"And he and some of his supporters have argued that the only reason he's facing so much blowback for the letter and scrutiny of his job so far is because he's the first Black leader the Arizona Democratic Party has ever had."
While I think this is certainly the consensus among the members of the Arizona African American Caucus (AAA Caucus) based on what I saw at heard at their meeting prior to the main meeting on the 8th, and my personal conversations, I think there is a great deal of questioning as to whether that is the case among the rest of the State Committee Members (SCMs) and the general Democratic Party's activist base.
I would point out that while it is true that Chair Branscombe is the first Black Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP), we have had Black Chairs of the Democratic National Committee (Donna Brazile, 2016-17, and Jaime Harrison, 2021 - 25) who had entirely successful terms, and these past Black DNC Chairs were also leaders for Arizona as part of their national role. Those prominent leaders were not attacked by Arizona's State Committee out of racial animus. Neither was our Party's first Black President. Neither was our first Black female Vice-President, nor our first Black female Presidential nominee. Neither have I seen the many other fine elected public officers from our Party, and many other Party officials who happen to have been Black, unfairly attacked due to their race here in Arizona by their own Party.
To claim that racial animus solely or primarily animates the ADP in Chair Branscome's case borders on the absurd - insulting, even, to the many non-Black Democrats who have labored beside our Black brothers and sisters for decades here in Arizona in the cause of racial justice and equality. There is a reason why African Americans have overwhelmingly chosen the Democratic Party and become the very soul of our Party's conscience - we truly care and view Black Americans as wholly and deservedly equal and beloved fellow citizens who deserve a strong and vital voice in America's story of our past and our future, and in the leadership of our Party and our governance.
The overwhelming majority of those outside the AAA Caucus with whom I have spoken, including some on the Executive Committee and and staffs of the relevant electeds and ADP, are quite adamant that racism is absolutely NOT the issue; matters of personality, competency, experience, and judgment of Chair Branscome lie at the bottom of his current embattlement. I fully expected and understand why the AAA Caucus is choosing to stand by Chair Branscome, regardless of the concerns of many others about his fitness for the office. But I think they are undermining their own credibility with a lot of the Party by their claim that racism is the ONLY reason why Chair Branscome finds himself embattled.
In any case, as my picture of the controversy deepens over the coming weeks, I will be posting at BlogForArizona.net what I aspire to be a balanced and nuanced account of the events leading to this crisis, and the strongest possible defense of Chair Branscome, based on my hopefully direct interviews and quotes of him and his supporters, as well as his detractors. I think that SCMs deserve to have the fullest possible picture before any possible vote on whether the Chair should retain his position, and Chair Branscome deserves every possible opportunity to address the issues personally and directly.
"And he and some of his supporters have argued that the only reason he's facing so much blowback for the letter and scrutiny of his job so far is because he's the first Black leader the Arizona Democratic Party has ever had."
While I think this is certainly the consensus among the members of the Arizona African American Caucus (AAA Caucus) based on what I saw at heard at their meeting prior to the main meeting on the 8th, and my personal conversations, I think there is a great deal of questioning as to whether that is the case among the rest of the State Committee Members (SCMs) and the general Democratic Party's activist base.
I would point out that while it is true that Chair Branscombe is the first Black Chair of the Arizona Democratic Party (ADP), we have had Black Chairs of the Democratic National Committee (Donna Brazile, 2016-17, and Jaime Harrison, 2021 - 25) who had entirely successful terms, and these past Black DNC Chairs were also leaders for Arizona as part of their national role. Those prominent leaders were not attacked by Arizona's State Committee out of racial animus. Neither was our Party's first Black President. Neither was our first Black female Vice-President, nor our first Black female Presidential nominee. Neither have I seen the many other fine elected public officers from our Party, and many other Party officials who happen to have been Black, unfairly attacked due to their race here in Arizona by their own Party.
To claim that racial animus solely or primarily animates the ADP in Chair Branscome's case borders on the absurd - insulting, even, to the many non-Black Democrats who have labored beside our Black brothers and sisters for decades here in Arizona in the cause of racial justice and equality. There is a reason why African Americans have overwhelmingly chosen the Democratic Party and become the very soul of our Party's conscience - we truly care and view Black Americans as wholly and deservedly equal and beloved fellow citizens who deserve a strong and vital voice in America's story of our past and our future, and in the leadership of our Party and our governance.
The overwhelming majority of those outside the AAA Caucus with whom I have spoken, including some on the Executive Committee and and staffs of the relevant electeds and ADP, are quite adamant that racism is absolutely NOT the issue; matters of personality, competency, experience, and judgment of Chair Branscome lie at the bottom of his current embattlement. I fully expected and understand why the AAA Caucus is choosing to stand by Chair Branscome, regardless of the concerns of many others about his fitness for the office. But I think they are undermining their own credibility with a lot of the Party by their claim that racism is the ONLY reason why Chair Branscome finds himself embattled.
In any case, as my picture of the controversy deepens over the coming weeks, I will be posting at BlogForArizona.net what I aspire to be a balanced and nuanced account of the events leading to this crisis, and the strongest possible defense of Chair Branscome, based on my hopefully direct interviews and quotes of him and his supporters, as well as his detractors. I think that SCMs deserve to have the fullest possible picture before any possible vote on whether the Chair should retain his position, and Chair Branscome deserves every possible opportunity to address the issues personally and directly.