By Lee A. Daniels

One might think that the gathering of the leaders of nearly a score of black women’s political and civic organizations in Washington last week to discuss the midterm elections would be a cause for celebration.

It was true, they acknowledged, that in some key respects, the 2010 midterm elections could be defined as a political triumph for black women—and thus, Black America as a whole – in the political arena.

The strong turnout among black eligible voters overall – just three percentage points less than the 2008 turnout – was fueled by the three-to-two ratio of women to men.

The 90-percent black vote for Democratic candidates, which was crucial to party victories in several races, was powered by black women voting 93-percent Democratic (compared to the 84-percent Democratic vote of black men).

And the seventeen black women candidates (all Democrats) who ran for federal offices equaled the previous record. More important, the fifteen who won bettered the previous record. They include three new members of the Congressional Black Caucus, including the first black woman elected to the House of Representatives from Alabama.

The meeting was called by the the National Coalition on Black Civic Participation – Black Women’s Roundtable. It included leaders from such organizations as the Congressional Black Caucus, the National Council of Negro Women, the National African American Clergy Network, the Lawyers Conference for Civil Rights Under Law, and Black Youth Vote!

All agreed that, despite the good news embedded the midterm election results, the word “challenging” is a significantly understated description of the political environment black Americans now face.

Representative Donna Edwards, (D.- MD), urged the audience to “not be despressed. We have to respond to the challenge. We have to play offense and defense, to resist efforts to cut important social programs and to push our agenda in all areas at the same time.”

The tough road ahead exists not only in the Congress, where Democrats lost their majority in the House of Representatives. It may be even more important to realize that the Democratic Party lost a total of 675 seats in the nation’s state legislatures and control of at least 19 legislative chambers as well as several Governors’ offices.

As David A. Boisitis, of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies points out in his election report, the Republican gains encompassed such states with significant black populations as Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina and Texas.

Two current developments on the political scene intensify the usual heightened importance to black Americans of which party commands control of the Congress and legislatures:

One is that these bodies will play a central role in the political response to the economic crisis that is driving millions of Americans to the brink of destitution.

For example, the Congress is now deciding whether to extend unemployment benefits for the long-term unemployed, a decision of critical importance to African Americans, given that the official black unemployment rate is above 15 percent. And state legislatures will soon be deciding which programs to cut in order to reduce their own severe budget deficits.

The second reason is that the state legislatures are about to take up the decennial rite of redistricting of electoral districts.

Melanie Campbell, president and chief executive of the Black Women’s Roundtable, said decisions in both areas could have an enormous affect on black political voting strength for years to come.

“It’s imperative,” she said, “that black women maximize the political power and potential they’ve shown to advocate for the issues that affect our community.”

Lee A. Daniels is Director of Communications for the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, Inc., and Editor-in-Chief of TheDefendersOnline.