Whew! Knowing that you can sometimes be an iconoclast, I held my breath waiting for what you would say, fearing that you might want to encourage blacks away from the Democrats.

Full disclosure from me. I am a staunch Democrat and a volunteer Democratic fundraiser. I spend nearly every waking hour encouraging people of color and various languages to get educated about the issues, register to vote, donate, if they are able, and to get involved in national politics as they are comfortable. When I'm sleeping I dream about how to save democracy.

Democrats have done more for black Americans than we know., generally because it's not obvious. Black income in total increases more during Democratic administrations than Republican administrations, and as you yourself have said, we gain most Civil Rights (or at least don't lose them) during Democratic administrations. I'd like to point you to the work of Robert Margo, Professor of Economics and African American History at Boston University. He has a tremendous body of research on black economic development, and he has documented our gains during Democratic administrations.

One of the reasons that I advocate for more black participation in national politics is that Democrats in Congress can never do as much as we'd like if they lack the numbers. People who vote are in a much stronger position to make demands of politicians, and the more Democrats we can place in office, the more legislators we have who are willing to put helpful policies in place. I know the difficult tightrope Democrats walk: it's a hard job to advocate for greater civil rights at the same time you're trying to convince the white working class that you have their interests in mind. Sometimes racism wins over economics.

So, I advise black and brown people not to punish Democrats by "boycotting" them at election time. Get out there and give them the power in numbers that will make a difference.