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This is a very....I can only think of "basic" way to view black politics.
Most politics are local. Most urban areas regardless of the black population in those areas are run by Democrats. Your idea above is basic based on the fact that African Americans, as I noted above, see race as political. It is political both within the Democratic and Republican parties and the policies that each support/propose.
African Americans have always supported specific policy initiatives like the CRA, like housing initiatives in local communities/states, like education (African Americans heavily support school vouchers BTW and partnered with the GOP in nearly every state to get "school choice" in areas where it is).
We are not one-sided like you think nor do we believe en mass that Democrats "do" anything of significance for us. We have more influence within the Democratic party however from the 1970s forward. What that has "done" for us is to increase our incomes, decrease the chances of us being discriminated against in the housing market, decrease the chances of us being discriminated against in the job market, increased our access to and completion of secondary education, decreased our crime rates and rates of addiction to hardcore drugs, etc.
There are a lot of things that black people in general have accomplished by way of putting stress upon Democratic politicians in particular. We also have "crossed over" on issues that Democrats wouldn't consider - especially the school choice debate and sided with Republicans on that issue. This is why there is a split within the Democratic party on that issue.
Most Americans are not aware of the political history of African Americans to know - like Malcolm mentioned, that parties do come after us in voting season, but also like DuBois before him stated - all political parties are racist against us and the only way to get what we want from them is to use our influence in that particular party. If our influence wanes, like it did in the Republican Party, we will more readily support another.
I'll note that there was a huge debate within black America in the 1970s in particular about the idea of us creating our own party. That was seen to not be a valid option for national politics. However, it can and could have an impact on states where there is a huge black population, especially southern states for local elections. However it was thought that it would be a negative for the black population due to it causing less support for either the Dems or Repubs and that it could cause politicians to be elected due to us supporting a 3rd party that we don't want. So it was decided to heavily focus on a major political party during that era. The 1970s is the era that black political thought highly evolved and many people are unaware of our political history in this regard.
Yes, I know it to be true due to me being a student of history. You not believing it or even considering it is a reason why you would never accept anyone like me or my husband or 90% of my "circle" who are upper class income black folks, into the conservative embrace.
Black people (i.e. Black Democrats) worked with local Democrats and police to help decrease crime. Note, I am a product of the crack era and grew up in that era and was a young adult. I volunteered in organizations that worked with politicians and police on issues related to crime.
What is your point. Borders can and do contain all sorts of inequalities and inequities between races....which creates racial identity politics to resolve those inequities. Shifting focus to the nation state membership is done to take focus off/ignore racial inequities.
The problem is people like you who make it about race instead of defending the rights of the individual. Racism, bigotry, sexism as far as how it affects people from being successful and making it in life is almost non existent.
Instead of looking for handouts or forced results how about you fight for equal opportunity? Key word opportunity. When one is a ward of the state and puts little effort into succeeding then they won't make it. Skin color has nothing to do with it.
I think its true. Explain why whites are ahead of blacks in America then? The majority of whites will explain it by implicitly arguing that whites are superior in some way, for example, choice making (intelligence), personal responsibility (emotional intelligence), work ethic, etc, etc. What would gives whites a better naturally ability at any of those things, unless one assumes that whites are superior to blacks?
They may not be -traditional church goers would still say it’s sinful - but they would accept them politically, especially if shows himself as a good leader.
And that is something Buttigieg can't do convincingly for blacks right now.
I personally like him--he checks a lot of my boxes. One thing I like about him is that he's willing to listen and learn. With regard to his homosexuality, I would quote Revered Franklin Graham: "We're electing a president, not a pastor."
But when you look hard at his slim political record, he just doesn't have anything that would pull a black person off the fence to his side.
In terms of someone whose intended polices would do the most to help the most black people in the country, that would be Sanders, and his position has been consistent for more than half a century. If consistent support of policies that would help black people is the gauge, Sanders is it.
Black people (i.e. Black Democrats) worked with local Democrats and police to help decrease crime. Note, I am a product of the crack era and grew up in that era and was a young adult. I volunteered in organizations that worked with politicians and police on issues related to crime.
Decrease crime? How? I really want to know that.
What could local democrats and police do that? Talk a good game while not delivering results? In other words, business as usual. They aren't the ones tasked to raise other peoples children.
I have also made the point that blacks are no different than whites in the respect that lower taxes and regulations help them in the same way it helps everyone else.
Not when other political policies make it more difficult for blacks to capitalize on lower taxes and regulations.
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Everything said above also applies to Hispanics. As religious and socially conservative as they are we should have them in our camp. Trump has really screwed up with them but we must remember how much president Bush (W) had done to win them over. We need to get to work on that effort again as well.
I'm glad you recognized that point. Republicans ought to be asking themselves hard, "How did we lose Asians and Latinos?"
I think its true. Explain why whites are ahead of blacks in America then? The majority of whites will explain it by implicitly arguing that whites are superior in some way, for example, choice making (intelligence), personal responsibility (emotional intelligence), work ethic, etc, etc. What would gives whites a better naturally ability at any of those things, unless one assumes that whites are superior to blacks?
Glad this was posted in response to my post and that person's shock. Swilliamsny, I'd bet a majority of black people feel the same way I and Indentured Servant do. Many of the black posters have hinted at this within this thread and others on this board regardless of our political leans.
We know about the intricacies of white supremacy racism that you all ignore. The fact that you ignore it and act like this is not a huge part of American culture is the reason why conservatives don't get a large amount of middle-upper income black voters. Money is not more important to a majority of us than racial integrity and dignity. I'm not going to support loony people who ignore the fact that white supremacy is a part of this country's culture and that the legacy of racial oppression is still a huge factor in the lives of African Americans today.
Decrease crime? How? I really want to know that.
What could local democrats and police do? Talk a good game while not delivering results? In other words, business as usual. They aren't the ones tasked to raise other peoples children.
Work with each other to get criminals off the street....
Contrary to what you believe, black people often work with police and elected officials on social issues. Crime is a social issue.
ETA: When I lived in Atlanta I served in a voluntary position that was a bridge between community members, City Council/the Mayor's office, and the APD. During my tenure in that neighborhood and in this organization (I was an executive member and I was a member of many committees) crime decreased 40% within 5 years in the neighborhood. Today, that neighborhood is rapidly experiencing gentrification. Contrary to what many of you believe, gentrification often occurs after black residents in those neighborhoods worked to clean them up. The "first wave" of gentrifiers in urban areas are typically black families like my own who are not afraid of black people or poor people - usually because we are black and grew up poor. Both my husband and myself grew up in poor/urban environments during the crack epidemic so we are not afraid of black crack heads or dealers or what we call "characters" that inhabited our neighborhood when we moved there. I only got involved in politics and this community organization because I was being constantly harassed by police. I found out my neighbors were too - those of us who were not criminals and who worked or were retired and trying to live peaceful lives. Unlike what many of you think about black people, we often take our concerns to local government. We approached a local congressperson about issues, she suggested we join this group that worked directly with the city. I got to know a lot of people on council/the mayor's office and I knew the beat commanders and officers in my neighborhood. Because they knew me they stopped harassing me. I told them who my neighbors were and who they should not harass. I invited neighbors to meetings and we told the police who the negative people were in our neighborhood. The idea that we don't "snitch" is a stupid one lol. We also asked that they start harassing/stopping the white people coming to buy drugs in our neighborhood from drug dealers who didn't live in our neighborhood. We looked up where the drug dealers lived (after finding their "real names") and fed that info to the PD so they could arrest them. After the PD started harassing our new white neighbors who started moving into the neighborhood, we invited them to meetings so that the PD could know who they were and to not harass our white neighbors and treat them like drug addicts. There are lots of day to day things that go on in black neighborhoods that are not some stereotype you believe due to consuming media and thinking hip hop is a true reflection of the everyday lives of inner city black people when it is not. It is entertainment.
Last edited by residinghere2007; 02-10-2020 at 09:50 AM..
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