CHRIS LADD OP-ED: When Black Meant Republican
By HHR | May 14th, 2010 | Category: Featured, General, HHR Contributors, Opinion/Reviews, Social | 29 comments
By Chris Ladd
It’s easy to forget now, but just a few generations ago African-Americans overwhelmingly identified themselves as Republicans. The story of how the Party of Lincoln lost its black support is long and sad, but understanding what happened will be critical as the Party looks to improve its standing in the black community.
You could start the story in the fall of 1895, when Atlanta put on one in a series of “International Expositions” designed to highlight its progress in recovering from the war. Racial tensions had been growing since Southerners, at the end of Reconstruction, began instituting Jim Crow laws to curtail black civil rights. Those laws were under challenge at the time and there were differences among blacks on the merits of direct resistance.
The organizers of the Exposition invited prominent black leader Booker T. Washington to give a keynote address. The position he took in that speech was a calculated gamble that aimed to improve blacks’ social position by aggressively pursuing progress and abandoning political agitation. The approach he outlined became the dominant black ethos for generations. It was a dizzying failure with consequences we are still working to unwind.
Which brings us to the next player in the story. Washington had a rival in his bid to be the main voice of black America. W.E.B. DuBois was raised in the north and graduated from Harvard. He advocated a much more forceful stand for political rights and dismissed Washington’s emphasis on economic development and capitalism. DuBois founded the NAACP and became a prominent figure, particularly among Northern blacks. DuBois was impressed with Marxism and flirted with radical left-wing theories all his life, even writing a defense of Stalin at his death. His influence would increase as Washington’s version of compromise began to unravel.
Washington’s approach incorporated two disastrous mistakes. First he thought that institutional Southern racism would weaken as the black community began to realize its economic potential. Second, he did not recognize that capitalism cannot function without government protection of basic property rights. In the face of these tragic misunderstandings, blacks labored away for decades building remarkably successful businesses, professions, and civic institutions, only to watch them crushed over and over again by discriminatory laws and violence. There was no hope for economic progress without the most basic civil rights.
A wave of race riots in the teens and ‘20’s were particularly devastating. Only a fraction of the incidents were documented at the time, usually in the form of a brief, euphemistic reference in a local paper to “troubles.” But postcards (that’s right, postcards), stories, and victim accounts painted a clearer picture. Two of the most notorious riots occurred in Rosewood, Florida and Tulsa, Oklahoma. Prosperous black communities were in many cases wiped off the map, destroying generations of hard-won gains. When the Depression came, the brief flowering of the separate black communities was effectively dead.
By the 50’s, as America was bracing finally to confront its racist legacy, the gritty capitalism Washington had promoted was seen by blacks as a discredited failure at best, an “Uncle Tom” sell-out at worst. As Dr. King’s effort’s bore fruit and African-Americans began at last to have genuine economic opportunities thrown open to them, there was little enthusiasm to embrace it. Blacks who had successfully fought to open up economic opportunities focused their continuing efforts on government social programs and poverty relief, reflecting the ascension of DuBois’ approach over the perceived failures of Booker T. Washington.
This emphasis created an opening for Democrats which they successfully exploited. The drift of blacks away from the Republican Party was capped by our often cynical efforts to recruit disillusioned racist Democrats in the South.
What does this mean for Republicans? In spite of the failures of the Great Society era and with little help from Republicans, there is a vibrant, secure black middle class emerging for the first time in America. The growth of black prosperity will be key to the country’s future, but it depends heavily on leaving behind a vision of government dependence with deep, justified roots.
We need to recognize this history to understand its impact on our future. Until a generation ago, accumulating capital across generations, so critical to climbing the ladder in America, was a complete fantasy for blacks in the South. They could reasonably expect that whatever wasn’t spent or hidden would be taken. This reality has left blacks with a starting point in terms of wealth, capital, and connections far behind whites or even other minorities. They are well aware of this problem even if most whites, Republican or Democrat, are not.
In addition it would serve us well as a Party to understand the difference between traditional black and white understandings of government power. For whites who look to European history as their guide, government is a necessary evil to be treated with great care. Its growth should be managed in order to prevent it becoming an interest to itself; capable of crushing personal liberty and economic freedom.
Blacks’ experience with government power is almost a polar opposite of whites’. When central government has been weak, they have suffered. This suffering is not merely relative, but has left them vulnerable to random acts of violence, humiliation, and looting. They have good reason to see government power as protection and to be suspicious of white efforts to weaken it.
A healthy Republican Party, with its crazy-dial turned down from its current red-line, could have a lot to offer African-Americans. But realizing the potential for black involvement in the Party will require us to better understand our own history. We can do this if have the humility and commitment to confront some unpleasant realities. The GOP cannot hope to remain relevant if it becomes a white religious club. Expanding our appeal is a moral and political imperative that can succeed if we have the will.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Chris Ladd is a Texan who is now living in the Chicago area. He has served for several years as a Republican Precinct Committeeman in DuPage County, IL, and was active in state and local Republican campaigns in Texas for many years.
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Excellent, excellent article. Refreshingly honest., unlike much of the stuff, HHRP post.
Jamara, can you please stop with the dramatics! You have been on our site for years, YOU know “how we do”, we post a wide range of views on HHR…we always try to be fair & balanced.
I don’t want to sound pessimistic, but the GOP is going to struggle to get any black support in this decade and in the age of Obama. But I think the Republican Party needs to be in the wilderness to realize there’s more to America than just Southern whites. They’ll realize they can’t keep writing off groups to please their shrinking base, but they’ll realize it after losing terribly in elections especially with Latinos becoming more pissed off at the GOP for Jan Brewer’s law. They will realize their base alone won’t win them national elections and that they will have to be left for bigger voting groups, what works 30 years ago does not work in 2010.
Until the GOP stops catering to whites with code words and does serious reconciliation on it’s image on race, they’ll always fail to attract black voters as well as non-white voters. The GOP’s problem on race is still present despite Michael Steele being the first black chairman, Chip Saltsman, Katon Dawson and Audra Shay anyone?
I have posted a comment on how to reconcile with black voters in an article written by someone who worked in Bob Mcdonnell’s campaign. I thought the party should look at the relationship between the Catholic Church and the Jews, it’s similar if you examine them closely. (Except the Church and the Jews have known each other for 2 millenniums whereas the GOP and blacks have been close to 150 years)
I remember conversations on how the GOP is so hostile, but these people never made an effort. They’d rather have someone else do the work.
People tend to forget the Democrats weren’t all that friendly to blacks earlier, but it took people like Adam Clayton Powell, Fannie Lou Hamer and other people that worked to make it more inclusive. The Republican Party needs these type of people in order to make it more inclusive. Only when we make these efforts can we make a difference. We must get involved from day one and work continuously. It will not be easy as there will be resistance and it’s going to take time.
But the reward is a beauty to see, a racially-integrated multi-cultural Republican Party up against a racially-integrated multi-cultural Democratic Party.
I don’t mean to talk bad about my party, but it’s something that needs to be confronted and dealt with if we want to win with black voters and other voters as well. I’m a white guy and I refuse to defend the terrible image of race the party has.
Jim Crow laws…enacted by Democrats. FACT Illegals are illegal. Why would ANYONE be upset with someone for following the rule of the land when the feds have been pussy footing on the safety and security of our nation.
JUST BECAUSE you agree with something does NOT make it fair and balanced. Opinions are opinions, ie ‘crazy dial” which lead to more OPINION and ”hostile” Tea Parties. No….the ILLEGALS were hostile, but CNN and the left wouldn’t show that and had to make up violence for the Tea Partiers. I watched a video where a Black Tea Party member was beaten by union members.
So tired of this opinion writing coming off as facts.
HISPANICS get pissed off. AMERICANS are pissed off…thus the T-parties. Illegal is not a race, its a CRIME.
Have we lost our common sense?
Amazing. Seems like folks want the Republicans to apologize, but the Dems never did. I hate this Dem-Republican crap.
Not to quick to call the Republicans crazies. THEY said the OBAMA health care would cost us big time and nearly everything they said is now coming forth.
Are you familiar with the Illuminati or the Bellinger group?
Hostile. The left an right are just alike. No one was having fits when Bush was called the Devil, but say something about OBAMA and it’s off limits.
These comments are typical propaganda.
I want a third party. Republicans can’t seem to get their stuff together want to apologize for what the Dems should be apologizing for…ALWAYS doing more damage and going against Black ownership and independence. Dems play the damn race card and care about nothing but power. WHERE the hell did Obama come from. No executive experience, and already doing 5 times more damage than Bush in all his heavy spending years under the Democrat MAJORITY. NOW, you threaten citizens with HISPANICS. Maybe YOU should go to Mexico since you seem to have forgotten this country is supposed to protect her CITIZENS.
Obama is sick.
Good overview. A couple of things to consider:
– I would encourage you to listen to Mark Levin’s (free) podcasts. He is a breath of fresh air, because his concern is for freedom for all people. All races, religions, backgrounds. Because freedom is the “biggest tent”. While Democrats try to balkanize America, pitting some groups against others, conservatives believe in private property and individual liberty. http://marklevinshow.com/home.asp
– Alan West is an example of a man many conservatives think could be President one day. Awe-inspiring leader who is a cult phenomenon for his appearances like this one:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TkGQmCZjJ0k&feature=player_embedded (in sig if link doesn’t come thru)
Political Parties exist for one purpose…….to win elections. They look at individuals like Sarah Palin, Barack Obama, Mitt Romney and ask themselves ” can they win the election for our party?” It’s akin to all these athletes who are signed up to major teams, the question is not can they perform on the basketball court or the football field but can they help us win a championship? Contrary to what someone said, Republicans care about power too. Other countries offer more variety in their elections, here in America the two parties when they aren’t trying to gouge each others eyes out definitely put a damper on any third party attempts. There was a statement regarding Jim Crow laws and yes they could be attributed to Southern Democrats who held key committee chairmanships. So Franklin D. Roosevelt never said a mumbling word about lynchings. John F. Kennedy, who supposedly wrote Profiles in Courage, failed to exhibit any when he was elected President. During his campaign he said he could wipe out discrimination in housing with a stroke of pen. Apparently every pen he had was dry. Then he acquires backbone to propose Civil Rights legislation after Medgar Evans was shot. Talk during the 1964 campaign for President, Lyndon Johnson would sign the bill if elected. Barry Goldwater would tear it in half. The Republicans cannot have it both ways expect black votes hand over fist to elect them and then give black voters their behind to kiss when they win. That dog won’t hunt.
The most important thing for black people to understand right now is the modern day slave holder. That is what Obama, Reid, and Pelosi are… right along with all their ilk!
Look at it this way, why keep a person down?
Why exploit people based upon their skin?
Why keep people indoctrinated in generational poverty?
Why keep people in the worst schools?
Why keep people in self segregated neighborhoods?
I’ll tell you why – because black people have a strong spirit. They know when they rattle the sleeping giant they will unleash a people that will be looking for a reckoning. They know when they shake us, we will rise and we will say – no more! We changed a nation! They know what a minority is capable of. Why else attempt to keep entire communities enslaved? And please understand, this is no longer about color. There are plenty of white people handing over their God given rights.
If we all listen to our ancestors of the past, we see what they fought for. They fought for freedom. They wanted to rule their own life. They wanted what all human beings want – a family, a home, and something to work for and towards.
I don’t think I could look at a slave of old – if I was a receiver of food stamps. That’s not what they gave their life for! They didn’t risk everything so I, or anyone, could sit on the damn couch and chill. It’s shameful to think that the slaves of old risked everything to be free, and today some of us just hand it over freely.
Blacks have never known freedom in the same way whites have. Blacks have gone from slave holders, to Jim Crowe, to liberal progressives. – All these ‘groups’ have fed off the spirit of the black man, woman and child. Until people start to realize what the anti-slavery movement was really about – FREEDOM – and certainly not a handout, then we are all forever doomed.
One thing I know for certain – is that when you have a bunch of white people scared about losing their freedom, black people (and all races alike) had better wake the hell up.
This is less about black vs. white & dem vs. repub – this is about FREEDOM!
God gave us free will. God decided that all men were created equal – but the more we give our freedoms away, the less they matter, the less real they seem. Perhaps that is exactly why it seems so lost now. It has been slowly eroding for sixty years…
The biggest difference between modern day blacks and slaves, is that slaves knew they were meant to be free.
BTW – what does it mean to say that white people look to European history?
Most whites I know look to American history; and like it or not, that history belongs to all of us.
Slavery belongs in everyones history book. This false ownership of slavery is selfish and ridiculous. The message of freedom and fighting oppression is universal. To say that people only look to a certain history is absurd.
We are all Americans first, and this should be our stepping off point for everything else that should follow.
The problem is that we tend to look at the civil rights movement through the prism of economics. The libertarians aligned themselves with Republicans. They stressed decentralization. This turned off a lot of voters.
But conservatives could be better allies to black people. We have a more realistic view of human nature. We understand that racism is a reflection of what’s in our souls. Liberals tend to see racism as a matter of poverty or ignorance. This has profound real world implications: while JFK was building the CEEO, Eisenhower was sending troops to Little Rock.
The free market is the best possible economic system. But we need to use the full force of government to back up agreements. Conservatives have forgotten this lesson. With apologies to Jefferson, “Millions for contract enforcement, sir, but not one cent for handouts”
Remember the fuss about Redistributive Change during the ’08 election? Here’s a write-up from The Volokh Conspiracy, a serious & smart conservative blog:
http://volokh.com/posts/1225104785.shtml
Obama was an urban community organizer arguing that we needed to change the culture rather than use courts to force changes. He was advocating conservatism! Yet Republicans couldn’t get past economics & cried socialism. I absolutely despise socialism. Let’s not forget that socialism led to Communism & Fascism. These are evils which should not be trivialized. Eugene Volokh himself fled the Soviet Union. But in this interview, Obama just wasn’t advocating socialism.
Our president is not a closet conservative. He is routinely wrong. I proudly voted against him. But even a broken clock is right twice a day. We missed an opportunity to build bridges with a lot of urban voters.
Hate to sound so pessimistic, but I don’t see the GOP embracing black voters anytime soon. It’s less a matter of racism & more demographics. The black vote is shrinking. Though the growing Latino vote will force the GOP to reach out to minority voters.
BTW-the GOP cannot reach out just by banishing the racists. I don’t know a single Republican who enjoys being associated with Chip Saltsman, Katon Dawson and Audra Shay. They’re embarrassments. The American political system has 2 parties. Both parties have to hold together uncomfortable coalitions. We’ll put up with a lot of nonsense because of the nature of the system. You don’t win by shrinking the tent.
We need a positive narrative that can crowd the racist garbage off the stage. That’s how the Democrats did it.
Interesting article.
And a good attempt at trying to explain the phenomenon that is the Black Electorate in the United States.
However, as I’m sure the author will admit, Power defines the force of any position taken.
Blacks identified and voted along the lines of the Party of Lincoln because of President Lincoln’s power to change their condition.
For a country that holds true that all men are created equal, but embed a definition of what a MAN is when they made a distinction between black and white, means that neither party will every hold THE TRUTH that should be self evident.
If the Republican Party wants more black citizens in their ranks, providing financial and electoral support, they’ll have to CHANGE into a party African Americans can BELIEVE IN.
And if the Democratic Party wants to continue its franchise among the black electorate, it will have to change into a Political Force African Americans have HOPE for to empower their families futures.
But neither will ever realize this because it would mean alienating parts of their base. And the BASE is vital to either parties existence.
In fact, both parties may have figured out how to control the outcome of elections to ensure command and control over their strongholds among the body politic: ELECTRONIC VOTING.
all Y’all listen up: ¡SCOREBOARD! …..Black POTUS (albeit a corporatist stooge, which should make you running dogs happy) for the DEMS 1,
the Repuke Party <0 not NOW, not EVER, NEVER! can you dig it NEVER EVER NEVER!! [sorta has a familiar ring to it no? ..."Segregation Now, Segregation Tomorrow, segregation FOREVER!"... closes to wild applause from the rabble.]
A Michael Steele in a relatively obscure job, to the Unwashed Masses that is, is one thang but what do you think would happen in deepest darkest Mississippi or Eastern Texas, pan Handle Florida or Cour d’ Lene, ID for that matter??
the late Lee Atwater, he of Willie Horton infamy, referred to Y’all (dupes of the Ruling Elite) as “the extra chromosome crowd, the 3rd eye in the middle of their head types” as they merrily exploited youse, well mostly the Archie Bunker types, for your votes and occasional couple bucks in the collection plate! (Ironic Note, ABunker was a proud Union member¡)
Me thinks Y’all would still be better served starting a Party of your own!
Fight the Power! and ¡Hasta La Victoria Siempre!
Knowing and connecting to your history (true history) is key to any personal learning and development. One of the greatest tragedies (and I view this as even greater than slavery) is the disconnect and rewriting of history that the modern Democrat party has done to Black Americans. We have lost anything to be proud of. No wonder so many of us look back at the history as told to us in Public Education and see nothing but despair and hatred. We have been cut off from the black patriots who fought for this country during the Revolutionary and Civil wars. They have scrubbed the truth about why labor unions and wage laws were originally enacted. I know this all to well as I did not understand nor seek the truth about who I was and the proud history of were I came from until my grandfather’s death. I always viewed him as kind of quirky old man who was kind of a loner. At his funeral, I saw something I will never forget. The church he attended most of his life was standing room only with people standing outside because there was not enough room in the church. There were as many whites there as blacks and the funeral procession was over a mile long. As I heard people talk about his life that really knew him I saw a man that I never new existed. A man who helped found the NAACP, a man who helped found the first negro baseball team, a man who fought in WWII at the age of 41. This made me examine my life and understand where I came from. This personal connection in own my history helped ground me and understand why he was a die hard Republican and what the Republican party was founded on. Yes the party has drifted in recent times, why because it is made up of human beings who are flawed and will always make mistakes. But if we as blacks embrace the reason why it was founded by a coalition that consisted of Abraham Lincoln, Ex-Whigs, Federalists, Anti-slavery Democrats whose principle platform was to fight the twin barbs of evil, polygamy and slavery (polygamy being not such a concern anymore) then we can understand that this party is the party of true progress, the true liberals (in the traditional sense), the ones who have truly stood up for man’s natural rights, Life, Liberty, the Pursuit of Happiness, then we can understand who we are and where we can take this country.
Thank you for this post. It certainly explained a lot. I checked a library book out one time that was about the early days of the Republican party and it stated at that time, the party of choice for all those interested in civil rights for everybody was the Republican Party, and the party of choice for the Klan and like minded maggots was the Democratic party.
The Democratic party, itself, didn’t start the Klan….But ALL those who founded the KKK Were Democrats.
I’m reading all that and more and thinking, ‘What the hell happened ?’
Now I know a very big piece of that puzzle.
Sounds like Michael Steele should have spoken with Chris Ladd and many here who commented and gotten busy with at least starting to correct this erroneous perception. I will also add that I don’t think any particular religion should be trying to associate itself with the Republican party , or vice versa. Gerald Ford is quoted saying he and Betty were “horrified” to see George Bush (1st Bush pres) bring Jerry Falwell out on the stage at the Republican Convention in 1988…saying that was a big mistake. I agree.
Anyway, thanks for a great post on a big part of the history of how the Republican party derailed and lost the majority of black voters.
disagree with some of ur assertions and agree with others. just want to point out one thing: dubois didn’t found the naacp. it was founded by whites who originally didn’t allow blacks to have positions of power.
fyi to voters: if you like the kkk, jim crow, robert byrd/al gore sr., public housing (plantations) and handouts instead of a hand up, then please vote to continue these policies and support ur local Democrats.
In 1909 Du Bois was among the founders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and from 1910 to 1934 served it as director of publicity and research, a member of the board of directors, and editor of the Crisis, its monthly magazine.
source: http://www.naacp.org/pages/naacp-history-w.e.b.-dubois
Very good article, I’ve read about politics in America post and pre civil war and what you write here just about falls in line with what I’ve read.
I didnt know this about DuBois and for that matter the link you provided to his article also has articles by Paul Robeson. How they fawned over that degenerate stalin painting him as some kind of ‘even tempered’ sane man is shocking to someone like me whose family comes from the soviet union.
Its just proof that anyone can be a moron and be easily duped by a silver tongued devil.
Kind of like people who voted for obama today, someone who appears on the surface to be even tempered but in reality throws his allies under the bus and plays all sides of the political spectrum against one another to maintain his power. Just like how stalin came to power, that man who sent at least 20 million of his own countrymen to their deaths, either by famine, by sending them to death camps or by sending unarmed ‘soldiers’ to war as cannon fodder.
Wonderful piece. So glad you posted this. I hope it remains a featured article for a long time to come. Many black Republicans and other black conservatives would do well to read this and contemplate the historical influences on black voters and our political persuasions. We might them become more effective in promoting conservative principles and even candidates in predominantly black areas; it takes an understanding of why someone thinks the way they do to begin with to foster a revolution in their thoughts and perspectives.
Excellent article with good history. I will link on my blog (www.tartanmarine.blogspot.com) on December 8, 2010.
Robert A. Hall
Des Plaines IL
Massachusetts Senate 1973-83.
Thank you very much for this article. It explains a lot that I have never quite understood about why black voters vote the way they do. I can understand much better now why most blacks support the Democrats, and not the Republicans which never made logical sense to me since on the issues it seems to me most blacks have more in common with Republican principles than those espoused by the Democrats, at least at the national level.
How can it be that a people, fellow Americans, who spent so much time under the yoke can willingly submit themselves to the slavery of the welfare state? I would think that free market economics and capitalism would be preferred to government hand outs. I understand better now, having read the article the problems that occurred when this was tried before. However this is 2011, not the 1920′s, or even the 50′s and 60′s. Times have changed and continue to change.
I understand that the Republican party is flawed. However political parties are run and changed from within. They are what those within them make them. We have a two party system in this country, for better or for worse. Forming a viable third party is a extremely difficult undertaking and has only been successful once in the history of the country. That party was the Republican party and the issue that brought it into being was the slavery issue. Its birth spelt the destruction of the Whig party and resulted in maintaining the two party structure. It is much easier to change one of the existing parties than it is to form a viable new party. If you look at the history of the Republicans and Democrats you will see that both have changed radically over time. Were you to try and modify one of the existing parties, I would think you would have an easier time with the Republicans than the Democrats, who should more properly be called the Socialist, or Social Democrats these days.
I think too that if you were to work within the Republican party you would find that many whites would be more than accepting of you. I am a conservative. What I want to conserve is the ideals that this nation was founded on. Freedom, private property rights, smaller government with limited powers, individual liberty. I vote Republican because I believe I have more influence in that party to sway it in the direction I think it should go than I would have with the Democrats. I have no problem with the concept of a black president or a black anything. I don’t care much for this president, because I veheminently disagree with his politics. I would vote for Condi (if she would run), or for West (would prefer that he had a few more years experience in government so that he knows where all the bodies are burried – but he has plenty of leadership experience from the Army). I have served under black officers in the Air Force, and black supervisors in civil service. Some were good, some were not. Same can be said for the whites I served under as well. Some I would have followed to hell and back; they were just that kind of leader.
We need to work together. Our freedoms are under fire. I don’t want to live in a European-style liberal social welfare state, and I most certainly do not want to live in an American version of a Marxist workers utopia. I shouldn’t think anyone who loves freedom would.
EXCELLENT article. Refreshed my memory abit that’s for sure. I disagree with the “Crazy dial” reference. I’m of the opinion that the “Dial” needs to go far beyond the redline in order to undo the many years of idiocy we have been through.
We (As in ALL OF US) need to recognize that hunger is a strong motivator. You must work to eat. Metophorically. If you CHOOSE the path of ease (Illegal activity) or choose to a ward of the state, you should forfeit any other choice. You should also be required to take drug tests, you should be required to work for the state in you are GETTING From the state. Our “Feel good” policies toward the less fortunate have created an entire class of people content on being less fortunate.
The time has come to remove the chains from the slaves. FINALLY. HOW YOU ASK? I have several ways and none would be pleasant at first, but they would be rewarding and fullfiling at the end.. I know… THAT’S RACIST!!!
Carry on.
Very interesting piece! Thanks, Chris!
Although I know a little bit about the history of Booker T. Washington (whom I greatly admire as a leader and an educator, despite his failings- which I blame at the end of the day on a certain naivety that is held by people who simply are incapable of accepting the evil around them), and WEB duBois (Harvard-educated Socialist…nuff said), you have really put the history of the ideological shift of African American voters into a more empathetic perspective. I know that you and many commentators here are either Republicans or Conservatives- I am neither (nor am I a Democrat for that matter)- as I believe that that the Republican Party of George Washington and Thomas Jefferson have died out long ago. And this is principally for one philosophical reason- that both the Republican and Democratic parties accept collectivism and altruism at their fundamental ideological core. The current Sara Palin’s and Glen Becks of the world are trying to erode the division between Church and State- they have decided that government will be the arbiter of morality and ideology (not so different than the Dems, then), whereas the Dems are are trying to erode the separation of Government and Economics on which America was founded. Bot parties today group and divide and tribalise people according to race, income, gender, sexuality, religion and perceived social status, and both parties are playing on the rotting corpse of Marx’s long-dead ‘Class War” nonsense- more collectivism. Neither parties are based on the moral ideal that your life belongs to you. I’m sure Im not speaking for all here, but for many modern Neo-Conservatives, your life belongs to a moral duty to the state,to religion, to spreading the ideals of the country to other nations via senseless and expensive wars that don’t target America’s true enemies (hint: Iran, Sadi Arabia, Syria, Gaza, North Korea) who are directly threatening her, and for many modern Democrats your life belongs to your ethno-socio-gender-political minority, it belongs to the “community’, it belongs- to the state, once again. We know that the Democratic Party has now embraced Socialism whole-sale, but the Republican Party today is not exactly an apt defender of liberty, individual rights and capitalism either. Someone on the post here mentioned that the Libertarian Party look at the benefits of Capitalism purely through an economic perspective- I agree, and I accuse the conservatives of making the same mistake. Neither party offers a moral defense of Capitalism, and thus, of political liberty – because both of these concepts presuppose the ideal of individualism- the philosophy that you have the moral right to your own life, and that no person has the right to enslave others for his own sake, to enslave himself to others for the sake of their welfare. When all Americans, Black, White or otherwise, will embrace this ideal both morally and politically, then only can they really start working towards a more free, liberty-securing and individual-rights-based society, free of prejudice, hatred and, worst of all, coercive social dependence-i.e., slavery.
@NotaCommiefromEasternEurope:
“Very good article, I’ve read about politics in America post and pre civil war and what you write here just about falls in line with what I’ve read.
I didnt know this about DuBois and for that matter the link you provided to his article also has articles by Paul Robeson. How they fawned over that degenerate stalin painting him as some kind of ‘even tempered’ sane man is shocking to someone like me whose family comes from the soviet union.
Its just proof that anyone can be a moron and be easily duped by a silver tongued devil.
Kind of like people who voted for obama today, someone who appears on the surface to be even tempered but in reality throws his allies under the bus and plays all sides of the political spectrum against one another to maintain his power. Just like how stalin came to power, that man who sent at least 20 million of his own countrymen to their deaths, either by famine, by sending them to death camps or by sending unarmed ‘soldiers’ to war as cannon fodder.”
Yip- both my parents are originally from Russia- my grandmother survived the famine in Ukraine that Stalin orchestrated. And by the way people, stalin was also a racist of note. He instigated purges against thousands of the country’s writers, artists, scientist, film makers and musicians, under the banner of “anti-cosmopolitanism”, but in fact he just targeted them for being Jews.
Wow, what a lot of absurd garbage. There’s one thing a political party needs to be about – protecting rights – and it needs to convince the people that their interests also lie in having the government concerned with *only* rights protection. The idea that Republicans can learn from someone in the past who pandered to group A and built a coalition from group B and C is just more of the politics that got us where we are today. The Left likes to use the word “divisive” to describe anything that points out the fundamental unfairness in this technique of promising something to group A that will be taken from group B. But it’s that very approach to politics that is divisive – and the Republicans are just as guilty.
I disagree with the basic idea that political history explains why people feel the way they do. Nobody knows this stuff, and they weren’t thinking “Yea! now we’ll be secure in our property” when they (“they” being people of all races) cheered Obama to the White House. We’re going down the socialist road because we more and more consistently embrace the moral idea behind it – you are your brother’s keeper. It would be much easier to think that we only have to be more empathetic in order to see a fundamental change. But it’s going to be harder than that.
Many people have the sense that something is wrong – that we can’t keep doing what we’re doing. But what exactly is it that we are doing that we have to stop? The Left would have you believe that it’s things like property right that need to go. Some commenters apparently think the Right needs to beat the Left at finding ways pander and build “coalitions”. There is really only ONE coalition we should be building – that is the human being coalition.
@Steve
It may not explain everything about human behavior, but it could be a contributing factor. To ignore race, ethnicity and religion and its role in political history is to ignore reality. The Holocaust, Crusades, Slavery, these are all events in history that cant be ignored.
Quite a remarkable article! If people of different races, colour, ethnicity and nationalities can learn the secret of unity in diversity… The world would be a better place to live in.
As a woman, who used to be a Democrat, I can say that I’m kinda growing sick of hearing about race race race. The fact is that Black men had a right to vote in 1870. Women didn’t earn that right till almost 50 years later in 1919. Furthermore Black men were able to hold office right after the civil war. While women couldn’t hold political office, own property, or file for divorce til decades later. Currently women make up 51% of the population but only have 17% representation in office. When are people going to start to talk about that?
I would never vote Republican. That would slapping my ancestors in the face.
Misty, that is obviously a statement made from a lack of knowledge. Please educate yourself. Please have a look at the webiste link. http://www.nbra.info/FrequentlyAskedQuestions
You and others may find it quite revealing. It is the truth. It is history. It is not to be denied.