People of color are more visible in politics now than in previous years, but there are still gaps.
History continues to be made as some people of color win seats that have consistently been held by white politicians. For example, in Wisconsin, only three Black Americans have ever held statewide office. One of them is current Lt. Gov. Mandela Barnes, who is the first Black man to hold the title.
And if Barnes defeats Republican incumbent Ron Johnson on Nov. 8, he’ll be the first Black U.S. senator from Wisconsin.
According to data from FiveThirtyEight, 28% of candidates on November’s ballot nationwide are people of color.
Dr. Danielle Casarez Lemi, a fellow at the Tower Center at Southern Methodist University, says the experiences of people of color running for office can vary, based on a number of factors. They include who the candidate is, whose votes they’re trying to win, and who they’re running against.
"Their experiences can range from blatant racism. You know being called slurs, being explicitly stereotyped. More implicit racism like their skin tone, being darkened attack ads, their citizenship being questioned tokenism in which they aren't taken seriously, because they're quote un quote, just a person of color, or they're treated as the symbol of progress," Casarez Lemi says.
Their clothes will even be criticized. "Particularly women of color, who might be scrutinized for how their bodies look in regular campaign clothing. And of course, there are also structural challenges. It's hard to run for office, and if you've never done this before, you need a lot of support. You need support at home. You need professional support. You need a team of experts around you to advise you if you feel like you know you need some professional consulting to just get started," she adds.
Casarez Lemi says all these things can occur when people of color disrupt the status quo. And the rhetoric can come from opponents, the media, commentators, and voters.
Casarez Lemi says she notices the common thread that candidates of color are navigating stereotypes people have about what they should be as a person of color and whether they conform to those thoughts.
And she says a lot if it depends on the candidate's background.
"Asian American candidates they might experience questions about their allegiance to the United States and that's rooted in you know this stereotype that Asian Americans are quote unquote like foreigners, right.? Or a Black candidate might be accused of being quote un quote too Black or not quote unquote Black enough," she says. "Latinx candidates they might grapple with what people think about their ability to speak Spanish. And you know if you're mixed-race, mixed-race candidates might face questions about their identities and like you know are you this or are you that?"
But Casarez Lemi says people should keep in mind that candidates of color running for office are navigating many expectations to be one way and represent these communities in a certain way. For some, it's not that important.
"That's something like we have to accept," Casarez Lemi says. "There are gonna be some people of color candidates who like maybe their ethnic backgrounds or cultural identities just don't matter to them for whatever reason and like that's OK. And there are also some candidates where that's really important and they draw on experiences of being a member of that group you know and all of these other experiences that are tied to that and that's OK too and so I think it's just about accepting like the voters are not monolithic the candidates are not monolithic either."
Wisconsin's midterm elections are Tuesday, November 8, 2022. If you have a question about voting or the races, submit it below or check out WUWM's voter guide.
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