"Simply because one is Black
or Latino or lesbian or gay or whatever
does not guarantee the person’s fidelity
to a body of politics that empowers the
particular constituency that they supposedly represent.

The number of black elected officials has risen from 100
in 1964 to more than 9000 today.

The number of African Americans who were in
congress 30 years ago was about five;
today it is over 40, an 800 percent increase.

But have Blacks experienced an 800 percent increase
in real power? It hasn’t happened. So, I think the
emphasis of this liberal notion of social change by
working solely within the established electoral system
is just fatally flawed."

- Manning Marable