Following the election of President Barack Obama, many political observers – especially conservative ones — suggested that the United States is now a post-racial society. Three years later, in the region of the country where most African Americans live, the South, there is strong statistical evidence that politics is resegregating, with African Americans once again excluded from power and representation. Black voters and elected officials have less influence now than at any time since the civil rights era. And since conservative whites control all the power in the region, they are enacting legislation both neglectful of the needs of African Americans and other communities of color (in health care, in education, in criminal justice policy) as well as outright hostile to them, as in the assault on voting rights through photo identification laws and other means.

The racially polarized voting that defines much of southern politics at this time, is in certain ways recreating the segregated system of the Old South, albeit a de facto
system with minimal violence rather than the de jure system of before. If the political parties in the South are now a substitute for racial labels, then black aspirations there will continue to be limited. All this is reminiscent of the white primaries and poll taxes of days gone by.

This fact sheet provides information on the history of the Joint Center's Black Elected Officials (BEOs) Roster, its importance, and its transition to an electronic format.

When Lucille Richmond cast her ballot for Barack Obama three years ago, she, like many African-Americans, embraced the historic opportunity to help elect the nation’s first black president.

But waiting in line at the county employment security commission last week, the 52-year-old grandmother - who lost two food preparation jobs and is searching for full-time work - can’t muster the will to support Obama for a second term.

“I don’t see what he’s done,’’ said Richmond, a Democrat. “I’m not even going to waste my time and vote.’’

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Obama’s defenders say there is a disconnect between the president’s genuine efforts on behalf of urban and disadvantaged populations and perceptions in the community. The Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a black think tank in Washington, said the president’s initiatives such as health care reform, the stimulus package that kept many public workers in their jobs, the extension of unemployment benefits, and grants to historically black colleges as well as increase in Pell grants benefited many African-Americans.

“If I were to criticize the Obama administration, it has a very good record with regards to African-Americans but it does not boast about it,’’ said David Bositis, senior political analyst.

Read more at The Boston Globe.

As the debate over jobs turns into the latest political tug-of-war, Rep. Emanuel Cleaver of Missouri walks a careful but candid line.

As chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he has been at odds with President Barack Obama over the administration's response to soaring unemployment in the African-American community.

Nearing 17 percent, joblessness among blacks is at a three-decade high and almost twice the overall unemployment rate. The black caucus wants the president to do more.

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"He is a not a fire-breather, that's not his style, and I don't think he is, or for that matter, the caucus is genuinely angry at Obama," said David Bositis, an expert on voting rights and black politics at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "I think they know that Obama is doing everything he can."

Read more at thestate.com or New Haven Register..

It was formerly available at The Miami Herald, macon.com, and kansascity.com.

A year ago, Colorado's African-American community braced for the unimaginable: a legislature without a single black lawmaker for the first time in nearly six decades.

Denver's first black mayor, Wellington Webb, was among those who fretted about whether African-Americans would have a voice when the legislature convened in 2011.

But much has changed in the past 12 months.

Two blacks serve in the Colorado General Assembly.

Two blacks are now on the Denver City Council.

And Denver, with a black population of only 10 percent, just elected its second black mayor, Michael Hancock.

A year ago, it was Hancock, a city councilman at the time, who was upbeat despite worries from some in the black community.

"African-American candidates, no matter where they live, can appeal to voters because their issues are the same: education, job security, the economy," he said.

He soared past the white front-runner in the mayoral race, which came as no surprise to David Bositis​, a Beltway political analyst.

"When you're talking about a place like Colorado, its record in many respects is extraordinary," said Bositis, with the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, D.C. "The state has a long history of white voters supporting the candidate they believe is best."

Read more at The Denver Post.

Val Demings, the first African-American woman to serve as Orlando, Florida’s police chief, announced this week plans to run for the city’s 8th District congressional seat, now filled by freshman Republican Daniel Webster. She may first have to face off in a primary with the district’s former Rep. Alan Grayson (D), a victim of the voters’ Democratic fatigue during the 2010 midterm elections that gave House Republicans the majority. He also announced plans this week to attempt a return to Washington.

Demings, who served as Orlando police chief from December 2007 to May 2011, when she retired, said in an interview Thursday with WFTV.com, "We're dealing with some tough issues right now, and I want to be a part of developing solutions.” She also guaranteed that she would have the resources to run a competitive race. Demings has already won the support of Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer, who, the television station reports, “has access to people she will need to raise money.”

Orlando is in a state of transition and, like many cities around the nation, has experienced major population shifts. But instead of Blacks moving out, as has been the case in Chicago and Detroit, the city’s 2010 census shows that the state’s African-American population has surged by 250,000 people in the past 10 years, says David Bositis, senior research analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. The same is true of the area’s Latino population. These shifts could bolster Demings’s chances, because when Florida creates its new redistricting map, the 8th will likely become a majority-minority district. But it’s not yet clear whether it will be majority Black or majority Latino, since the state is still in the early stages of the redistricting process.

View the original article at BET.

On April 20, 2005, the Joint Center, with support from the AT&T Foundation, hosted a town hall meeting entitled Rising African American Leaders: Challenges for a New Generation. In a lively and thought-provoking discussion moderated by Joe Madison, the eight panelists agreed that while conditions have significantly improved, racism still permeates our institutions and rising African American leaders confront far more complex challenges than their white counterparts.

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Date Published: May 2005
 

Between January 1998 and January 1999, the number of black elected officials (BEOs) in the U.S. increased by 68, from 8,868 to 8,936, a 0.8 percent increase (Table 1). In 1970, the first year in which the Joint Center collected data on BEOs, there were 1,469 BEOs. The 1999 total of 8,936 black elected officials represents a historic high. The largest categorical increase in BEOs between 1998 and 1999 was in municipal office, where the total increased by 153 positions, a 3.6 percent rise. In all other major categories of office, except state, there were declines, although these changes were largely insignificant. If one overlooks the increase in municipal offices, all other categories represented a decline of 85 BEOs.

Date Published: 2000
 

Since last year, when the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies published Black Elected Officials: A Statistical Summary, 1993-1997, the number of black elected officials (BEOs) in the United States increased by 212, from 8,658 to 8,868, a 2.4 percent increase over the previous year (Table 1). In 1970, the first year in which the Joint Center collected data on these officials, there were 1,469 BEOs. The 1998 total represents a historic high. The largest categorical increase in BEOs was at the municipal level, where there was an increase of 162 positions, a 3.9 percent rise. The other category where increases occurred was in education, with 55 more positions (a 2.8 percent rise). In all other categories, the changes in the numbers were insignificant. Since the increase in the total number of BEOs was 212, and municipal and education offices increased by 217, all other categories of office had a net decline of five black elected officials between 1997 and 1998.

Date Published: 1999
 

The first edition of Black Elected Officials: A National Roster was published 32 years ago, when it was reported that there were 1,469 black elected officials (BEOs) in the United States. This newest edition of Black Elected Officials (which covers officials in office as of January 31, 2000) reports 9,040 BEOs, a more than six-fold increase. Growth over this period is especially impressive at the state level (see Appendix A). In five southern states, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Texas, the total increase between 1970 and 2000 was over tenfold. In 2000, Mississippi and Alabama together had more black elected officials (1,628) than the entire nation had in 1970. In 1970, the 10 states with the highest number of BEOs collectively had 821, while in 2000 the top 10 states had 5,887.

Date Published: 2001