(TriceEdneyWire.com)—Senator Elect Doug Jones, D-Ala.), did not have to win his battle against accused sexual molester and Republican candidate Roy Moore in the epic battle in Alabama on Dec. 12.
He won because young people, some Ehite women (most of them voted for Moore), and an amazing effort from Alabama’s African-Americans put him over the top. Some white folks crossed party lines for the first time, voting for Jones because Moore repulsed them.
Some analysts have especially noted that White moms were more likely than other white women to vote for Jones. But Black folks showed up and showed out—a larger percentage of African American voters participated in this election than in the 2012 election of President Barack Obama. And 98 percent of African-American women voted for Doug Jones (along with 94 percent of Black men). Among whites, 27 percent of White men voted for Doug Jones, along with 35 percent of White women.
In cyberspace, people are thanking Black women for their support of Doug Jones, on Twitter, and Facebook, and Instagram. A friend told me that a woman she had not seen in a decade called her to thank Black women for saving the Senate from the likes of Roy Moore. Everyone likes to be thanked, but Black women deserve more than thanks. We deserve the “hook up”, the connection, organizational, institutional and financial support for our efforts.
Black women’s organizations in Alabama should get immediate contributions from the Democratic Party. Indeed, some of the sisters who led the effort to get the vote out, like Congresswoman Terri Sewell (D), need to be consulted on how to effectively support Black women in Alabama. The Democratic Party ought to cultivate Black women leaders in Alabama, so that they are poised to run for other offices. And since Doug Jones has a short term, and will be up for reelection in 2020, Black women need to be deputized to begin, immediately, working on his reelection campaign.
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