Posted on 07/19/2014 6:00:08 AM PDT by markomalley
It is no accident that rhetoric about race has been ramping up at a time when racial politics can be the key determinant for control of the Senate this year.
At least three states - North Carolina, Louisiana, and Arkansas - are red states with vulnerable Democrat senators up for re-election that have large black populations.
Can racism really be as rampant in America as all the current rhetoric implies?
A Google search for “racism” will produce a long list of articles from the most recent week's news claiming racism on issue after issue of national concern.
We need to dig deeper and give more careful thought about whether racism is as pervasive as all the rhetoric seems to imply or whether other factors are driving the problems that continue to plague non-white communities. And if so, perhaps all the rhetoric about race we're hearing reflects more Democratic political operations than realities of America.
In important ways, American attitudes on race have changed dramatically.
According to Gallup, in 1958 only 4 percent of Americans believed marriage between individuals of different races was acceptable. Today 87 percent say interracial marriage is okay.
A society, in which almost 90 percent of people believe it is just fine for individuals of different races to marry and have children together, can hardly be called a racist society.
And, of course, a black man today sits in the White House serving his second term as president.
Granted, in 2012 the Republican candidate, Mitt Romney, won 61 percent of the white vote. But 39 percent of whites voted for the black, Democrat candidate.
It turns out, as the Washington Post's Chris Cillizza wrote last year, that in every presidential election since 1972, the average percentage of the white vote for the Democrat candidate was just about the same as what Obama got in in 2012 - around 39 percent.
So a real headline about election of our first black president was that race had hardly had any impact at all on voting patterns. The percentage of whites voting Republican was around the norm as was the percentage of whites voting for the Democrat. A black Democrat did not drive away white Democrats.
The Post’s Cillizza shows that the driving political reality of recent presidential elections has been the growing non-white percentage of the electorate and that most of these non-white Americans support Democrats.
In 1980, 88 percent of the electorate was white compared to 72 percent in 2012.
In 1980, 23 percent of Democrat voters were non-white compared to 44 percent in 2012. In 1980, 4 percent of Republican voters were non-white compared to 11 percent in 2012.
The growing percentage of our voters is not white and they largely vote for Democrats.
If the key difference between the two parties is about big government versus limited government, much of what America’s future will look like will ride on whether Republicans can make any headway with non-white voters with a limited government message.
I believe there is much potential for doing so if Republicans would get down to the work that needs to be done.
Since the Civil Rights Act in 1964, black economic progress on average compared to the white population has been dismal. The gap in black household income compared to white household income has grown, average black household wealth as a percentage of average white household wealth has shrunk, and the percentage of black poverty has remained almost constant at three times greater than white poverty.
These realities reflect destructive big government policies that grip these communities. But Democrats who want to continue to sell these policies will continue on the racism message and claim that this is what limited government ideas are about.
Republicans need to get the truth to black populations in these key vulnerable states. They need to hear about limited government reforms that will help them. This can determine who controls the Senate next year.
Actually not. He isn't even half black. At most, BO is 3/8th black and maybe as little as 1/8th. The balance is Arab/Muslim.
YES, having lived in Shelby Co, MEMPHIS, TN for 30 yrs it is alive and well.
They will vote for a white Jew 0 butt kisser over a black conservative Businesswoman. That is how bad it is in Shelby CO.
We passed the early voting site down town yesterday, all black candidates, and Dems, were out in force, no GOP in sight.
It will always be that way in Shelby County and most other places too.
Yes, racism is growing in America, but the racists are black, not white.
Yes, racism is growing in America, but the racists are black, not white.
Democrats can’t face the real issues with out lies the only act they have is the race card the low informed and media love it but it’s time is over.
The black vote turnout in a nonpresidential election will be low and there is near panic to try to get the blacks enthused enough to go vote
It seems that Rand Paul is not so much a Libertarian as he is an anarchist. It doesn’t matter so much, as to your label, that if you do not understand or support the Constitution, you have no business being a cog in the machinery of our government.
“We passed the early voting site down town yesterday, all black candidates, and Dems, were out in force, no GOP in sight.”
That’s because most GOPers prefer to work than stand around doing nothing.
The Racist-in-Chief and his lieutenants and camp followers will ensure that the race card is played as often as possible between now and November 46th.
They have nothing else to run on except racism. By lying about conservatives and instilling fear of them in the hearts and minds of the low information voters they appeal to, they hope to prevail in November.
They will, as witnessed in Mississippi, lie, cheat, bribe voters and steal as many votes as they can to win elections, also.
We must be vigilant to the lies, deceptions, cheating, bribes, etc., etc. that will be unleashed upon us between now and November 4.
We have our work cut out for us!
Nobody is that stupid.
Limited government will never fly with people who are getting more from government than they could ever get on their own.
IN Oregon, the Dems put marajuana legalization on the next ballot. The will bring out all the hippie trash who don’t normally vote.
He’s a Democrat in all but name, and a demagogue.
We need more talk recognizing the War on Whites. It’s real, but some of the electorate has been conditioned not to notice.
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