Black lawmakers – mostly Democrats – will have to deal with a new reality when the North Carolina General Assembly convenes on Jan. 26.

In the November mid-term elections, Republicans won a historic victory, taking over the majority in both sides of the state legislature for the first time in more than a century.

Eric Heberlig, professor of political science at UNC-Charlotte, said African-American legislators will be among the hardest hit by this historic shift.

“The Republicans taking over the majority in the state’s General Assembly disadvantages all Democrats, but particularly disadvantages black Democrats who will be losing their committee chairmanships, and their subcommittee chairmanships that allow them to affect legislation,” he said. “So of all the groups or factions the (N.C. Legislative) Black Caucus is one of the most dramatically affected by the Republican takeover.”

Sen. Malcolm Graham of Charlotte agrees.

“Those  who are in the majority set the agenda or place items on the agenda that are important to them,” he said. “The Democratic Party and their constituents not being in the majority in the N.C. House as well as in the N.C. Senate gives African-American lawmakers a disadvantage as they move into the session.

“Some of the central issues that we care about such as education, health and human services, juvenile justice, will now be in the hands and control of the Republican Party, and we don’t have the votes to overturn them or set the agenda. So we will have to work across the aisle with our Republican colleagues to try to make the best public policy, and to work in the best interest of the entire community.”

Sen. Floyd McKissick chair of Legislative Black Caucus, said it will be important to be strategic.

“It’s going to be a particularly different political landscape in that we will be challenged to make certain as the budget is prepared that critical programs are not sacrificed, and it looks like right now we have a deficit between $3.7 billion to $4 billion,” he said. “We have to be tactical in identifying those issues that are most important to our constituents, and we have to put forth persuasive and rational reasons why those things should not be sacrificed even in difficult financial times.”

He added that the caucus is particularly concerned about education. “We have got to make sure education remains high priority,” he said. “To get out of the recession and have jobs, we need to have our people adequately educated. And that’s true not only for k-12, but community colleges and universities because people go to them to further their career outlook by being able to get new skill sets or completing their education.”

Rep. Kelly Alexander D-Mecklenburg, said that this is not simply a black-white issue.

“I don’t think there’s going to be a difference based upon race or anything,” he said. “It’s different based on the reality that the GOP has the majority in both houses of the legislature, and therefore, whatever their particular policies are if they really want to enforce them they have the power to do it. The most you can do is try to slow down the train by speaking out specifically about the issues, doing everything you can to heighten the contradictions, and make modifications in policies if possible.

“What African-American members of the Democratic Party will be doing will be very similar to what any member of the Democratic Party will be doing except we may be able to negotiate across the aisle to make sure folks on the other side are aware of the fact that something may be happening within the black community to try to make an argument to take that into consideration as they move forward.”

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