By Raynard Jackson NNPA Columnist

I had separate conversations with two governors last week. Both were White, one was a Democrat and one was a Republican. We were discussing next month's elections and what they each thought would happen. The amazing thing was their respective views on the Black community.

Democrats have convinced the Black community that they care about them and Republicans don't. This lie has been allowed to take root because Republicans have been unwilling to refute this foolishness.

The Democratic governor thought the Democrats would retain the Senate because of the Black vote. He seemed stunned when I began asking him whether he had any Blacks in prominent powerful positions within his administration, meaning Blacks with budgetary authority, hiring authority, and the ability to get meetings on the governor's schedule.

He replied that he had no Blacks in significant positions in his cabinet. He went onto explain that the positions I was talking about were very valuable and were very few in number. He stated that if the Blacks in his state didn't demand certain positions, why would he give them up if he didn't have to?

Wow, what honesty. Then, I began to push back with this governor. I asked did he have the same approach with his White supporters. He said, "Hmm, I never really thought about that. I just assume certain people [White] want or expect certain positions. It's just expected."

How revealing.

The Republican governor stated that, "Republicans have abetter message for the Black community, but we have just been God awful at communicating that message to the Black community." He continued, "I never thought about the issue of Blacks in powerful positions; I just wanted to make sure my government was reflective of my state's diversity."

- See more at: http://www.blackpressusa.com/black-vote-is-up-for-grabs/#sthash.gfTnsO4x.dpbs

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