Black Mississippians do vote, but don't make up the same 38% of the electorate as their population would suggest for systemic reasons.
Higher rates of poverty correlate w lower voter turnout. Here's the state's breakdown of the poverty rate by race:
White: 12.2%
Black: 31.3%
Higher rates of poverty correlate w lower voter turnout. Here's the state's breakdown of the poverty rate by race:
White: 12.2%
Black: 31.3%
If black and white poverty rates were the same, you'd likely see voter turnout among black voters proportional to white voter turnout. In that case, the 10-20% of whites who vote Dem + black voters would make Dems much more competitive. But...
To get there, you'd have to see major efforts to tackle systemic poverty in Mississippi, particularly in the Delta. Right now, that means either a) finding a way to get politicians who benefit from the status quo to risk their own politics fortunes by fighting it...
or b), having national groups invest significant resources into turning out voters in more poverty prone areas to fight back against the inherent disenfranchisement that poverty brings.
That's why Mississippi seems so inelastic electorally despite being 38% black.
That's why Mississippi seems so inelastic electorally despite being 38% black.
But it is not the fault of black voters, who all things being equal turn out about the same (if not in greater numbers than?) as white voters. It's systemic racism, in short, and Mississippi needs help fighting it—not just more condemnation and tut-tutting.
