Black leaders are growing increasingly worried that a white candidate might seize the seat of former Democratic Rep. Jesse Jackson in the upcoming Illinois special election.
With a host of black candidates announcing their intention to seek the seat, the concern is that they could split the African-American vote and provide a plurality to a white contender. The worries escalated this week after former Rep. Debbie Halvorson, a white Democrat and veteran of suburban Chicago politics, threw her hat into the ring. …
“There’s a great deal of concern that Debbie Halvorson would win because the black vote would be split 18 ways,” said Delmarrie Cobb, a longtime Democratic political consultant in Chicago who formerly worked for Jackson Jr.“The battle we have is that we can’t afford to lose a black voice in Congress,” she added. “It would be a terrible loss in many ways.”
via POLITICO.com.
Where’s MLK or even Malcolm X when we need them?
It’s just so sad. I fear we’re heading backwards. This attitude is not going to help blacks and whites get along. It’s politics of division. It’s only making the problem worse.