Why has there never been a black Southern Senator?

[Wakie]

Really just a question for our members from the South.  Are y'all just bigots?

[Tender Branson]

Actually, there have been 2 from Mississippi in the 19th Century:

* Blanche Bruce - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Bruce

* Hiram Rhodes Revels - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiram_Rhodes_Revels

[Alcon]

Really just a question for our members from the South.  Are y'all just bigots?

1. You're wrong.
2. You're presumptive.
3. If you were intending to make yourself look like a total ass, you're successful. 

[Filuwaúrdjan]

...because so many black Senators have been elected from other states, like MA and IL. And IL. And... er...

Anyway, clearly only Southerners are racists. There is absolutely no racism or residential segregation outside the South. Anyone who thinks otherwise is a Republican or a Dixiecrat. Or both.

[Wakie]

You're right.  The South doesn't have a disproportionate history of bigotry.

And those 2 black Senators from Mississippi ... were both appointed by Northern US Presidents.

[Joe Republic]

There have only been five black senators in US history.  Two of them were the previously mentioned Revels and Bruce.  The others were Edward Brooke (R-MA), Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) and the current Barack Obama (D-IL).

So perhaps you'd also like to ask why there has never been a black Californian senator?  Or a black senator from New York?  Or the vast majority of other states too?

[Filuwaúrdjan]

You're right.  The South doesn't have a disproportionate history of bigotry.

Now and what point did I say that? That blacks were treated worse in the South than elsewhere is not an opinion it is, of course, historical fact. No question over that.
But that doesn't mean that today the South is more racist than elsewhere in the U.S (in certain respects it is, in others it isn't) and just because racism and bigotry towards blacks was (and maybe is) worse in one area of the country, does not excuse the racism and bigotry towards blacks in the rest of the U.S.
It's hard not to notice quite how often Mayoral elections in Philadelphia and New York have broken down on race lines.

[Nym90]

There haven't been very many strong black candidates for the Senate from the South (or anywhere for that matter). That may be partly due to segregation and discrimination allowing fewer opportunities for blacks, but I don't think it reflects bigotry on the part of the voters.

[True Democrat]

In the beginning it was just racism and the lack of equal rights for blacks.  However, it happens that blacks are of the opposite party of the majority of Southerners (I don't mean registered party before everyone jumps on me).

[nclib]

I agree that racism is part of it, as is the fact that there are relatively few wealthy blacks.

Another issue is that most black Representatives are too liberal to be elected statewide in the South.

[Joe Republic]

I wouldn't mind somebody trying to answer these questions too:

...perhaps you'd also like to ask why there has never been a black Californian senator?  Or a black senator from New York?  Or the vast majority of other states too?

[merseysider]

Assuming that Ford loses in Tennessee, I would wager that the first African-American to be elected from a Southern state in modern times will be a Republican.

[nclib]

I wouldn't mind somebody trying to answer these questions too:

...perhaps you'd also like to ask why there has never been a black Californian senator?  Or a black senator from New York?  Or the vast majority of other states too?

Perhaps that question isn't asked as often because Calif. and N.Y. (and most other states) have a much lower black population than states in the South.

[sethm0]

 Perhaps a pertinent question would be why an initiative to remove segregation from the Mississippi state constitution failed in 2004, with whites ovewhelmingly voting against the measure.

[AuH2O]

Well the Reconstruction black Senators were not elected because blacks could vote, they were elected because whites couldn't.

[WalterMitty]

You're right.  The South doesn't have a disproportionate history of bigotry.

And those 2 black Senators from Mississippi ... were both appointed by Northern US Presidents.

boston is a hell of a lot more segregated than any southern city ive ever been in.

so much for 'enlightened' new englanders.

[RBH]

 Perhaps a pertinent question would be why an initiative to remove segregation from the Mississippi state constitution failed in 2004, with whites ovewhelmingly voting against the measure.

That would be Alabama.

[Bleeding heart conservative, HTMLdon]

You're right.  The South doesn't have a disproportionate history of bigotry.

There is also a disproportonate number of blacks in the South.  Who are Vermonters going to be racist against... the French?

[Conan]

You're right.  The South doesn't have a disproportionate history of bigotry.

And those 2 black Senators from Mississippi ... were both appointed by Northern US Presidents.

boston is a hell of a lot more segregated than any southern city ive ever been in.

so much for 'enlightened' new englanders.

People stay in cliques no matter what. Anyway, Massachusetts has elected a black senator before and is going to elect a black governor on tuesday. So much for those enlightened New Englanders... how dare they elect a black governor.

[Sam Spade]

Yes, Wakie, we Southerners don't like black people.  When I was a youngster, I attended at least one lynching every couple of weeks.  Them Negroes never knew what hit them.  Moreover, to all of our Yankee friends, we made sure those colored folk were dancing all the time, so that you would think that actual progress was being made.  In fact, we've still managed to keep the literacy test and the poll tax in place and with these new Diebold machines, we will keep black people from voting at any time in the future.

FWIW, I wouldn't suggest you come south of Richmond, VA any time in the future.

[Sam Spade]

I wouldn't mind somebody trying to answer these questions too:

...perhaps you'd also like to ask why there has never been a black Californian senator?  Or a black senator from New York?  Or the vast majority of other states too?

Nclib has answered this already, but I will reiterate. The black populations in California and New York are far smaller than in the South. The only elected black Senators have been from states where blacks are by far the minority. Shouldn't states where "African-American" is the plurality ancestry  elect more African Americans than Illinois? But no black person has ever been elected in the South.

The black population of New York (14.9%) and Tennessee (16.3%) is roughly the same.  Arkansas (15.6%) and Florida (14.2%) have roughly the same black population as well.  Texas has much less (11.3%).  California (6.3%) is not really comparable.

[classical liberal]

...
Shouldn't states where "African-American" is the plurality ancestry  elect more African Americans than Illinois? But no black person has ever been elected in the South.

FWIW, plurality ancestry statistics, from the 2000 census:
...
African:
Virginia
...

George Allen is part Tunisian.

[○∙◄☻¥tπ[╪AV┼cVê└]

 Perhaps a pertinent question would be why an initiative to remove segregation from the Mississippi state constitution failed in 2004, with whites ovewhelmingly voting against the measure.

Are you sure this wasn't the 2004 Alabama vote to get rid of the poll tax that failed?

[AuH2O]

At least the first black Governor wasn't elected in a Southern state.

Oh wait...

[Wakie]

Yes, Wakie, we Southerners don't like black people.  When I was a youngster, I attended at least one lynching every couple of weeks.  Them Negroes never knew what hit them.  Moreover, to all of our Yankee friends, we made sure those colored folk were dancing all the time, so that you would think that actual progress was being made.  In fact, we've still managed to keep the literacy test and the poll tax in place and with these new Diebold machines, we will keep black people from voting at any time in the future.

FWIW, I wouldn't suggest you come south of Richmond, VA any time in the future.

Haha ... you're right ... the South is so "enlightened".  That's why the "Call Me Harold" ad won't work, right?

As a side note I was in Austin in 2000 working on an IT project.  Now I have been all over the country on IT projects and only in Texas have I been told "we don't need you Yankees here".  And that was from a cop who pulled me over for going 52 in 45.  This same project police force pulled over one of my female African-American coworkers, harassed her with questions about why she was there, and never provided justification for pulling her over.

Yeah ... enlightened South.