A New Generation of Black Delegates

African Americans Who First Backed Hillary Clinton Differ From Those Finding Inspiration With Obama

by Marilyn Werber Serafini

Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008


Idris Ogunjobi had never really thought about American politics before. Born in Nigeria and holding out the possibility of returning to his homeland someday, he wasn't even planning on becoming a U.S. citizen.

All that changed, however, the day that Ogunjobi heard Barack Obama talking on CNN, long before the Democrat declared his intention to seek the White House. "I was moved," said Ogunjobi, 24, who was in the U.S. Army at the time. (He served in Iraq in 2005 and '06.) "I told my fellow soldiers about him ... and when I heard he was running [for president], it was a no-brainer. I became a citizen so I could vote."

But Ogunjobi didn't stop there. He began volunteering for Obama and the Alaska Democratic Party, urging people by phone to support Obama, and he launched a successful campaign to become a rare African-American delegate from Alaska.

Although Ogunjobi's citizenship story is unique, he is at home among a large group of first-time African-American delegates at the Democratic convention this week. Byron Shafer, a professor of political science at the University of Wisconsin, calls them the "new blood" of black Democrats.

For the most part, these black delegates differ from the black establishment that mostly backed Hillary Rodham Clinton, when it appeared that she would be the Democratic nominee.

Of course, most black Clinton supporters have contentedly switched their support to Obama. But the group of African-American delegates who originated with Obama is "less senior and less well established. I would expect more of them to be truly new to conventions and maybe even new to politics," Shafer said. "Obama needed a different set of black delegates."

David Bositis, senior political analyst at the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies in Washington, estimates that this new generation characterizes much of the gain in black delegates at the convention. According to the Democratic National Convention Committee, 1,087 black delegates came to Denver, composing 24.5 percent of the total delegate body. That's a 4-percentage-point jump from 2004, when 886 African-American delegates went to Boston.

Many states this year have high numbers of African-American delegates disproportionate to their black population. Sixteen percent of Alaska's delegation is black, even though less than 4 percent of the state's population is black. And 13 percent of Idaho's delegation is black, even though less than half of 1 percent of the state's population is. Only two states have no black delegates; in 2004, six did, Bositis said.

Although many of these delegates are young, many are older newcomers. Sharon Winesberry, an African-American delegate from Washington state, is 53. This convention is Winesberry's introduction to politics. Obama inspired her, and she decided that she wouldn't let another election year roll by "yelling at the television. I knew that if I could get together with like-minded people, we could make a difference."

Willetta Ward, another first-time African-American Obama delegate from Washington state, is a middle-aged teacher and minister. "When I heard him talk about faith, that's what turned me on.... He's a new politician from a new day. He's attracting people who have been hidden."

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