacks of nine being elected. He served on the Montgomery City Council for 24 years. In the Democratic Party today, Alabama’s black representation exceeds all other states in the nation. For over 40 years he has led the effort to get more blacks elected and appointed to public office, including federal marshals, federal and state judges, members of the boards of registrars, legislators, county commissioners, city councils, and school boards. He drafted two plans that increased black representation in the Alabama House of Representatives from 13 to 27; and in the Senate from 3 to 8 in 1982, and 1992, respectively. He also drew a reapportionment plan that provided for 25% (two of eight) majority black districts on the State Board of Education. Alabama is the only state in the nation where the Legislature reflects the state’s population of blacks and whites.

Year after year there has been an organized effort by the white wing of the democratic party to infiltrate this bloc in an effort to take  "their" party back to before. 

Back in 1966, after an election in which, having won voting rights after the
1965 Selma to Montgomery March, in which I lost two dear friend, Rev Jim
Reeb and Viola Liuzzo, blacks rushed to register to vote and to run for office, most considered themselves to be Democrats . Gov Wallace (a democrat) refused to allow them to run for office as Democrats. To combat the continuing absolute racism of the Alabama Democratic Party, some of us created another Democratic Party, the National Democratic Party of Alabama (NDPA), went through a difficult struggle, and elected the first blacks to office in Alabama as Democrats! But the ADP fought as a fully segregated party for almost 10 years as the NDPA came to hold over 100 elected offices,more than any other state!!! Then and only then did the ADP want us, and we forgivingly moved into the ADP. But of course its leadership remained fully racist and we have been struggling to change that ever since. But racists continued to run for and hold office as Democrats. It never fully changed. That makes it clear why people are still very suspicious of attitudes in the ADP.

That's right, everyone wants to be a  minority until the police show up. 

The old guard dug their heels in against including other classes in the diversity requirement -- and eventually won in the wee hours of Saturday morning.  Minority still means "black" and nothing else to certain people on the SDEC Board.

But it's not about inclusion, it's about dilution.

While I disagree with Dr. Reed on many issues, I do think he has a valid point when he notes that including women in the definition of “minority” in this section would have arguably undesirable consequences. It would put white women – who, due to the racial composition of House districts and the Bylaws, constitute a large number of SDEC seats – in the minority caucus, which was historically designed to insure racial equity. I know most of the proponents of recent Bylaw amendments, and I do not think for an instant that any of them contemplate actions that would make the SDEC unrepresentatively white. But that would be the exact effect of the Shadoin Amendment, in the form in which it was submitted.

EYE say if they want a party that wants blacks to be seen and not heard, let them have at it.

Dear Dr. Reed, can we talk?

There is the perception among whites the Alabama Democratic Party is the party of blacks because the Democratic Party has done more for black folks than anyone else. Translation, blacks want thegovernment to give us free stuff because the government owes us a living. In any event, the status quo have decided you are no longer effective and it's time for you to go somewhere, sit your Ebony Donkey down, and take your cheerleaders (which include me and mine) with you.

You cannot curse Bubba and Cooter, Big Man, and June Bug in the daytime and beg them at night.~Joe Reed