It really is an unspeakable tragedy - to see what the so-called "caring" liberals have done to our black people.
It's not going to be an easy road but the Republicans have nothing to lose by offering them a more positive and uplifting message. Show them how their lives can be improved by getting off welfare and entering the workforce or starting their own businesses. Then make it happen through serious welfare reform and making it financially more attractive to work a job (or start a business) than to collect a government welfare check.
This means that Republicans are going to have to stop walking on eggshells and tell it like it really is. Sure, they will at first get hammered by the Al Sharpton types and the media. But a lot of black people will respond to such a message and slowly, the Republicans and conservatism will win more and more of the black vote because they will offer a better way of life.
We already have some great black leaders on our side of the fence. Allen West, Thomas Sowell, Herman Cain, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, JC Watts, to name a few. Let's build on that.
As a conservative, I'm tired of seeing the black people being written off and it pains me to see the way of life so many of them are forced into by misguided liberal policies.
I’m a member of a minority demographic that is statistically worse off than blacks. I can’t speak for blacks, but I can speak from observations with my own demographic.
IMO, nothing will change their mindsets or votes except cold turkey withdrawal from government dependence. There is just too much pressure for the status quo otherwise, plus you always get more of what you subsidize. Stop subsidizing, and you’ll get less of what you subsidize (poverty, out-of-wedlock pregnancies, etc), almost like magic.
It's not that blacks have been "written off" by Republicans; they just won't consider an alternative message. They would have to admit they are wrong.
I agree with your sentiment. Good for us, good for them, good for our nation. The problem has always been one of approach. Most pleas for Republicans to woo black voters have been disguised calls to be Democrat-lite in policy and rhetoric. You are not suggesting this, but there has been the assumption in the media and politics that "reaching out to blacks" equals handing out goodies. To some extent, this is true. The Republicans did not abandon blacks, their platform works as well for them as for everyone else. Blacks, as well as other groups of non-white, non-married or non-Christian voters, simply have a different view of government and society in general.
The electorate is becoming more and more racially divided. This is generally embraced by the Democrats, particularly with a mixed-race POTUS in office. Their rhetoric has become very anti-traditionalist and, by extension, anti-white. I agree that somehow convincing even a modest percentage of black voters that Republican/conservative ideals are good for them would be a great thing. It is difficult to do. The Republican Party would do well to amplify its appeal to white voters, actually. There are many whites who will vote for Romney or simply not vote this year because they have been turned off and angered by the racial aggression from the Obama administration and media.
Republicans should realize that a lot of their current supporters arrived on the Right initially due to being fed up with affirmative action, racial politics and the pushing of white guilt in their schools and culture. As a young man, I was a liberal. After being constantly told I was the enemy, I realized that the Democratic Party was not for me. We should not alienate blacks on purpose, and I liked Romney's approach during his NAACP speech, but we must not alienate whites at all. The real danger to the Republican party is that it becomes the centrist party and an increasing push for a White/Right third party begins to split the conservative vote and ensure that Democrats win national elections easily.
As a one-time pecan orchard manager in Central Alabama, I've extensive experience with farm labor and rural blacks.
Their poverty is appalling -- both in terms of pocketbook and spirit. There is virtually no interest in education and/or advancement. Instead, their focus is on a welfare check (or two or three) and a job of sorts that brings in a supplemental paycheck sufficient to fund Friday night.
The women are vastly more reliable than the men. And, by generation, the older generation vastly more responsible than the younger.
Lunch-time conversations among the men usually revolve around the "papers" that their women (or prospective women) have -- meaning which programs they qualify for. Aside from the grandfathers and grandmothers, virtually nobody is married.
At one time, during segregation, Montgomery had a thriving "black business district" -- a mile-or-two east of "downtown". Complete with high-rise buildings, a hotel and a full complement of retailers. There were scores, perhaps hundreds, of well-to-do black businessmen then. They are all gone now.
In their stead, perhaps, is the faculty at Alabama State -- engrossed in teaching victimology and "social justice" racism. Along with the black politicians who dominate the black counties -- characters like "Senatuh Sahnders", the Mahatma of Dallas County and the Mayor of Whitehall. All corrupt...to their very core.
In my dealings with several hundred different black people over eight years' time, I became close to perhaps a dozen -- all from the older generation, respectful of maybe a dozen more (including the County Sheriff, a fine man). And I came across exactly two (count 'em, 2!) young men who had any ambition at all to make something of themselves.
I helped one earn a scholarship to Auburn and the other to find a good job with some upward mobility. In the latter case, I had to fire him first -- to get his attention.
Indeed, it is tragic -- yea, criminal -- what fifty years of liberalism have done to the black family. They are left with a slothful dependence and a generally worse economic condition than what they experienced during Jim Crow. And are painfully devoid of community and personal pride, ambition or accomplishment.
And, if my experience means anything, it's going to be a long, slow slog before black America starts responding to a message of independence and responsibility for self. But, the very fact that you can identify "Allen West, Thomas Sowell, Herman Cain, Condoleeza Rice, Clarence Thomas, JC Watts, to name a few" means that the migration may have begun.
Republican politicians need to learn that the way to win over black audiences is not by out-pandering liberals but is, instead, concentrate on the conservative message...and what it might mean to black ambitions.
Sorry for the extended respons, got a lot off my chest...
“It really is an unspeakable tragedy - to see what the so-called “caring” liberals have done to our black people”
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I love the way you stated this post. I DO think there is getting to be that “critical mass” of Black speakers now on New Media - not only those you mentioned, but callers to the talk shows, etc., and people like Jackson have lost some of their power.