Black Out
Leave a commentApril 5, 2015 by JImbo
Did you know James Earl Jones is a Republican?
How about Rappers LL Cool J and Fifty Cent? The Rock? Don King?
Why not? Because they’re black?
Racist!
Seriously though Martin Luther King, Jr was a proud Republican and Conservative.
So was Harriet Tubman and Booker T. Washington. It’s nothing new.Why is this left out of the history books? Because it would “confuse kids?” Well yeah the truth is confusing sometimes. Suck it up. Democrats were NOT on the right side of the racial divide…. then or now.
We are just told that “Blacks always vote Democrat.”
But do they?
Well, they do… 95% of the time anyway. However, that’s not the whole story. It wasn’t always like that.
What’s more, they don’t necessarily LIKE voting for Democrats. According to a recent poll,
Gallup Poll Finds 26% of African Americans Are Conservative
Maybe it’s just me but I don’t find this shocking. A lot of the people I work with are black. I would have guessed closer to 10% but my sampling isn’t exactly scientific. I don’t give random polls to strangers and coworkers, as fun as that sounds.
I can see how this could be legit though. This isn’t even a “Red” state. New York is about as “Blue” as you can get and still you run into quite a few Conservatives. Down South I’d expect it’s a lot higher as the population as a whole is more Republican/Conservative.
However, it’s easily explainable when you think about it. The black folks I grew up with as neighbors and friends were very religious on average. You can only generalize so much and this is the country, but historically there is a strong religious trend in black communities.
The Abolitionist movement was led by the churches leading to Civil War in the 1860s.
The Civil Rights movement was led in the churches in the 1960s.
It wasn’t a coincidence that it was spearheaded by the REVEREND Martin Luther King, Jr and the Southern CHRISTIAN Leadership Conference (SCLC.) Even today African Americans are the most religious racial group (85% Christian) It is also not a coincidence that a majority of the community leaders in black communities are religiously affiliated (Reverend Al Sharpton, Reverend Jesse Jackson, etc) The title, even if they disgrace the pulpit, still means something to those in the community.
Since much of the “Conservative” platform is based on social issues it only stands to reason that many would vote in line with their faith. Often I get into discussions at work on news of the day since I like to keep the news on in the vehicle. It helps to pass the time and people can learn by osmosis.
Often they ask me to explain things or give their own opinions. For all the talk about a “Democrat Coalition”, it seems all too fragile to me. While 95% of African Americans may VOTE Democrat, it doesn’t mean they like it.
Regularly folks just shake their head at the idiocy of folks in Washington. They hate the corruption and abuse of power. It’s an American thing I think, not for any one race.
However, what would surprise many Democratic pundits would be how much the black community HATES the “Progressive Social Agenda.”
Absolutely loathe it.
By and large the black community that I grew up with and speak to daily tend to disagree with the Democrats on gay rights, abortion, foreign diversity, illegal immigration, etc. Granted this isn’t a scientific poll or anything, but the majority seem to despise how “this country is going to hell in a handbasket.”
Of course they don’t always ADMIT to being “Conservative” in public. You can be gay before you can be Conservative these days. It’s a dirty word.
That doesn’t stop them from BEING Conservative. They just can’t call it that. Just think it.
This isn’t new either, as gallup found in 2007. Black Democrats are often as or more “Conservative” than White Republicans on social issues!
Social programs they’re split on. Defense too. Fiscal responsibility is iffy.
However, socially the black folks can’t STAND when every grievance group starts claiming things like “It’s just like Selma in Indiana” or “Gay folks are suffering under ‘Jim Crow Laws’ in Indiana.” There is just NO support for the social agenda.
That’s why I often wonder what the Democrats are thinking. They seem to think they have a solid coalition, but if they push much harder on social issues they could see a shift to the Right by many African Americans.
Not just them, but other minorities as well. The Hispanic religious rate is 84% in the latest polls, about the same as Blacks. If anything they are even MORE Socially Conservative.
Sadly in this country right now the Democrats have scared the bejeezus out of minorities and lied to them. The system has worked for them so far. The Republican party has tried hard to prove every stereotype right and refused to fight the Democrats in their social war.
As I’ve said before though, on the individual level things are changing. People are starting to slowly support PEOPLE over PARTIES. When you get people away from the labels “Democrat” and “Republican” and into actual candidates and issues the whole two-party schism breaks down.
This has led to the rise of large numbers of minorities in the Republican party. I don’t say OF the Republican party because they still aren’t in the “corridors of power” so to speak.
Not that there are that many minorities in the Democrat headquarters either. Joe Biden? Hilary Clinton? Nancy Pelosi? Harry Reid? Not a minority or youth there. In fact Democrat candidates in Congress pay their staff less and are less diverse than many of their Republican counterparts!
So, the two parties are full of old white people who don’t even resemble the white folks they supposedly represent, let alone the minorities. Why does that give me hope?
Well, they’re old for one. They are starting to retire and die off. And they don’t “get” social media or the power of the Internet to spread ideas outside of “official” media channels. That lack of oversight and political senility has been a boon for the next generation.
They give lip service to being about the “youth” and “new ideas” and “minorities” but it’s more of an “in spite of” the two party leaderships of old white people, the grassroots folks have started to take root.
Take for example a poll recently of top “Conservative” Presidential candidates for 2016.*
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Of the top ten choices, 60% are NOT white guys.Conservatives by and large would be THRILLED with any of the above. In fact, when brought up in conversation many minority folks would ALSO support many of these candidates (when they know who they are. Some are lesser known than others.)
I think there is a HUGE potential for cross-party voting in the near future. That is, if any of these Conservatives are allowed to run in the Republican party. That is far from a given.
You see these are the CONSERVATIVE choices, not REPUBLICAN choices. The REPUBLICAN PARTY choices by the leadership (made up of old white guys) are:
Jeb Bush (White Guy)
Mike Huckabee (White Guy)
Haley Barbour (White Guy)
Mitt Romney (White Guy)
Chris Christie (White Guy)
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See the pattern here? Now you can say the Democratic party is better, but besides Barack Obama what have you had for presidential candidates in the past?
Hillary Clinton (Old White Woman)
Joe Biden (Old White Guy)
John Kerry (White Guy)
Al Gore (White Guy)
Bill Clinton (White Guy)
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Not a lot of difference is there? Perhaps we are moving beyond parties to some extent, at least in fund raising. Much was made of Republican favorite Jeb Bush’s “blast for cash” around the country in a whirlwind of fundraisers. However, in his first week underdog and Conservative Ted Cruz surpassed his goal by 300%.
Using mostly online fund raising and social media, Senator Cruz raised $4 million… when he only thought he’d raise ONE million. And the number is still rising.
It’s too early to tell how this will play out, but folks are starting to take notice. If you can go AROUND the party apparatus then you don’t NEED it. That’s a scary thought for many people. However, it is also liberating.
Of special note is that while Jeb Bush is courting a few dozen rich families, Ted Cruz’s donations have been in the tens of thousands and are usually for less than $100 per person from crowd-funding websites. That’s not only money but PEOPLE TOO.
This sort of connection with the people was something that was “groundbreaking” when Barack Obama did it. However, now the media seems to not notice. It IS important and newsworthy.
Whereas Jeb (and Barack to a large extent to) are beholden to big interests, the individual candidates who DON’T get party backing are in a stronger position in many ways. They don’t have to answer to anyone or bend to special interests. While those Conservative candidates in the poll above are mostly Republicans, none of them are loved by the party and the party spends next to nothing on them.
One big reason you’ll see the hashtag #DefundtheGOP going around twitter. I’d add #DefundtheDNC too. Candidates can now start running national campaigns like local ones, reaching directly to the individual and small civic groups through the Internet and Social Media. They don’t have to ask permission from the parties for every dime in return for favors.
Whine if you want about how “hopeless” the system is, but it IS changing. People are speaking up and being heard. It’s only a matter of time before candidates run with little to no party affiliation.
Then what?
Well, then you’ll see these divided subgroups like Blacks, Gays, Christians and Blue Collar start recognizing that their interests really aren’t that far apart. They will start to realize that the two parties are more concerned with gaining power than representing them.
Then things start to change.
Candidates become LOCAL and INDIVIDUAL.
I don’t know if more parties will rise up of similar interests or regional affiliations. Maybe the larger parties will split. People LIKE groups so who knows? Maybe there will be Christian groups and Black groups. However, they won’t be “parties” in the same way they are now. More interest groups in the community.
YOU can help move this process along. Don’t give a DIME to the political parties. Instead, give what you can to INDIVIDUALS.
Support the PERSON, not the PARTY.
Support PRINCIPLES, not PARTISAN POLITICS.
I don’t care who you support honestly. That’s up to you. Just give money and donate your time. That’s the only way to make a difference.
Whining does nothing except prove that you are lazy and can be ignored.
Whether it’s “Give Ten for Ted” or “Make a Call for Paul” or “Walk for Walker” in a walk-a-thon, do something constructive.
Sorry, couldn’t think of anything useful to say about Hillary and the rest of the Democrat bench is less than inspring. Even if we get Elizabeth Warren it’s “Hillary but Angrier.” Who else? Al Gore again? Joe Biden again? John Kerry again?
So much for “new ideas from the youth.”
Why all this HATE lately?
When did LOVE and LIBERTY become bad words?
Why are we scared of FREEDOM?
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