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Poll Reveals Blacks Are More Conservative
A new national poll released this week by Black
America's Political Action Committee (BAMPAC) reveals that African-Americans are more
conservative than many politicians think. During a
happy-hour discussion in Southeast, Alvin Williams, President and CEO
of BAMPAC, talked about the poll, the gay rights movement, public
education, social security reform, the moral climate in the country,
economic empowerment, sanctity of human life, and public education.
BAMPAC is one of the top 25 PACS
in the country and has provided more than $1.6 million of assistance to
more than 240 candidates across America. The
ten-year-old organization is nonpartisan and supports candidates based
on their political agenda. However, people generally
identify BAMPAC's positions as conservative.
"We are not part of some vast
right wing conspiracy to undermine African-Americans," declared Alvin
Williams, during the two-hour discussion sponsored by Port Of Harlem magazine at Ellington's on Eighth. While not endorsing the
acceptance of discrimination, Williams
said that he does not agree with those who equate the Gay Rights
Movement with the Civil Rights Movement. "I don't
think it's an applicable comparison," he said.
He pointed to BAMPAC's poll to
show that his viewpoint is in sync with more than 7 in 10
African-Americans questioned in the survey. In the
nationwide poll of 800 African-Americans, with a margin of error of 3.5
percent, about 7 in 10 also do not think same-sex marriages should be
legal.
During the discussion, Tanya Callaway said that her party's inability
to reach Black voters, particularly Blacks with conservatives leanings,
frustrates her. Charles Anglin, a self-described liberal who is
pro-choice and gay rights, and supporter of public services and higher
taxes for the better off, shared Callaway's concern in an earlier
statement.
"The lack of Black conservative support forces the Republican coalition
to find alternative sources of support - - that doesn't just mean
scavenging for the White racist vote - - to counterbalance Black
America's overwhelming support for the Democrats," the Black London,
England council member said in a recent issue of Port Of Harlem that focused on
American politics.
In the BAMPAC poll, more than 3 in 10 identified themselves as
conservative. Less than 3 in 10 identified themselves as
liberal. However, more than 6 in 10 said they were Democrats.
On the issue of school choice, BAMPAC's Williams added "We
embrace school choice from home schooling and charter schools to
improving your local public high schools." One attendee, Bobbie
Pittman, added, "No school will better unless people take
responsibility for their own communities." Pittman is also a
Republican candidate for a D.C. Council-At-Large seat. In the
poll, most respondents, 4 in 10, rated their public schools as average.
The poll also found that more
Blacks believe that race plays a less important role in American
life. More than 4 in 10 Blacks said that education has a
greater influence on their quality of life in the United States
compared with more than 3 in 10 who said their income level does or
about 1 in 10 that cited race.
The poll that Wilson Research Strategies conducted also reveled that
more than 7 in 10 disapproved of
President Bush's performance as President. A little
more than 5 in 10 had positive feelings toward Senator John Kerry's bid
for President.
For the second year, Colin Powell
topped Jesse Jackson as the person with the highest favorable rating and
just more than half of those polled believed that a woman should have
the right to choose whether to have an abortion under all
circumstances. After the discussion, D.C. taxi driver and
cable-tv show host James Caviness added, "Blacks are more
conservative than they give us credit."
Photo:
BAMPAC'S Alvin Williams listens to POH readers at Black, Conservatives, and American Politics Happy-Hour
discussion at Ellington's on Eighth.
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