Black lives, black votes

A couple weeks ago I quoted this phrase from D.R. Tucker:

It’s simply not enough to declare that black lives matter; black votes must matter, too.

He was saying to make sure black lives matter we must make sure that black voters have unimpeded access to the voting booth and are encouraged to use their vote.

Terrence Heath turns it around:

Black votes matter, because black lives matter.

You want the black vote? Care about black lives. The black vote could determine the Democratic nominee and also the next president. Black voters are not going to turn out for the GOP candidate in large numbers, but they could stay home thinking it has nothing to do with them. That's why both Bernie and Hillary are paying a lot of attention to black voters. But black voters aren't interested in lip service. Tell us how you intend to improve our lives and convince us you will follow through once elected. So far, neither Bernie nor Hillary have made the "true and radical shift in their thinking" that will excite black voters and leadership, though there are signs they are on their way.

Democrats had been very careful about policies to improve the lives of blacks because they didn't want to alienate the white working-class voters. But with shifting demographics, that is a much smaller issue. The GOP faces the flip side – alienate too many people of color (something they appear very good at) and there won't be enough white voters to win.