Prior to Election Day 2016, I would like to predict publicly that nobody will be President of the United States of America, ever again, without a substantial percentage of ethnic minority voters, too. This will be the last election that the media will sell billions of dollars in advertising by pumping up the notion that any single ethnic group, or sub-group (such as “angry white working class voters”) are the key to the entire general election. This will be the last time that a candidate for national office intentionally or unintentionally ticks off 30-40% of the electorate during the course of his or her primary or general campaign. The United States of America is too diverse, too broad and too beautiful to be reduced to “us versus Them.” That dog won’t hunt anymore.
To restate the obvious and for the umpteenth time, any successful Presidential candidate of ANY party needs to pull together a coalition of diverse Americans — white, black, Latino, rich, middle class and poor — who share a common set of… (wait for it…) values.
As Pew Research affirms, by 2040, ethnic minorities will become the majority of the U.S. population. This is not a side story. This is THE main event. Being a true leader in the United States in the 21st Century, whether in government, business, arts or academia, will require cross-cultural communication and maybe even cross-cultural excellence (Exhibit A being the U.S. armed forces).
In order to survive as a cohesive society, we Americans will need to focus on common values, not common race or common ethnicity. As the current divisive presidential election process is showing, the future and the sustainability of our democracy may depend on it.
Whoever is running for President of the United States of America should be able to communicate a core set of values that appeal to the broadest cross-section of diverse Americans. If he or she can do that, then he or she will win every time… from this day forward. Hail to the Chief!
Since Barack H. Obama was reelected, I have been telling my friends, and anyone who would listen, something that I thought was obvious: no one ethnic group will ever rule America again. This is not a cause for alarm; it’s a cause for celebration. We can now be free of the illusion that one group is more American and another group is less American and focus on the American principles and values, which we all share and which are our only hope of remaining a unified country for another 340 years.
In the meantime, we have this somewhat distracting and divisive Presidential election to overcome intact as “one nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all…” (And hopefully, the next election will be more focused on values that unite all Americans and not so darn polarizing. )
So I conclude with my bet. I wager $10,000 (500 twenty dollar bills soon to feature Harriet Tubman’s iconic ethnic minority American face) that the winner of the presidential election on November 8, 2016 will get AT LEAST 20% of the black vote and 40% of the Hispanic vote.
If you disagree, e-mail me and we’ll confirm the financial arrangements. I can wire my $10,000 to The Daily Caller, who can settle up the betting after Election Day.
If you agree, e-mail me a word of support, find someone to take the other side of that bet and make some easy money.
Richard Wayner is the founder of Fort Greene Partners (FGP), a minority-owned company certified with the NY/NJ Minority Supplier Development Council since 2009. In 2014, FGP advised TIAA-CREF (over $800 billion in assets) on the market and potential for minority and women-owned business enterprises (MWBEs). In addition, FGP has sourced and developed a variety of investment opportunities across multiple industry verticals with a particular focus on MWBEs and what Boston Consulting Group has referred to as “Emerging Domestic Markets.” Send him an e-mail.