By Paul M. Winters, May 20, 2014, Dignitasnews.com

Beset by scandals on both the national and statewide level, Democrats find themselves in danger of historic losses in the 2014 midterms, as in addition to the “angry white males” they find themselves facing a new threat, that of the “angry young black male.” A growing trend of young black males defecting to the GOP has caused fears among Democratic Party officials who have largely ignored the concerns of a constituency that has been loyal for decades.

It is ironic that with the election of the first African-American President, the party that garners roughly 90% of the black vote finds itself in danger of losing the young men of this community, not just for one election cycle, but for generations to come. Despite its rhetoric and numerous ties to the African-American community, young black black males have become increasingly frustrated with a party they feel promotes policies which emasculate them and offer few opportunities for them to achieve the American dream. Much of the elation that came from Obama’s historic political achievement turned into an eye-opening experience for many black men, who noticed the gulf between the feel-good rhetoric of Democrats as hollow as inner-city unemployment has grown during the tenure of the first black President.

“I’ll be honest, when Obama announced his candidacy, I was ecstatic.” notes consultant Shermichael Singleton, who as a high-school senior lobbied the local school superintendent to attend an Obama campaign rally in Dallas, TX when first denied by his principal. “It was a great experience. I applauded his speech and him for running,” although this early enthusiasm has since changed, “but I’ve been extremely disappointed.”

Following high school, Singleton attended Morehouse College, where he was instrumental in organizing the first College Republican group at the traditionally black college. He noted that this caused some raised eyebrows, but overall found support for this stance. “Singleton, we think you’re crazy as hell,” he laughed, “but brother, we support you and glad you’re standing up for what you believe.” Six years into Obama’s presidency, he may be finding more support than he ever thought he might.

While there is no dispute that the Republican Party has much work to do in order to gain support from of the African-American community, key data from the 2012 elections results do shed light on hopes that they can be more competitive in the future. President Obama won an astonishing 93% of the overall black vote against his opponent, Mitt Romney, but a closer analysis of the support the GOP standard-bearer received from young black males is enough to warrant the fears of Democratic Party leaders that their vote cannot be taken for granted. According to Pew Research exit polling, a full 19% of young black males between the ages of 18-29 cast their votes for Romney, while only 2% of black females in this age group went with the Republican.

This startling anomaly was one of the primary drivers in the White House’s unveiling of its “My Brothers Keeper” initiative, designed to help improve the opportunities of young black males in the national cities. Like many Democrat policies of the past few decades, however, it has largely been met with skepticism and yet another example of empty rhetoric designed to keep a long-time loyal constituency “in its place.”

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