THE PERCEIVED STUPIDITY OF THE BLACK VOTER

myself ^ | 09 January 2005 | trueblackman

[Trueblackman]

THE PERCEIVED STUPIDITY OF THE BLACK VOTER

My father once told me; “That when you become conformably living in a state of stupidity, you tend to want to stay there.”

When I made the choice to leave the Democratic Party over 10 years ago over ideology differences and general disrespect towards my community, I firmly believed that I broke those chains that had kept me tied to their plantation of electoral stupidity.

In the 10 years on the run, I have watched with anger as my community has been used repeatedly as a bullet proof vest to insulate Democratic Party Candidates and Leaders from their supporters when it comes to their repeated failures to win national elections. These candidates, party leaders, supporters and their Black operatives all complain the reason they lost is because Black voters were somehow disenfranchised, had their votes thrown out or suppressed and were intimidated by white Republican operatives, candidates and party leaders.

In 1998 I remember radio ads targeted towards the Black community put together by Jesse Jackson and the Democratic National Committee (DNC) that claimed “When we don’t vote Democrat we let another brother get shot, when we don’t vote Democrat, we let another brother get lynched and when we don’t vote Democrat, we let another church burn.” It would seem that Jesse Jackson was willing to help the DNC in their campaign of fear targeted towards our community, the same community he abandon a long time ago for the big house of the Democratic Party.

In 2000, we saw the Democrats and their Black operatives and groups fear tactics targeted towards the Black community take a new twist as it was not good enough for Democrats to claim that a vote for Republicans would return us not only to the days of mass shootings, lynching and church burnings, but a vote for Republicans would return Black America to the days of slavery, mass jailings and a lost of all civil rights. When all these tactics failed and it looked like then Texas Governor George W. Bush would win the Electoral College Vote over then Vice President Albert Gore, Democrats and their Black operatives began a campaign of disinformation and excuses. These Democrats claimed that if all the votes had been counted in Florida’s heavily Black Democratic Areas, then Gore would be President, not Bush. Democrats went as far as to claim that Black voters were disenfranchised and had their votes thrown out, funny how these same Democrats never complained about those Black votes thrown out in New York City due to greater voter spoilage than in Florida, but New York was a state that Gore won by a wide margin and it only counts when it works against a Democrat.

In 2002 Democrats blamed Black voters outright for their failure to capture the House and retain their one vote majority in the Senate. Democrats had sought for over 2 years to fan the flames of hatred of Bush in the Black community and conduct a campaign of disinformation and smear, the battlecry was “Remember what happen in 2000, don’t let it happen again elect the Democrats to protect your vote, “but when their campaign fell flat Democrats and their Black operatives were quick to blame the Black community for not showing up and doing the right thing on election day.

In 2004 Democrats well aware that Blacks were getting a little sick and tired of being taken for granted and perceived as stupid sought to refine their tactics by claiming that electronic voting machines could not be trusted and that Republicans would use electronic voting machines to steal another election because the machines were made in Texas by a Bush supporter, Democrats went as far as to demand and had foreign election observers be brought in to make sure the election was fair.

When it was clear that Bush would win a second term, Democrats then claimed that Black voters in Ohio were disenfranchised because of the weather and long lines on Election Day. Democrats like Congressmen John Conyers went as far as to have mock hearing and had his staff put together a report that listed a whole host of conspiracy theories on why Senator John F. Kerry lost Ohio and thus the Presidency to Bush.

Democratic Senator Barbara Boxers fearful of having her fellow Democrat Senators lambasted again by master film propagandist Michael Moore signed on to an official Congressional Protest from Ohio Congresswoman Stephanie Tubbs Jones. Senator Boxer even came with tears in her eyes as Jones rattled off a list of far fetched theories on why Kerry lost Ohio in a vain attempt to turn out Constitutional Republic’s Election Process into a laughing stock, which in the end failed.

I will say one thing I do cry with Boxer over one thing and that is that a majority of Blacks will somehow believe that the election was once again stolen from another Democrat and for those Blacks I do weep, because their chains have been tighten once again and Democrats will continue to perceive our community as being stuck on stupid.

[OSHA]

You might find this interesting. It's an actual poster on DU who may be on the verge of an epiphany if he ever gets around to truly seeking honest answers to his own questions.....

Why does the Black Caucus get such disrespect? Why are they always left alone? When will they ever get some help? When will they ever have a role except for getting out the vote? Why are they always left behind?

[spinestein]

[Had I gone to this program, and once the white students found out I attended a program for the "stupid n*****s," I would never have been able to prove myself their equal as a scholar.]

Something similar to this is never spoken of on record but I have heard and seen it happening. When employers are looking at job resumes and it includes college experience, the black job applicants get points mentally deducted from consideration in order to compensate for the points added by affirmative action to their college experience.

The reasoning is, if you are comparing two job applicants (one white, one black) and they have identical college experience you just know the white student had to earn his way through school but the black student MUST have been helped along the whole way.

This is a terrible stigma to put on people and it is because of the soft bigotry of affirmative action.

[mowkeka]

BTTT.

[ozarkgirl]

Thank you for that sentiment, we of course know that it is not true but some "caucuses' would like to pretend that it is true. Let's all get over this crap and go on to the real world.

[Dashing Dasher]

Bravo!
Well said.... with courage.

[Dashing Dasher]

Don't let the zotting troll get away from the message this Freeper has posted. It's worth reading and it's worth contemplation.

Zot the guy on the "hundred of hotels" thread.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1317240/posts

[SauronOfMordor]

There is zero commonality of interests between the African American community and the Democrat Party. Zero.

Not exactly. The one attraction of the Dem party is the support for Affirmative Action and the use of government agencies as jobs programs. The main beneficiaries are the educated Black middle class, who tend to achieve a higher income level than would otherwise be the case

[ozarkgirl]

What you said about the welfare state, that is so true. How can one expect to come up in the world if one's expectation is for the government to "come thru" for them. All individuals should be expected to work to the best of their abilities. Obviously some are well equipped more than others, where I work (Bass Pro) we have many handicapped persons who are only able to come in on a bus in their wheelchairs or canes. Do I feel sympathy, not at all, I think they'd rather work than sit at home all day. At least they are treated like others who also have an obligation and thus respect for working individuals. Would I rather work (bummer having to get up in the morning) or would I rather take from those who have to work to support me. It's a pain to have to work, however, I'd rather work than be labeled someone who isn't willing.

[Lancey Howard]

In the 10 years on the run, I have watched with anger as my community has been used repeatedly as a bullet proof vest to insulate Democratic Party Candidates and Leaders from their supporters when it comes to their repeated failures

BUMP!

[TypeZoNegative]

ZOT!

[BackInBlack]

"You might find this interesting. It's an actual poster on DU who may be on the verge of an epiphany if he ever gets around to truly seeking honest answers to his own questions.....

'Why does the Black Caucus get such disrespect? Why are they always left alone? When will they ever get some help? When will they ever have a role except for getting out the vote? Why are they always left behind?'"

The problem is that this guy is almost surely saying the Dems should move to the left. That's what Democrats think "listening to the black community" entails.

[radiohead]

you just know the white student had to earn his way through school but the black student MUST have been helped along the whole way.

I think this is a bit unfair. The black student's race may have been help him to get in, but once in, he is on his own. At the undergrad level, almost all schools have tutoring or math and reading centers available to all students, regardless of color. If blacks were helped disproportionately along the way, they would graduate at a higher rate than they do now, which is lower than whites.

Even Michigan's MBA program, a pretty good one, has a boot camp for new students who need a refresher in math. The difference, as I see it, is that the boot camp is for everyone who wants to take it. As most MBA students have been out of school for years and may not have used their math skills, this makes sense. What wouldn't make sense, and what would be racist, would be to relegate this type of help to minorities.

There's a lot to be said against Affirmative Action, but employers who downgrade a minority college grad based on imagined benefits of Affirmative Action throughout a college career are being unfair and are ignorant of the system.

This isn't a knock against you, spinestein, just against those types of employers. I've hired people, supervised them, worked in law school admissions, been on a doctoral admissions committee, and of course, been a student. I've seen it from all sides.

[TASMANIANRED]

bump

[BackInBlack]

"The one attraction of the Dem party is the support for Affirmative Action and the use of government agencies as jobs programs. The main beneficiaries are the educated Black middle class, who tend to achieve a higher income level than would otherwise be the case."

Yes, absolutely -- as well Democratic support for labor unions, which have a disproportionate number of blacks, more vehement opposition to racial profiling, more rhetoric (though zero action) on racial disparities in prison sentences, support for a higher minimum wage, etc.

To me, what's troubling most about the Dems is not racism per se, but a knee-jerk belief that anyone who is down and out will never become successful on his own.

I hear a lot of liberal rhetoric from my family, friends, fellow church members, etc., though I think I've got a pretty good sense of why most black Americans vote Democrat. I mean, almost by definition, redistribution -- at least, redistribution down -- will temporarily help those at the bottom of the economic spectrum. That's pretty much what Democrats favor that appeals to blacks. I'm not inclined to call that stupidity so much as (a) shortsightedness and (b) resignation. The latter is particularly saddening: too many blacks are inclined to believe that they "need help" and the government, flawed as it is, is their last best hope.

[BackInBlack]

Thank you! I sometimes forget there are other brothers on Free Republic!

The one point where I disagree is that I think there really was systematic disenfranchisement in Florida in 2000. That doesn't mean I wanted Gore to win; I didn't. But I'd rather Bush have won fair and square.

Now, are the Democrats hypocrites for crying about Florida but not, say New York or Illinois? Of course! Were they hypocrites for not complaining about John F. Kennedy's victory in Illinois in 1960? Of course! But even a broken clock is right twice a day. Pointing out their failure to be right in other situations is not a rebuttal of their argument about Florida.

[Paulus Invictus]

Yalies? But the Clintons are both Yale grads and y'all voted for those crooks. But they did learn to spell.

[spinestein]

[There's a lot to be said against Affirmative Action, but employers who downgrade a minority college grad based on imagined benefits of Affirmative Action throughout a college career are being unfair and are ignorant of the system.]

Yes, they are.

I hope that I didn't imply to anyone that I condoned this, or that I thought most people would, but it is certainly happening and it's an unintended (and unavoidable) consequence of AA.

I have also seen the bitterness and sometimes anger and occasionally hatred that is directed toward black students because of the perceptions that accompany affirmative action, as well as the same negative feelings from black students toward whites about how whitey is keeping them down.

I can't help but think that all of this racial baggage could be reduced to irrelevance, instead it's being increased and amplified for the furtherance of a political program.

[BackInBlack]

"I have also seen the bitterness and sometimes anger and occasionally hatred that is directed toward black students because of the perceptions that accompany affirmative action, as well as the same negative feelings from black students toward whites about how whitey is keeping them down."

See Glenn Loury's excellent work on this. He argues that, in the context of affirmative action, there are three categories of minority college/job applicants: (1) those who would get in without affirmative action, (2) those who won't get in either way, and (3) those who would get in only because of affirmative action.

Loury's argument was that affirmative action has led most whites to believe that all minorities belong to category number 3 -- meaning, for one thing, that all or almost all minorities at good colleges didn't really deserve it, and for another, that pretty much any minority member can get into whatever school he wants as a result of his race. Both of those assumptions are wrong, Loury said, but the resentment was hurting blacks more than affirmative action was helping them.

Full disclosure: Loury has abandoned his opposition to affirmative action since making these arguments. But his original thesis is right on, in my judgment and experience.

[traviskicks]

http://www.neoperspectives.com/blackconservatism.htm

Might find this interesting.... on African American politics w/ Welfare reform.

[traviskicks]

http://www.neoperspectives.com/florida.htm