by Haya El Nasser @hayaelna Big money and politics go hand in hand, and even in a country with its first black president, the widening wealth gap continues to muffle the voices of minorities by locking them out of political office. Campaign funds come overwhelmingly from white contributors, shows a new report released Thursday by Demos, a national public policy organization based in New York. “Economic bias means racial bias,” said Adam Lioz, the report’s author and a counsel and senior adviser for policy and outreach at Demos. “The underrepresentation of blacks is driven by constraints on their entry on the ballot.” In a typical election cycle, 90 percent or more of the candidates who raise the most money win their races, and 90 percent of elected leaders are white. Combined, Latinos and Asians account for more than 22 percent of the population but hold fewer than 2 percent of elected positions nationwide. In 2009 just 9 percent of state legislators were African-American, and 3 percent were Latino, compared with 13.5 percent and 15.4 percent of the total population, respectively. Candidates who are minorities raised 47 percent less money than white candidates in 2006 state races — and 64 percent less in the South. Latino candidates for state office raised less money than non-Latinos in 67 percent of state races.
Posted on: Fri, 12 Dec 2014 06:49:36 +0000
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