Blacks still leery of right wing (barf alert)

The right-wing campaign to create a new black leadership, launched at the height of the civil rights movement, continues to flounder. It has been scuttled by a broad cross section of black voters who are leery of a Republican Party that's increasingly dominated by right-wing politicians.

Gee, DeWayne managed to mention 'right-wing' twice in two consecutive sentences. No bias here.

I've given up on the majority of blacks ever recognizing the futility of endless assumed victimhood and the empty promises of the Democrat party. They are simply unconvinced for a variety of reasons (see post #5 by Phantom Lord) and, unfortunately, I don't expect that to change for very long time. Sad but true.

I haven't heard a really good explanation of why black voters switched (that doesn't involve screaming "racists" as this columnist does).

It did indeed start with Roosevelt. But blacks did not vote lockstep Democrat in the massive numbers seen today until the passage of the Civil Rights Act and Voting Rights Act in the mid-1960's. LBJ, a Democrat, made sure that word got out that black voters could only trust Democrats.

It was a remarkable piece of rhetorical slight of hand, since the Southern Democrats such as George Wallace were among the most virulent racists in the country at the time. (Wallace later repented of his racism.)

Today, the Democratic Party has a social, political, and psychological hold on the black community beyond anything the Republicans have even among there staunchest supporters. Many blacks really do think that the Republican Party is systemically racist and would wipe them out if they could, and that the Democrats are the only ones that stop that from happening. It sounds ridiculous to us, but that is why Gore could get away with hinting in a black church that Bush is in favor of slavery. Many of the folks in the congregation probably believed it.

The feelings by blacks against Republicans are so strong that Republicans will not break into the black community for at least a generation. That is too bad - I think that blacks would find a lot to like about the Republican Party.

Here is an interesting statistic. Zogby did a poll a few years ago and discovered that blacks support the agenda of the religious right - pro-life, pro-family, etc., more than any other ethnic group. It is clear that blacks are very church-going, God-fearing, conservative folks. Yet they vote for the most anti-family candidates imaginable, every single time. It really is a fascinating case study in political science, in addition to being very regrettable.

Obviously there is a very strong religious conservative streak in the black community. But it seems that black voting is determined more by economic policies than by cultural values, and the Democrats have convinced people that Republicans only care about rich white businessmen. A far higher percentage of blacks than whites also work for the government, and hence have a vested interest in keeping the government big and active. I would be interested in seeing what the voting break down was among blacks who, say, earn over $75k a year and work in the private sector. My guess is it would be tilted more Republican, but I could be wrong.

Whites create black 'leaders'

To this day I still don't know who is the recognized leader of the blacks in America. My thinking is that since it has become fashionable for the blacks to have parallel organizations, events and activities to those of mainstream America (Black Congressional caucus, Black Student Unions, Black Fraternities/Sororities, Black graduation ceremonies, Black Beauty Pageants and the list goes on) why not once and for all at a very small cost determine which of the current hustlers are the acknowledged leaders of the black community. I suggest that on the next national general election the ballots provide for the blacks to vote for their national leaders.
Oh, I know there would be a few technical glitches to resolve but then perhaps once and for all it might shut the pie hole of many of these self proclaimed leaders and perhaps even put them out of business of hustling their brothers and sisters.

I guess the "Black Leaders" of today have worked real hard to supress any memory of Booker T Washington.

Not quite- BTW is well-known and well-respected among most Blacks and is one of the most frequently mentioned figures during Black History Month. His teachings were admired and emulated by more "radical" Blacks like Marcus Garvey, Elijah Muhammad, and Farrakhan.

Ultimately, what made BTW's teachings less successful among Blacks was White racism, which drove many Blacks into the DuBois/NAACP camp. It is fear of racism today that makes most Blacks leery of whoever they feel is racist. Changing that is a two-way street, and too many on the right wing seem to be reluctant to cross that street.

Doug from Upland will be interviewing David Schippers tonight on Radio FreeRepublic! This is a DON'T MISS SHOW!

Click here and listen while you FReep!

The vast majority of black conservatives are not known to most blacks"

That might have something to do with leftwing bias in mainstream media.

Only in small part. The truth is, too many Black conservatives don't make themselves more known and more visible in the Black community, which includes Black media.

Only in small part. The truth is, too many Black conservatives don't make themselves more known and more visible in the Black community, which includes Black media.

The Black media seems to be even more left-wing than the mainstream media. I won't hold my breath while waiting for the debut of the Ward Connerly Show on BET.

He could (and perhaps has) appeared on their Sunday news show, "Lead Story," or he can be featured on their nightly news or the interview show that follows it, "BET Tonight." Of course, he'd have to be invited but hopefully he wouldn't turn down the invite.

Some Black newspapers do run columns by Project 21 members and other Black conservatives get in here and there. It's not a lot and it certainly bypasses the many Blacks who don't utilize Black media (or any media at all), but it's a start.

I just had an interesting experience. On MSNBC site, there is a "Race in America" section under new, which has a story about Connerly. There also a section MSNBC shares with BET, which has a lot of the same stories as the first, except the Ward Connerly article is not there.

Thanks for the links- looks like a few other items were left out too.