Black Candidates Had Mixed Results, But the Midterms Were a Bellwether for Black Politics in America

Since the enactment of the 1965 Voting Rights Act, Black politics has been limited to either urban governance or representing congressional districts that follow the agenda of the national parties. The inability of leaders to exercise power in the states has been a weakness since the demise of the Reconstruction Era. But the 2022 midterms introduced an unprecedented number of state campaigns that challenged historic barriers of race and power.

Most importantly, the midterms addressed a lingering question in the Black community since the Obama presidency: what political goals should...