WANTED: Minority Candidates for Public Office

Crisis, The, May/Jun 2004 by Banks, Waris

Accusations of voter fraud and widespread disenfranchisement in Florida during the 2000 presidential election frustrated a lot of African Americans and other people of color. Darshan Khalsa was one of them.

"After that election I was angry," says Khalsa. "So many people experienced voter disenfranchisement."

But instead of complaining, the 30-year-old decided to start a movement.

Although Khalsa's experience in politics is limited to campus organizing and a brief stint at a women's rights organization, she created the Racial Justice Campaign Fund, a Washington-based initiative designed to encourage and directly support "progressive people of color" to run for elected office at the local, state and federal levels. The initiative is now a program of the Progressive Majority, a partisan organization in Washington that supports a number of Democratic candidates.

Though people of color represent more than 30 percent of the population, only 15 percent of members of the U.S. House of Representatives are racial or ethnic minorities. There are even fewer people of color in the Senate - only 3 of 100, none of them Black.

"We really don't talk about the fact that we aren't represented in office," says Khalsa, who is of East Indian descent. "That lack of representation is hurting us."

As a result, the organization is reaching out to potential candidates of color in three of the so-called "swing" states: Pennsylvania, Washington and Wisconsin. These states were chosen because they have a slim margin between progressive and non-progressive voters. They also have mandatory term limits - which, some theorize, makes it easier to unseat incumbents. As director of the fund, Khalsa makes sure that potential candidates include members from racial and ethnic groups.

Once potential candidates are identified, the Racial Justice Campaign Fund provides assistance with campaign management, media relations and issue training.

Critics, however, argue that the fund will not help increase the number of minority elected officials anytime soon, mainly because the majority of minority elected officials come from minority districts, and therefore really don't need a lot of assistance in getting elected.

But Gloria Totten, Progressive Majority's executive director, says it's important to "increase the base of support" for minority candidates outside of districts comprised mainly of people of color.

"Obviously that's a hugely long-term vision," Totten says.

Khalsa, like Totten, is looking toward the future.

"It's important to recognize how much people of color and people who care about racial justice can have when we act collectively," she says.

- Waris Banks