Are Race based Political Parties OK?

My understanding is that’s ok if the party/organisation does not limited it’s membership to a certain race and does not promote racism. It does (IMO) not necessarily mean it has to be based on a minority race.

As above - though certainly a name with ‘white’ in it may not go down to well with most people, no matter if it’s in Africa or anywhere else (as Shin-Gua already indicated) …

The poor and working class vastly OUTNUMBER the rich in the U.S. making the rich a minority. Yet most (if not all) U.S. Senators are millionaires. If there were a party that represented the working class in the US, I’d support it, even though they are the majority.

The point is that I think the power of various individuals and groups is probably far more relevant than straight numbers.

[quote=“truant”]Obviously from the reponses so far they do, but only if the race is a minority, is that right?
What about in Africa then. Are there “White African” political parties, (being a minority there) - or would that be considered racist?[/quote]

I don’t think it is a matter of numbers, minority/majority. It makes more sense to think in terms of dominant / oppressed.

This issue of a Maori’s Party is similar to the "Freedom Front"party and AWB (Afrikaans resistance movement) parties in South Africa. They cater for a specific type of person/race or creed, and as deluded as some would say they are, they will never have enough of a following to upset the balance as has happend in the past. This on its own shows that the democratic process is working and even though majority rules, the minorities have their day in the sun. Something everyone should be proud of, even if not proud of the content.