(6) Racial and ethnic represented in Govt

(6) Racial and ethnic represented in Govt

1. 1965 Voting Rights Act

   • Prohibits discrimination in voting
   • Prohibits any state or local government imposing ‘voting qualification or prerequisite to voting, or standard, practice, or procedure ... in a manner which results in a denial or abridgement of the right to vote on account of race or language minority status’ Read Bennett 182 to explain what majority-minority districts are and why they were brought into effect after the Voting Rights Act (1965)

2. "Majority-minority districts"

   • Electoral districts in which a majority of residents are from a specific racial minority group
   • With the adoption of this strategies - increase in minority groups elected
     • Hispanic members - 9 in 1992, 27 in 2009 (2 Hispanic senators)

3. Senate First's

   • Obama 3rd black person to be elected to Senate
   • Hawaii has elected 5 Asian-Americans - Mazie Hirono elected 2012
     • Sam Hayakawa 1st to be elected on the mainland
   • 3 Hispanic senators
     • New Mexico elected 3 Hispanics
   • Most recent Native American Senator, Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado served 2 terms one half as Dem then Rep

4. Representatives 113th Congress (2013-14)

   • African-Americans 41, 31 Hispancis, 11 Asian-Americans

5. Minorities and Presidential elections

   • Black Candiates
     • Blacks would vote for Democrat - started with Roosevelt New Deal
     • Would stand almost always for Dem
     • Shirley Chisholm 1972, first major black candiate in the presidency, won 152 delegates in the Democratic National Convention
     • Jesse Jackson 1984, 3 million votes Democratic primaries, first to win a major party presidential primary
       • Ran again in 1988 and won 11 primaries and caucuses
     • Obama-Biden ticket got 95% of Black vote
   • Hispanic vote
     • Significant in swing states Florida and new Mexico
     • Republican lost there votes in 2008 and 2012 points fell by 12% then 4%
   • Minority policy priorties
     • White voters Terrorism 25%
     • Black and Hispanic voters economy 33% and 22%

6. Minorities and the Executive

   • African-American Executive
     • Robert Weaver 1st African-American to be head of executive department 1966
     • 16 others have followed, Patricia Roberts Harris holding 2 posts
     • 2001 when African-American was appoint to top-tier - Colin Powell Secretary of State
   • Obama most diverse
     • 1 African American, 2 Hispanics, 2 Chinese-Americans, 1 Japanese American, 1 Lebanese-American
   • Federal civil service
     • 1990, 72.7% were white
     • 2010, 65.4% were white
       • Hispanic 5.4% in 1990 to 7.9% in 2010
     • Top pay positions: 83% white in 2010, 7% black, 4% Latino
     • 2007 Senior Executive Serivce Diversity Assurance Act.
       • Must make more diverse, but equal qualified

7. Minorites and the Judiciary

   • Thurgood Marshall first Black Member of Supreme Court
     • Replaced by another Black Judge in 1991 Clarence Thomas
   • 1986 first Italian-American (Antonin Scalia)
     • 2006 joined by Italian-American Samuel Alito
   • 2009 first Hispanic Justice Sonia Sotomayor
   • 2000 83% of all Judges were white (75% of pop), 9% black, 4.5% Hispanic
     • 89% of Lawyers were white, 4% Black 3% Hispanic
     • Obama up to July 2012 - 18% black, 12% Hispanic and 7% Asian, making them the most diverse

8. Minorities and state and local government

   • Douglas Wilder first African-American elected as governor 1990 (Virginia)
     • Deval Patrick of Massachusetts (2006), David paterson of New York(2008)
   • 2012 African-American 8% of state legislators
     • 8 States had non
     • Hawaii had 3.1% with pop making 1%
   • 1967, Carl Stokes first Black Mayor of major city - Mayor of Cleveland
     • 81 black mayors in 1970, 480 by 2000
     • Svante Myrick Became first black mayor of Ithaca, New York

9. Disenfranchisment

   • States prohibts Felons voting for life (1 in 8 can then vote in AA)
     • 1g of Crack Cocaine (more blacks use) or 100g of Powered-cocaine (more whites use) = 20 year of powered-cocaine
   • War on drugs (institutional racism)
     • Zero tolance - anyone count immediate primison sentence
     • Poor communities (minories) more likely to use . Stop and search likely to be stop if Minority (count with drugs)

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