Woodrow Wilson & The Black Vote in 1912

Like many politicians before and after him, when Woodrow Wilson was desperate to win the vote during the 1912 election, he looked to black voters. Wilson said, I want to assure them (Negroes) that when I become President of the United States they may count on me for absolute fair dealing, for everything  which I could assist in advancing the interest of their race in the United States.”

As a result, many black leaders such as W.E.B DuBois, Booker T. Washington, the NAACP, the National Independent League and the Colored National Democratic League then chose to support Wilson. Many black voters also gave their support to Woodrow Wilson and he became President. An estimated 100,000 votes from black America gave Wilson the victory he needed.

However, as soon as he became President, he signed into law many discriminatory laws that were passed by Congress. The laws would allow segregation in hotels, workplaces, and exclude black people from Federal jobs and military positions. Black people who occupied federal jobs lost them and many of the laws were aimed at crushing any black economic growth. Many of these laws made the South unbearable for black people and many began to move north. This led to the great migration in the 1920s and 1930s.

The blacks who remained in the south suffered many abuses. Their crops were burned, lynching increased, livestock were poisoned, and crops were burned. Many black people lost voting rights and had little voice. All the while, Woodrow Wilson did not fulfill a single campaign promise. Instead he became the President who used his power to reverse any gains made by black people up to that point.

To this day black people continue to be abused by politicians. Many Democrats and Republicans make false promises about police reform, prison reform, education reform and so forth but most promises go unfulfilled leaving black people in a worse position than before.