The Texas Democratic Party Owes Hispanic Voters an Apology
By Dr. Tony Magana
Many Texans including Texas Democratic Chairman, Boyd Richie, point with pride that a fellow Texan, President Lyndon Johnson, signed into law in 1964 the Civil Rights Act which was created to stop discrimination against minority voters in registering or carrying out their right to vote. Yet, according to LULAC attorney, Luis Roberto Vera Jr., this same Texas Democratic party now finds itself in his words “challenging the constitutionality of the Civil Right’s Act itself”. Mr. Vera was interviewed by this writer for this report.
For decades the Texas Democratic party has held presidential primaries and caucuses whose rules were controlled by a few elite members of the party. The process traditionally happened so late in the national election cycle that it had little effect on who would be the ultimate party candidate. In 1988 the process was changed to a “hybrid” that replaced the old fashioned caucus process with a combination open primary election and local caucuses.
Writing in the Democratic blog, The Texas Blue, Texas Democratic party chairman, Boyd Richie, on the eve of the primary defended the “Texas Two step” as it has come to be named. Even though he admitted that several writers and prominent Texans had called for a “simplified “ delegate selection plan he defended the status quo saying that it would give a “greater voice to the grassroots”.
In 2008, the Texas Democratic primary came sooner and right on the heels of a contested multi-state Super Tuesday primary event then ever before. For the first time in recent history, the Texas Democratic primary could have an effect on the national election. Although then Senator Barack Obama was riding a national populist wave, Senator Hillary Clinton had close ties with and the support of many in the Mexican-American community which makes up the majority in South Texas.
Texas’s fastest growing ethnic group which makes up almost a third of the eligible voting population and are overwhelmingly registered Democrats expected that their vote would be more then significant but instead experienced confusion, misinformation, and betrayal reminiscent of the days of the poll tax and Jim Crow. Most Latino Democratic voters were under the impression that they had one vote which would be cast in an open primary held on March 4, 2008 but they did not know that there were “conventions” held after the primary closed to select additional delegates. In the end, although Hillary Clinton won the popular vote, Barack Obama won more delegates because his organizers dominated the post-election conventions.
Following the election, the Texas Democratic party was embarrassed by revelations that no formal documentation of not only how the delegates where ultimately chosen but even who was officially chosen were made. In hearings held by the Democratic party, the late Jim Mattox testified about the utter chaos that occurred that lead to a universal agreement among the majority of Democratic voters that delegates should only be selected by the primary vote and not caucuses, however, the leaders of the Texas Democratic party have not accepted this conclusion.
On behalf of Texas voters, the League of United Latin American Citizens filed a suit in Federal Court alleging the so-called “Texas Two-Step” process was a violation of voter’s civil rights. Initially U.S. District Court Judge Fred Biery ruled that the case was not relevant because the law did not apply to political parties but LULAC appealed to the higher Court of Appeals in New Orleans which reversed Judge Biery and remanded the case back.
This past week the three judge panel of the Texas Western District Federal Court ruled against the Texas Democratic party. According to Vera, the stage is now set for the court to issue a summary judgment against the Texas Democratic party for violating the rights of not only Latino voters but possibly the elderly and disabled. As a result of the inequity of the “Texas Two Step” process, the Democratic party violated Hispanic voters rights in at least the seven state senatorial districts which have major Hispanic populations he adds.
One cannot help but wonder why this issue even went to court? Why has the Chairman of the Texas Democratic Party, Boyd Richie, and the executive committee not acted strongly and decisively to correct this problem but instead chosen to fight against the rights of Latino voters in court? Mr. Richie falsely claimed that Latin0 voters were informed about the late night caucuses.
Why has not Attorney General, Eric Holder, and the Justice Department under the Obama administration stepped in to file an amicus curae brief in defense of Texas Latino, elderly, and handicapped voters?
Mr. Vera states categorically that he believes the leadership in the Democratic party of Texas does not want to relinquish control by the old white party establishment. He sees the continuing opposition of the Democratic party leadership to change to a newer fairer system as a continuation of the old Texas ways and called the recent naming of a Latino executive director for the Texas Democratic party “window dressing” because in reality he notes that position has “no power.”
Mr. Vera says the Texas Democratic party has ten days to answer the recent court ruling. A key issue still to be decided is whether a new Democratic party primary rule will have to be approved by either the Attorney General of the United States, Eric Holder, or the District Court in Washington DC. So far the court has urged this as a voluntary measure but could make it mandatory.
The truth is that the alliance between Texas Mexican-American community and the Democratic party has always been rough. For this writer what is most shocking if not unfortunately most surprising is that the leadership in the Democratic party would be so resistant to changing an obviously discriminatory practice. Following the post election hearings I would have expected the Democratic party to issue an apology to the Hispanic community and rapidly change the process, not lawyers representing the Democratic party in court arguing that loopholes exist in the Civil Rights Act which they can exploit.
The Texas Democratic party must show Hispanic voters not only the respect but also the dignity they deserve. In the general election, they supported Barack Obama by an almost 70 percent to 30 percent margin. They seem to have forgotten the old saying “Don’t bite the hand that feeds you”. However, this loyalty can only be tested so far. The right thing for the Texas Democratic party and especially the Chairman, Boyd Richie, is to issue an apology to Texas voters and to immediately denounce any continuation of the Texas Two Step. The Texas Democrat Party should immediately agree to fully adhere to the spirit and the letter of the law in the Civil Rights Act without hesitation or compromise. This remnant of the old Texas has no place in the future of Texas.
Thanks for reading Contempo Magazine blog which discusses issues for McAllen, the Rio Grande Valley, and America from a conservative Hispanic point of view. Tony Magaña grew up in McAllen Texas, attended Texas A&M University, served as an officer in Army Reserve, and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. The co-founder of Contempo Magazine has participated in Valley business for over 20 years. He is a member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists and also writes for the American Daily Review. Follow him on twitter http://twitter.com/contempomagazin
Copyright 2009, Dr. Tony Magana. Some rights reserved.
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