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I'm having a hard time believing that people are this ignorant of history, so I assume y'all are being facetious when you say you don't know why black people are loyal (for the most part) to the Democratic party. Blacks were very loyal to the Republican party until that party betrayed them twice resulting in the death and disenfranchisement of thousands of black people. Betrayal #1 came with the election of 1876 when Republicans compromised with Democrats to end Reconstruction in exchange for the election of Rutherford B. Hayes. Thus allowing the south to impose a hundred years of state-sponsored terrorism. Betrayal #2 came when the Dixiecrats (Strom Thurmond et al) abandoned the Democratic party over integration and became Republicans. Soon afterwards the Republicans launched the notorious "southern strategy" whereby the party chose to appeal to white racists. Thus you had Reagan launching his presidential campaign in Philadelphia MS where Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman were martyred. Everyone with a functioning brain stem understood the symbolism of that. (They have since apologized for this strategy but still use from time to time. See Harold Ford's senatorial campaign for pointers).
Yes, there are many points that religious black folk have in common with the Republican party, but unless and until they renounce their "southern strategy" I don't see black folk joining them anytime soon.
I'm having a hard time believing that people are this ignorant of history, so I assume y'all are being facetious when you say you don't know why black people are loyal (for the most part) to the Democratic party. Blacks were very loyal to the Republican party until that party betrayed them twice resulting in the death and disenfranchisement of thousands of black people. Betrayal #1 came with the election of 1876 when Republicans compromised with Democrats to end Reconstruction in exchange for the election of Rutherford B. Hayes. Thus allowing the south to impose a hundred years of state-sponsored terrorism. Betrayal #2 came when the Dixiecrats (Strom Thurmond et al) abandoned the Democratic party over integration and became Republicans. Soon afterwards the Republicans launched the notorious "southern strategy" whereby the party chose to appeal to white racists. Thus you had Reagan launching his presidential campaign in Philadelphia MS where Schwerner, Chaney and Goodman were martyred. Everyone with a functioning brain stem understood the symbolism of that. (They have since apologized for this strategy but still use from time to time. See Harold Ford's senatorial campaign for pointers).
Yes, there are many points that religious black folk have in common with the Republican party, but unless and until they renounce their "southern strategy" I don't see black folk joining them anytime soon.
This still doesn't answer the question; what have democrats done to help black people. At least in the last 30 years.
That's pretty clear in my answer. In their quest to appeal to white racists Republicans have put forth an effort to repeal every hard-fought gain blacks have made. So it's not so much what Democrats have done, it's a matter of not voting for the party that's blatantly embracing racism.
Quote:
Originally Posted by muxBuppie
This still doesn't answer the question; what have democrats done to help black people. At least in the last 30 years.
That's pretty clear in my answer. In their quest to appeal to white racists Republicans have put forth an effort to repeal every hard-fought gain blacks have made. So it's not so much what Democrats have done, it's a matter of not voting for the party that's blatantly embracing racism.
Can have some examples from the past 30 years? I want to know how Republicans have kept the blacks down.
Mathematically speaking, if our vote were equally split between the two parties, it would be like there was no black vote. A vote for the right canceled out the vote from the left which renders no black influence on the process, mathematically. Hence, from a purely mathematical point of view, black are better off pooling their vote to one party or the other. It makes no sense that black choose the Republican Party because the party has a formula or calculus for success that is independent of the black vote. However, the Democratic Party cannot manifest victory without the black vote. Hence, it’s obvious to see that, strategically, the Democratic Party gives blacks the most leverage.
That having been said, I will agree that the Democratic Party has not done much for our people lately. The Democratic Party essentially woos the black vote by fear. In other words, blacks will be punished if the Republicans get control, but blacks will not be rewarded if the Democrats get control. Black folks are essentially voting for Democrats because they fear Republicans and not because the Party rewards us for our vote with policy that represents our needs in degree and kind. Politics is quid pro quo by nature. That is how it works. We do something for you (vote for you) then you do something for us (represent our interest). Yet, the Democratic does not offer a quid pro quo to black America these days. Our reward from the party is that they kept the republicans out of power……which we have accepted as sufficient.
I agree that black folks need to try something different to shake things up, however, I do not believe that voting for Republicans should be part of the strategy. Instead, black folks should boycott an election or vote for a third part to send a strong message to the Democratic Party. The Democratic Party does not have a chance to win an election without the black vote, so they will have to respond to black needs. However, black folks are intransigent to take a step back to make a leap forward. We fear letting the Republicans win control by such a strategy against the democrats. However, it’s not like the Republicans have not been in control before…..and I don’t recall the sky totaling falling when that happened.
Of course, in our daily lives we are both conservative and liberal. Thus, there are some issues that the Republicans believe in that maps to what we believe. However, the issue of RACE trumps all of that. The most profound issue in our history has been the issue of race and thus no matter how much black folks agree with Republicans on different issues, the issue of RACE continues to be a subject of big disagreement and race carries more weight with us, than most of those other issues combined.
That's pretty clear in my answer. In their quest to appeal to white racists Republicans have put forth an effort to repeal every hard-fought gain blacks have made. So it's not so much what Democrats have done, it's a matter of not voting for the party that's blatantly embracing racism.
This is true, But I add it's subjective, Asking what have Democrats done for blacks in last 30 years for a non black Democrats? nothing. Asking a black democrat? well just what they wanted. Depending on someone political view effects what someone believe has been done and what they want to be done. In the first place.
But yes the republican party scare blacks away, Most blacks will identify someone like Rush as racist as hell. All he preach to white is blacks want revenge or crap like that, he constantly marks African American culture. But the republican party depends on people like rush, and they will not denounce him. Many would even defend him.
Another thing that kills me "The Democratic Party does not have a chance to win an election without the black vote" ummm the Democratic party's voters are more diverse than the publican party. What's needs to be said is the republican has no change in hell to win an election without the major of the white vote. The odds are if a republican gets a district with less than 50% of the white vote they will lose.
Last edited by chiatldal; 12-06-2011 at 02:27 PM..
Location: The Greatest city on Earth: City of Atlanta Proper
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Quote:
Originally Posted by muxBuppie
Can have some examples from the past 30 years? I want to know how Republicans have kept the blacks down.
It's not so much that the Republican party has "kept black people down", more so they just haven't made amends for all of their missteps concerning black folks in the few decades. As Rosyln mentioned there was the Southern Strategy, then the entire Reagan presidency, and in recent times the whole talk radio/Fox news scene which is just one big piece of veiled bigotry.
Another reason is priorities. What Republicans don't get is that black folks by and large (whether they are conservative or not) are not interested in legislating morality or any of the other nonsense that gets pushed to so called "values voters". For most black conservatives I know, their answer to all of those moral platitudes the Republicans go on about is going to church, not passing an amendment to the Constitution. All of those issues that the Republican party uses to whip it's base into a furor are not what the things the black community sees as priorities where they live. Who cares if gay marriage is legal or not when there aren't any grocery stores open in the neighborhood? Who cares about illegal immigrants when the police can't even get the crack dealers off the street?
Then there is the economic angle to this. While I would say there is a fairly large amount of social conservative blacks, I have encountered very few economic conservative black folks. The black community has historically supported progressive taxation, collectivism, trade unionism, social welfare, and about a dozen other economic ideals that make the average Republican's head explode at their mere mention. Why? Because those are some of the things that helped create the black middle class and it hasn't been forgotten. Plus there is the fact Republican party seems uninterested in making an appeal to lower income voters other than they are "lazy and need to try harder". Yeah people really like that.
Two last things (and then I'll stop) is where is the Republican party outreach in the black community? There aren't teams of Republican kids going into predominately black (or latino or asian) neighborhoods and doing canvassing, coordinating voter registration drives, partnering with community centers, or any of other activities that let people know that the Republican party is interested in their vote. Instead there is the occasional photo op during election season and the random black Republican they can rangle up to go talk to the masses from time to time then that's it. Crickets.
The other is this meme that is going around being populated by black conservatives in various videos (and the Facebook postings of my black conservative friends) that the Democratic party has been lying to black folks for 40 years and that black people need to wake up from their mental slumber. This is perhaps the worst PR campaign ever because it is basically saying that black folks who vote Democratic (which is most black folks) are too dumb to realize that they've been lied to for 40 decades, aren't smart enough to understand the issue before them, have been mindless casting votes, and would see the light if they voted Republican. Yeah, you don't get votes by calling people stupid.
Anyway, im moving on now. This beyond off topic for the thread.
2. cities that get the most attention in black media.
I would love to see you list base on the 2nd.
I didn't think y'all were talking strictly media presence. You know I had to check, but your list is rather accurate, except for Houston and Dallas being marginalized as "the others". Houston has already surpassed the 1 million mark of blacks in the metro, and DFW will be there soon enough. Neither city is big in the media for any demographic, but that doesn't mean they aren't highly significant to black culture.
Even still, Houston gave the world a person who's arguably the most significant black pop culture icon of the past ten years.
It's not so much that the Republican party has "kept black people down", more so they just haven't made amends for all of their missteps concerning black folks in the few decades. As Rosyln mentioned there was the Southern Strategy, then the entire Reagan presidency, and in recent times the whole talk radio/Fox news scene which is just one big piece of veiled bigotry.
Another reason is priorities. What Republicans don't get is that black folks by and large (whether they are conservative or not) are not interested in legislating morality or any of the other nonsense that gets pushed to so called "values voters". For most black conservatives I know, their answer to all of those moral platitudes the Republicans go on about is going to church, not passing an amendment to the Constitution. All of those issues that the Republican party uses to whip it's base into a furor are not what the things the black community sees as priorities where they live. Who cares if gay marriage is legal or not when there aren't any grocery stores open in the neighborhood? Who cares about illegal immigrants when the police can't even get the crack dealers off the street?
Then there is the economic angle to this. While I would say there is a fairly large amount of social conservative blacks, I have encountered very few economic conservative black folks. The black community has historically supported progressive taxation, collectivism, trade unionism, social welfare, and about a dozen other economic ideals that make the average Republican's head explode at their mere mention. Why? Because those are some of the things that helped create the black middle class and it hasn't been forgotten. Plus there is the fact Republican party seems uninterested in making an appeal to lower income voters other than they are "lazy and need to try harder". Yeah people really like that.
Two last things (and then I'll stop) is where is the Republican party outreach in the black community? There aren't teams of Republican kids going into predominately black (or latino or asian) neighborhoods and doing canvassing, coordinating voter registration drives, partnering with community centers, or any of other activities that let people know that the Republican party is interested in their vote. Instead there is the occasional photo op during election season and the random black Republican they can rangle up to go talk to the masses from time to time then that's it. Crickets.
The other is this meme that is going around being populated by black conservatives in various videos (and the Facebook postings of my black conservative friends) that the Democratic party has been lying to black folks for 40 years and that black people need to wake up from their mental slumber. This is perhaps the worst PR campaign ever because it is basically saying that black folks who vote Democratic (which is most black folks) are too dumb to realize that they've been lied to for 40 decades, aren't smart enough to understand the issue before them, have been mindless casting votes, and would see the light if they voted Republican. Yeah, you don't get votes by calling people stupid.
Anyway, im moving on now. This beyond off topic for the thread.
I was waiting for some one to mention social programs. Is it really that hard for black people as a whole to thrive in a capitalist society?
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