Mystery:Why Do Black Americans Vote For Liberal Candidates?
From Conservapedia
Black Americans attend church at a high rate. They oppose homosexual behavior. They oppose illegal immigration. They supported Bill Cosby's calls for increased personal responsibility. These are all conservative values. So why do Black Americans vote for Democrat candidates over 90% of the time?
It should be noted that there are some prominent conservative Black leaders in American history, including Booker T. Washington, Alan Keyes, and Clarence Thomas. These leaders contrast strongly with leaders like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, and Barack Obama.
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Possible main reasons
The New Deal
One possible reason is FDR's New Deal. The New Deal may have been tempting to Black Americans, who were poorer than White Americans. In 1932, most voting Black Americans voted for Republicans. By 1936, most in the North had switch to the Democrats. Those in the South, who could seldom vote, usually remained Republican until the 1960s.
Civil Rights
Civil Rights has bene the central concern of middle class blacks since the days of Reconstruction, and they usually had Republican support. That changed in 1964 when the GOP candidate Barry Goldwater voted against the most imprortant civil rights legislation of the century, the Civil Rights Act. That act was pushed through Congress by President Lyndon B. Johnson, leader of the liberal Democrats.
Johnson formed a coalition of liberal churchmen, labor unions and blacks to enact the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1966 [Voting Rights Act]]. In support were many traditional Republicans, but not the new generation of Southern Republicans, including Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms, whose base was the southern white middle class. Others Republicans led by California governor Ronald Reagan opposed the legislation for federalism reasons.
Paleoconservatism
Conservatism used to mean simply preserving the system as it was at the time. By the time Ronald Reagan entered office, this was no longer true, as he ushered in substantial changes.
Paleoconservatives misunderstand conservatism to simply mean maintaining traditions of the past. Since past American tradition includes segregation, some Paleoconservative organizations support it. If Paleoconservatives (or liberals) are successful in convincing Black Americans of this false definition of conservative, Black Americans might think that they (Black Americans) are not conservative, when in fact they are.
LBJ's support for civil rights legislation
Slights against Black Americans by conservative politicians
Summary
Some true conservatives, like Mike Huckabee, just got confused about what the Council of Conservative Citizens supports. Others renounced their racist past. True conservatives do not support racist principles.
| True conservatives | Sometimes true, sometimes false, sometimes just confused |
|---|---|
| William Rehnquist | William F. Buckley |
| Ronald Reagan | Richard Nixon |
| Dick Cheney | Mike Huckabee |
| John McCain | George Allen |
| Trent Lott | |
| Jesse Helms | |
| Strom Thurmond |
Real slights, false conservatives
Some insults to Black Americans were real, but perpetrated by people who were never conservatives or did not understand what conservatism is really all about.
Support for Plessy v. Ferguson
William Rehnquist wrote a memo designed to support a dissenting opinion in Brown v. Board of Education. In it, he claimed to be arguing with "liberals" (with scare quotes). [1] However, he wrote this memo at the request of his boss, Robert H. Jackson, who sat on the Supreme Court and was considering writing a dissent. As a justice, Rehnquist never supported overturning Brown. Jackson ended up joining in the majority decision. They were both true conservatives; they supported racial equality and limited government, for instance.
William F. Buckley also supported Plessy, claiming that the White community had a right to rule over Black Americans because, "The White community is so entitled because, for the time being, it is the advanced race", though he later changed his mind. Buckley was a true conservative, but he was confused by the social upheaval and crime waves at the time. He was probably also confused by the Black Panthers.
Democrat conversions
Some "conservative" Democrats like Strom Thurmond left the Democrat label after LBJ started supporting civil rights.
Council of Conservative Citizens
Trent Lott, Mike Huckabee, and George Allen all have ties to the Council of Conservative Citizens, an historically segregationist group. See David Duke.
Real conservatives, false slights
Some insults to Black Americans are only imagined, or perhaps oversensitivity. The conservatives here are true leaders, but their message has been misinterpreted by liberal media.
Nixon's support for federalism
Richard Nixon believed in federalism, and so instructed the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to stop cutting off federal funding from school districts that declined to integrate.
Apartheid
The Reagan administration did not support sanctions against South Africa, and maintained diplomatic relations with the ruling (White) government.
Dick Cheney has called Nelson Mandela a terrorist for his association with the African National Congress, which had an armed wing. Cheney therefore voted against a congressional resolution calling for Mandela's release. The resolution passed, but Reagan vetoed it.
Reagan later vetoed a bill mandating some sanctions on South Africa. Congress overrode his veto.
Republican opposition to Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
Evan Meacham, John McCain, and Jesse Helms all opposed the establishment or observance of this day. Meacham and McCain did not ever support segregation.
Confederate battle flag
John McCain remained silent on the use of the Confederate battle flag over the South Carolina statehouse, even though he disagreed with it. [2] Mike Huckabee used a vulgar euphemism to support the flag. [3] Many Black Americans see the flag as a racist symbol.
For some reason, the outright racism of such Democrats as David Duke hasn't made this issue disappear.
Liberal slander of George Allen
George Allen was accused of using a vile racial epithet in his 2006 run for senate. No proof was offered.
Jim Webb, his Democrat opponent in the race, admitted having used the word himself.
Trends, institutions, and Beliefs that may have hurt conservative candidates among Black voters
Neurolinguistic programming
The hypnosis-like NLP techniques used by Obama (like repetition, rhyming, rhythm, predictions, vagueness, metaphor, and emotional appeal) share some similarity to those used by preachers at Black supremacist churches (see Jeremiah Wright, below). These preachers preach racist ideologies calling the Black Man superior, while blaming all of his troubles on the White Man. Hypnosis, used as a form of deceit, can trick people into believing things they may otherwise be rightfully skeptical of. These preachers gain political clout by keeping Black Americans dependent, just like the liberal party does.
This is actually the opposite message from Christianity. Related, but not the same or opposite, is prosperity theology.
Persuasive techniques can also be used by pastors of any color to spread Christianity without deception.
Public Schools
Public schools have failed to teach students (of all races) that it was the Democrats who supported slavery and Jim Crow laws, while the Republican party has consistently opposed racism since its inception.
Abortion
Many Black Americans support abortion. This is not an answer by itself, as it only leads to the question, "Why do so many Black Americans support abortion?" This is especially baffling because some of the early proponents of abortion "rights" in America were viciously racist against Black people.
Affirmative Action
Liberals support affirmative action while conservatives do not. Since affirmative action might seem to benefit Black Americans, they may support it.
Programs like this tend to taint any Black American of achievement, as some who would have succeeded without governmental intervention can be challenged as being only in their powerful roles as a result of affirmative action. At the same time, Black Americans of little distinction, such as Barack Obama, are promoted over White Americans with more qualifications.
"Entitlement" programs from Democrats
Many Black Americans earn less than White Americans. Democrat rhetoric about "free" universal health care or other entitlement programs can be appealing to the poor.
FDR (the New Deal), JFK, and LBJ (Great Society) all engaged in this.
Opposition to power
Republicans have been much more successful than Democrats in recent presidential elections, winning 7 of the last 10. Poor Black Americans, encouraged by leaders like Jesse Jackson and Kanye West (who claimed that "George Bush doesn't care about Black people"), may simply be blaming whoever is in charge for their troubles. Since the people in charge of the White House have usually been Republicans, they may be receiving the blame.
Of course, Democrats controlled Congress during most of this time. Congress usually had a lower public approval rating, and can override Presidential vetos. Nonetheless, the President is a much more visible person, and easier to heap scorn upon in national media.
Perception of police misconduct
Conservatives are much more pro-police than liberals. Some Black Americans distrust the police because of what they perceive as unjust treatment. See Rodney King and Abner Louima.
Use of Christianity to support slavery, segregation, and anti-miscegenation laws
Christians were on both sides of the debates about slavery, segregation, and miscegenation, but it is sometimes taught that they were only supporting the traditionalist sides, all of which were unfavorable to Black Americans.
Today, Christianity is much more associated with conservativism than liberalism. Even though most Black Americans are Christians, they may see White Christianity as the driving force behind both historical discrimination and modern conservativism. [4] See Jeremiah Wright and Black liberation theology.
References
- ↑ http://www.gpoaccess.gov/congress/senate/judiciary/sh99-1067/324-325.pdf
- ↑ http://archives.cnn.com/2000/ALLPOLITICS/stories/04/19/mccain.sc/
- ↑ http://blog.washingtonpost.com/the-trail/2008/01/17/huckabee_says_flying_confedera_1.html
- ↑ "For almost two centuries American Christianity, including BJU in its early stages, was characterized by the segregationist ethos of American culture." [1]
