An excellent read on African American voting patterns

[Nonhlanhla]

Excellent diary from Daily Kos. I'm only posting one paragraph. The essay is well worth a read in its entirety.

So now on to the hot topic right now. Why isn’t Sanders message resonating with black voters? It’s not a lack of knowledge of him. If a message starts to resonate, people start to research the messenger AND spread that message, that creates a positive feedback loop. 24% of Twitter users are black, and Twitter if it’s anything is a viral message machine. The very fact black voters don’t know a lot about him AND aren’t trying to learn about him is an issue in of itself. The main reason Sanders message hasn’t resonated is, in my opinion, a communication problem. The candidate and the campaign’s answers to points that black voters raise about aren’t being answered correctly. Even worse the campaign and surrogates are often doing more damage than good with bad communication. What do I mean by not adequately addressing the questions being asked?

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2016/3/3/1492931/-Why-black-voters-vote-the-way-they-do-and-advice-on-how-to-win-them

[malthaussen]

1. It should be elementary.

If a campaign hopes to solicit the vote of a specific group, it should listen to what that group describes as its needs, and address them, not tell them what they are.

-- Mal

[StandingInLeftField]

2. As a Bernie supporter...

I whole-heartedly recommend this Kos diary. I hope all Bernie supporters take the time to read, digest, respond, and pass this along. The author goes far beyond the "don't tell me how to think" meme and dissects historical patterns of communication, trust, and acceptance within the AA community, offering suggestions for a more inclusive and thoughtful interaction between the African-American voters and the Sanders campaign.

One of the more mature, thoughtful and enlightening discussions on African-Americans and their trajectories (read from a white perspective.) I'll be interested in hearing responses from the AA community.

[Chitown Kev]

3. Kicking

A response from a member of the AA community...

I will be very frank...

I think that a lot of this will fall on deaf ears.

There has not been an OP out there as comprehensive as my friend dopper's but so much of this stuff has been said so many times and in so many ways.

dopper has taken a ore diplomatic approach, but I honestly think that most Sanders supporters want to hear what they want to hear and don't give a damn.

That may be a cynical POV, but it's mine.