The American Freedmen Independent Club is asking whether New York’s policies are producing measurable results for Black voters who have consistently backed Democratic leadership.
For many years, Black voters have been one of the most reliable groups within the Democratic Party, but now, as another election draws near, one Black independent political group in New York is posing a different question: what do Black New Yorkers actually receive in return?
The American Freedmen Independent Club (AFIC) has issued a comprehensive policy statement criticizing New York’s political leadership on employment, education, taxes, homeownership, energy, transportation, government hiring, business ownership, family policy, and public safety.
A broader debate underlies those issues: Black political power should be judged by results, not party loyalty.
AFIC expresses that philosophy in its motto: “No Permanent Friends. No Permanent Enemies. Only Permanent Interests.” But why does the organization think that Black voters need to adopt that approach?
AFIC maintains that Black New Yorkers have on numerous occasions shown their political loyalty even though they have had to face unemployment, poor schools, high housing costs, limited opportunities to become homeowners, high taxes, and obstacles to building up wealth over generations. The organization therefore believes that people should be willing to challenge the political institutions which they have usually supported when there is no tangible evidence of positive outcomes.
It doesn’t mean that we should automatically switch our support from the Democrats to the Republicans. According to AFIC, political independence involves applying the same standard to whichever party is in power. Since the Democrats currently control New York’s governorship and Legislature, those bodies are the immediate focus of the questions.
Employment is one example.
AFIC refers to New York’s initiative to link migrants and asylum seekers with employment, noting that over 18,000 private-sector job vacancies have been identified at hundreds of companies. The organization states that it does not oppose migrants working and supporting themselves; rather, it questions why the ongoing problem of Black unemployment and underemployment has not led to a similar government effort involving employers, agencies, apprenticeships, and career pipelines.
The same applies to government employment. The NY HELPS scheme in New York has greatly increased the number of posts filled by allowing many positions to be filled without going through the normal civil-service examinations. AFIC is calling for demographic transparency and asking how many of these jobs went to Black New Yorkers, how many went to Black men and women, what their salaries were, and how many led to permanent careers.
But employment is only part of the organization’s economic concern.
AFIC argues that high taxes—particularly property taxes—can become a killer of Black generational wealth in New York.
For generations, Black families have been encouraged to buy homes, build equity and leave property to their children. Yet a family can spend 20 or 30 years paying off a mortgage only to enter retirement facing property taxes that function like another mortgage that never disappears.
Wealth accumulated over a generation can vanish when long-time homeowners are finally forced to sell, or when their children cannot pay for the maintenance of the property they inherited.
AFIC maintains that the government cannot take the issue of closing the black wealth gap seriously unless it also considers how black families can buy homes, retain them, and then pass them on to their children and grandchildren.
Transportation creates another burden.
AFIC specifically mentions the tolls charged by E-ZPass, congestion-related fees,, and other transportation costs that affect workers who have to drive because of their jobs, their businesses, their schedules, or their family responsibilities.
Although Albany may consider tolls, property taxes, insurance, and transportation separately, families have to pay all of those bills out of the same bank account. Each extra dollar spent on commuting is one that cannot be used for savings, retirement, education, investment or for owning a business.
Energy costs present a similar problem.
AFIC contends that New York’s energy policies should be evaluated not only on their environmental goals but also on affordability and reliability; it cites the 2021 closure of Indian Point as an example of the need for major energy decisions to include realistic plans for replacement generation and consumer costs.
Families cannot simply stop using electricity when prices rise. According to AFIC, higher utility bills leave less money for saving, paying down debt, education, retirement, and investment.
Education may be where AFIC’s results-based philosophy matters most.
The organization cautions that it is not possible to make up for inadequate Black student achievement by altering the role of the Regents examinations, and it is advocating for measurable results in reading and mathematics as well as more effective pathways into the fields of trades, construction, healthcare, cybersecurity, engineering, artificial intelligence, and advanced manufacturing.
The same standard applies to Black businesses. Instead of simply counting programs and allocated money, AFIC wants to know how many sustainable Black businesses were created, survived, hired employees, received capital, and secured government contracts.
AFIC also raises concerns about parental involvement in consequential medical decisions involving minors, the importance of mothers and fathers in family policy, and conditions inside New York’s correctional system, where staffing shortages and working conditions continue affecting correction officers and their families.
Taken together, the issues lead back to one political question.
Black voters are constantly told what they should vote against. AFIC wants the conversation to become: What are Black New Yorkers voting for?
The organization says elected officials should be able to demonstrate what their policies have produced in employment, education, homeownership, business ownership, household affordability, and generational wealth.
Its standard is simple: What was promised? What was implemented? What were the actual results?
For AFIC, “No Permanent Friends. No Permanent Enemies. Only Permanent Interests” is therefore more than a political slogan.
It argues that Black political support should be tied to measurable Black progress.
