The Democratic National Committee (DNC) on Sunday refused to participate in an MSNBC panel to discuss the importance of black women voters.
In an open letter to the DNC Chairman Tom Perez last week, a group of Democratic black women noted that "Black women voters are the very foundation to a winning coalition, yet most Black voters feel like the Democrats take them for granted."
"This February, in the DNC elections, we saw an increase in overall diversity within the officer ranks, but no increase in leadership representation of Black women," the letter pointed out. "We have demonstrated our commitment to the Party. It is time for the Party to demonstrate its commitment to us. We stand ready to join you, your team, and Party leadership on the front lines — but not as silent partners."
Political strategist L. Joy Williams, one of the signatories of the letter to Perez, told MSNBC host Joy Reid that the problem "was not something new."
"Noticably absent is an investment and a listening tour of black women leaders and black women as a voting block when were are primarily the most loyal voting block to the party," Williams said.
According to Williams, the DNC made no effort to respond to the letter until the party was contacted by MSNBC.
"The Democratic Party has become so obsessed with trying to figure out and psych out white working class voters that they are forgetting that black voters really are the core of the base," Reid explained.
And although the Democratic Party provided a spokesperson -- Associate Chair Jaime Harrison -- he refused to appear on the panel with Williams.
"In the interest of full disclosure to our viewers, we wanted Jaime to join the panel with L. Joy and [Krystal Ball], but the DNC preferred that he respond one-on-one," Reid revealed.
