democrats and the "black vote"...

[whirlwind]

why do the democrats get most of the black vote in this country? i heard a black preacher on tv today talking about how blacks have been duped into voting democrat. he went on about how if people would search back through the history of blacks in america that the cause of most if not all of the bad things that happened to em were caused or implemented by white southern democrats. i only caught the speach in passing so i dont know who he was or even what channel was on. but he made alot of valid points! i mean think of it,now their getting to vote for kerry,a super rich white guy! how many of kerrys friends do ya really think are black and live in the projects? if a black teenager dressed in popular dress came to his door in the night and wanted to use his phone to call a tow truck or something do you think hed get to come in or do you think hed be cuffed and stuffed in a police car quicker than you could say "i had a dream"?

[TheTeXasSoldier]

It's simple they get more free stuff given to them by the government when and Dumbacrackatic is in the "WHITE" house.

[NRAJOE]

They forget a Republican emancipated them and paid for it with his life....

[Big Dog]

The DNC is owned lock, stock & barrel by the Black Activists - they string the people along for their own ends.
The Blacks would be well served to get rid of the likes of the self-serving Jacksons, Sharptons, etc. They do nothing for the people at large.

You raise an interesting point regarding the southern democrat. It was Lyndon B Jouhnson who signed the civil rights act and eliminated segregation. He was a southern democrat. He was the exception and not the rule though. Reagan was the man who transformed the southern democrats into Republicans. That is the base he took away from Carter. He did this by wrapping himself up in the bible and flag. He was the one who shifted the Republican platform to mimic the conservative democrats thus making it easier to shift camps.

I think the nation of Islam has some good things going for it in terms of energizing the African American community. It's a shame Malcom X was killed by his own people (I believe) because he was really getting on to something good.

As more African Americans rise through corporate ladders, there will be more policital freedom and variety.
Bush has not reached out to the African American community too much because his power base is the religous conservative, white, midwestern man and woman. He is a populist in his rhetoric and his cabinet has the most number of African Americans in it to date, but until he can shape his message appealing to the black community, it will always fall short.

[Rave]

Back in 1964,I believe it was our illusterious LBJ said"I'll have thse black bastids voting Democrat for the next 200 years",at least that is what I heard,been a long time and he might have been right.

[whirlwind]

in my job i worked with alotof people from muslim countries and everyone of them thought "the nation of islam" was a joke. they said that all muslims the world over think its a joke. the nation of islam isnt taken seriously by other non-american muslims at all. kinda funny i think.

You're correct, the Nation of Islam is niether but, they do call for self-determination and pulling themselves up first.
Maybe my take on them is stuck in 1968.

[NRAJOE]

Why Courting the Black Vote Won't Work



by La Shawn Barber





A New Visions Commentary paper published March 2004 by The National Center for Public Policy Research. Reprints permitted provided source is credited.



Justifiably confident going into the election cycle, Republicans have announced they hope to win 25 percent of the black vote. Former Republican Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has great expectations. "If we get African-American votes, [the Democrats] are in deep trouble," he told the Washington Post.

Not just any trouble. Deep trouble, he says.

Columnist Jonetta Rose Barras agrees, citing black voters' growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that resulted in Arnold Schwarzenegger winning 17 percent of their vote last year and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg garnering 22 percent in 2001.

The statistics portend good things for Republicans. According to the oft-cited Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 2002 political survey, 63 percent of blacks self-identified as Democrats (down from 74 percent in 2000), 24 percent as independents (up from 20 percent) and 10 percent as Republicans (up from 4 percent).

Regardless of how blacks self-identify, however, Democrats consistently get 90 percent of the black vote. Why? Years of damage caused by liberal ideology and misinformation pumped into the black community for the past 25 years. Memo to Republicans: Popping up in black church services and doing sound bites on urban radio won't cut it.

Blacks have been lied to about the history of the Republican Party and civil rights. Historically, blacks voted for Republicans because Democrats were blatantly anti-civil rights (and in some ways still are). For example, "radical" Republicans of the 1860s supported slavery's end in America. Democrats opposed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1964 (Senator Robert Byrd participated in a filibuster of the latter). Jim Crow was a creation of Democrats.

In the 1960s, Democrats blocked school doorways while Republicans pushed de-segregation legislation. In 2004, Democrats continue to block school doorways as Republicans push school choice, the only hope many black parents have to ensure that their kids get a decent education.

So why did large numbers of blacks switch from voting for Republicans to voting for Democrats? Some say it was President John F. Kennedy's perceived sensitivity to the oppression of minorities that endeared him and his party to black Americans.

Aside from revisionist history, a more fundamental rift exists between blacks and Republicans. The concept of limited government, a core Republican principle, is anathema to most blacks - even wealthy, well-educated ones. Thanks to the handiwork of Southern Democrats, blacks continue to turn to the federal government for redress of the slightest racial grievance.

Conservatives have a healthy distrust of the federal government, and believe its powers should be limited to only those enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. To most blacks, however, limited government brings to mind "states rights," which in turn evokes images of Southern whites and their resentment of federal intervention in local affairs during de-segregation.

The rights of the states are at the heart of a good constitutional republic, but blacks won't easily forget it was the federal government that enforced civil rights after Reconstruction, created jobs under the New Deal and protected us from billy clubs, dogs and water hoses in the 1960s. Do you blame people for believing a bloated, central bureaucracy is still savior even in 2004?

Republicans should keep emphasizing that the federal government is not supposed to have this much control over the people. The U.S. Supreme Court most recently usurped the will of the people by finding a non-existent constitutional basis for continued race discrimination, although discrimination was legally abolished in 1964. In 1973, they usurped the will of the people by discovering a non-existent "right to privacy" to kill unborn babies. Favoring a strong, forceful central government was once a matter of survival for blacks generations ago, but no longer.

Given this elemental divide between blacks and Republicans, it won't be easy for the GOP to court us. But the most important advantage Republicans have over Democrats is that Republicans can win elections without the black vote; Democrats can't.

In the meantime, Republicans should continue to do what they do best: defend the country, support policies that foster economic growth and fight for the sanctity of the family, the unborn and the dignity of the individual.

Once enough of us are fed up with liberal lies, fear, resentment and mistrust (and being passed over for leadership positions), perhaps they'll return to the party that set us free. And once they get a taste of real freedom, Democrats will be in trouble. Deep trouble.



###


(La Shawn Barber is a member of the African-American leadership network Proeject 21 and freelance writer in Washington, D.C. Comments may be sent to barbersview@yahoo.com.)

[whirlwind]

i just cant wait to see how the dems will react when powell runs for prez! thats gonna set the dem strategy back 400 years hahaha

The black vote is not really that strong either.
Bloomberg and the Governator would be considered moderate Republicans by most definitions.
According to my brother, Bloomberg is doing a great job.

Powell won't run for President. If he does, you would be sorely dissapointed in his politics. Not nearly conservative enough for youse guys.

[whirlwind]

if i were a betting man id lay cash on powell 2008

I'd vote for him.

[Big Dog]

I'm betting on Condi for 2008!

Condi vs. the Hildebeeste - Now that's a cat-fight I'd pay real money to see!

[BattleRifleG3]

Where's the popcorn?