Hey, mhking! Are you a "myth"? I could have sworn I talked to you countless times by phone and I know you are a conservative American black man.
Or was I just talking to a "myth"?
Posted on 11/21/2006 7:48:21 AM PST by shrinkermd
Along the lines I mentioned earlier, if you REALLY want to be a rebel, an outlaw, a thinker, famous black people would come out as conservatives. The same way I think of the white, suburban "outlaws" with their piercings, tattoos, purple hair and Che Guevara T-shirts. You're not an outlaw if you're a slave to pop-culture, you're just another lemming.
Coming out as a conservative kills your "street-cred", until this cultural phenomenom is changed, and it would take a massive coming out of let's say Michael Jordan, Oprah and about 10 other superstars in solidarity to change the pack mentality of the black voter.
To the black conservatives here, sorry about my pessimism and congratulations on having your own mind.
I have a similar pessimism about muslims, there is a pack mentality, dissenters are shouted down and outnumbered and there are generations of group-think to overcome, it's akin to de-programming someone from a cult, it's not easy.
From what I have seen, self-identified Black conservatives are an independent minded and tough lot because they come to their views through experience and against the grain of normal Black politics. They are often fun to talk with and do not always get the credit they deserve because, being independent-minded, they do not always fit well with the loyalty tests of party politics. This is especially so with the Bush team, which, lacking a coherent set of ideas, prizes personal loyalty above conservative ideology. Hence, even though Steele is more conservative and battle-tested, Martinez got the RNC job because he is more willing to adhere to the twists and turns of Bush's political program than Steele would have been.
Thanks for the ping.
Black voters who are Republican and/or conservative are not Republican because they are Black... eg they are not Republican because Republican freed the slaves many generations in the past.
They are Republican as individuals. Some, but not most, Black Democrats also identify as individuals and not by racial identity.
To make further inroads, we need to approach them on their real motivations which may be their pocket book, or religious belief, or, like many non-Blacks, they just like the a candidates smile, or the way he does his hair adn botox.
In my Hanover Park suburb in 2000-2001, regardless of race, divorced and promiscuous women were the most liberal. Married and committed to marriage and monogamy women were the most conservative, regardless of race. The men, regardless of race, were in the middle.
Since 2001, IL, including my area, has been rough for the Republicans due to corruption and then immigration which made Republicans look mean-spirited and racist.
The struggle to win back both the Blacks, Hispanics and whites in my suburb will depend more on Republicans presenting a friendly face that is not mean-spirited, and then shaking the corruption image, then it anything else.
Hey, mhking! Are you a "myth"? I could have sworn I talked to you countless times by phone and I know you are a conservative American black man.
Or was I just talking to a "myth"?
Bump!
btt
Damn, I'm a myth too! *Grabs his golden fleece*
The black vote isn't as monolithic as it seems.
We pretty consistently get about 10 or 12% of the black vote nationwide. When you consider how many middle and professional class, private sector black families there are that isn't bad. It could be better, with consistent outreach it will be better, but it isn't bad.
The rest of the black vote, the part that votes a straight D ticket 199-1, doesn't do that because they're stupid. They know exactly what they are asking for. Government employees are not going to vote for smaller government or accountability and handout recipients are not going to vote for fewer handouts no matter what color the Rep. candidate is. This isn't just a black problem, the white trash class votes exactly the same way. So do white government workers.
Don't discount the first group while you're showing disgust at the second.
Wow! How does that make you feeeeeelllll?
I am? Gee. Thanks for telling me. I'll be sure to tell my wife, children and parents that so they'll stop wasting money on birthday and Christmas presents for me.
Just damn.
I kind of like being a "legend" myself. Makes the mystique even bigger...[g]
Then again, my wife says my head is swelled enough as it is.
Well, I'm an Argonauts fan, does that count?
You are a legend, and not just in your own mind :)
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