BLACK VOTERS SHOWING SIGNS OF INDEPENDENCE
By: Sharon Childs-Long

Birmingham, AL -- Black voters in Alabama appear to have adopted a new political buzzword. Independence. And, it is being heard loudly all over the state.

Forty-six years after passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, black voters in Alabama and across the nation are showing signs of growing independence from political bosses who traditionally delivered their votes to favored candidates. The sea of change started about two years ago with municipal elections in Montgomery. Black voters ousted all four black Montgomery City Council incumbents in the 1999 city elections for mayor and council members. One of the four black council members ousted was Dr. Joe L. Reed, a longtime Democratic Party chief who also heads the Party's black wing - the Alabama Democratic Conference (ADC). Reed is currently set to lead state Democrats in the 2002 state and federal elections.

During the same election cycle in 1999, Birmingham voters defeated acting Mayor and longtime Richard Arrington ally William Bell in his mayoral bid. The voters elected newcomer Bernard Kincaid, who had served on the Council for only two years. Kincaid had no prior experience as an elected official.

In October 2001, Birmingham voters ousted five of six black incumbent council members and replaced them with political neophytes who were self-declared independents. The sixth black incumbent, who won his race outright, ran successfully eighteen months earlier in a special election as a political independent.

In Montgomery and Birmingham, the established black political organizations held a vice-grip on elections in black council districts for more than two decades. In Montgomery, the ADC's endorsement of a candidate was tantamount to victory. In Birmingham, the Jefferson County Citizens Coalition's endorsement was all that was needed for election.

Black voters in these elections appear to mirror the independence of their white counterparts. From 1999 to date, white voters have tossed out most of their incumbent municipal elected officials in Montgomery, Vestavia, Birmingham, Hoover and other cities around the state.

"I think black voters are demanding more accountability from their elected representatives," said Voter News Network Publisher Donald V. Watkins, a Birmingham banker and longtime ally of former Mayor Richard Arrington. "From 1965 until 1999, black voters were simply learning how to effectively participate in the electoral process. Now, black voters are leveraging their voting strength to elect people who can effectively solve problems. If these new officeholders cannot perform satisfactorily, they will be tossed out too. This is extremely healthy in a democratic society."