Joseph A. Morris’ insightful piece on the demise of the Republican Party in Cook County (Perspective, Feb. 23) downplayed one major aspect of Democratic dominance in the last half century: demographics. Over the past 50 years, white flight from Chicago, along with the burgeoning black and Hispanic populations, has created a city that, according to 2000 census figures, is not quite 32 percent white. Given these statistics, Republicans are not scared as much as they are realists.
It is undeniable fact that minorities in this country overwhelmingly support the Democratic Party. Yet therein lies the contradiction. Ask any black Chicagoan about life in the city and he or she justifiably may complain about crime, deteriorating housing and inferior schools that fail to educate children. And when it comes time to vote, in lockstep they cast their ballots for the Democrats, the very same party that has run Chicago for 50 years and is, therefore, responsible for the crime, housing and lousy schools.
But for an African-American to cast a vote for a Republican is tantamount to treason.
It is tragically ironic that the very group that demands a society of cultural diversity in its institutions can itself be so intolerant of diversity within its own culture.
