Serious Questions

July 23rd, 2004

From President Bush’s Address to the National Urban League convention:

I believe you’ve got to earn the vote and seek it. I think you’ve got to go to people and say, this is my heart, this is what I believe, and I’d like your help. And as I do, I’m going to ask African American voters to consider some questions.

Does the Democrat party take African American voters for granted? (Applause.) It’s a fair question. I know plenty of politicians assume they have your vote. But do they earn it and do they deserve it? Is it a good thing for the African American community to be represented mainly by one political party? That’s a legitimate question. How is it possible to gain political leverage if the party is never forced to compete? Have the traditional solutions of the Democrat party truly served the African American community?

That’s what I hope people ask when they go to the community centers and places, as we all should do our duty and vote. People need to be asking these very serious questions.

The President also mentioned that the Republican party “has got a lot of work to do” to win the trust of blacks who would otherwise vote Democrat by default. The black community also has a lot of work to do to encourage the diversity of ideas, and discourage those who threaten such intellectual diversity.

Investment bankers often warn their clients about putting all of one’s eggs into one basket. In order for the black community to truly thrive, we (yes, that includes me) must diversify for maximum yield in today’s political market.

Monoliths are stationary and can’t be moved. Only free-thinking people can move ahead freely.

Related: Joel Gaines has an analysis of both speeches by the President and John Kerry.


Filed under Headlines | Comments (7)

7 Responses to “Serious Questions”

  1. Booker Rising on July 25, 2004 July 25, 2004 - 11:17 am

    Serious Questions
    D.C. Thornton blogs about President George W. Bush’s speech at the National Urban League, where he made a blunt and heartfelt appeal to black voters.

    “The President also mentioned that the Republican party ‘has got a lot of work to do’ to win th…

  2. DarkStar on July 25, 2004 July 25, 2004 - 8:24 pm

    The black community also has a lot of work to do to encourage the diversity of ideas, and discourage those who threaten such intellectual diversity.

    The Black community has always had intellectual diversity.

    It’s said that the things “Black conservatives” said are said in many Black homes, at the kitchen table, or at the cookout, or in the barber shop or beauty shop. So if that’s the case, why the whine about lack of intellectual diversity?

    Why are “Black conservatives” decrying the embrace of “victimization” in one breath, while wrapping themselves up in it in another?

  3. Darmon Thornton on July 25, 2004 July 25, 2004 - 9:22 pm

    The Black community has always had intellectual diversity.

    By and large, the black community prefers that it stays in the closet, on the down low. You can think what you want, say what you want, or do anything you want in the black community — just as long as you’re gellin’ with the Status Bro.

    The day when black leftists quit bashing right-of-center blacks for not thinking their way will be the day the black community embraces true freedom of thought.

    Larry Elder once wrote, “Want to start a fight? Walk into a black barbershop and praise Ronald Reagan.” Right-wing blacks are still being met with scorn and nasty attacks for expressing their views publicly — at the barbershop, at the beauty shop, at the rib joint, at the fish market, at church, and in the black media (well at least in my neck of the woods). It’s not “whining”, or “claiming victimization”, as you put it. It’s telling it like it is and saying that’s not how it’s supposed to be. There’s a big difference between “I disagree with your views, but I respect your right to express them”, and “shut the #@$% up, you Uncle Tom! You don’t know what you’re talking about”.

    I don’t whine, and I refuse to be a victim. I’m a right-of-center black man and proud of it. There are plenty of us who are rising up and calling the “Soul Patrol” on their lies and hypocrisy, and we’re here to stay.

  4. TW on July 25, 2004 July 25, 2004 - 9:40 pm

    Right on the money DC. A lot needs to be done on the “diversity” front in the black community, and talk needs to translate into action.

    A lot of right things are said at the barbershops and the barbeques, but then what happens out on the street? Where is all the talk with a 60-70% out of wedlock rate, dismal school performance, 25% of young black men under the control of the criminal justice system, and a foul-mouthed popular culture that despises learning, self-control, and degrades both women and men?

    Many in the black community talk a good game, but when comes time to put up, then we hear the “Amen corner” holler the same old “blame whitey” mantra or “government as the solution” spiel. It’s like the old white Southern politicians who could always count on votes by “hollering Nigger.”

    We all know the bullshit game and it needs to end. Blacks will reap what they have sown. Eventually their vote will become irrelevant as growing Hispanic, Asian and homosexual voting blocs gain strength. They will become minor players- good for some symbolism and patronizing photo ops – but not really essential to a Democrat win.

    IMHO, Republicans need do very little else with blacks as a whole. What they should do is to continue the thankless, dirty-work that needs to be done to boost the safety, security, performance and self-reliance of the black community – from serious standardized testing, to tough crime controls (where black VICTIMS are actually the focus not felons), to serious vouchers, to “heartless” spending reductions on ineffective programs. They should expect no votes and no thanks from the political elites whose sole purpose is to “deliver” the black vote to their masters on the liberal plantation.

    They should also focus on individuals, targeted sub-groups and self-help grassroots initiatives that put capacity and money directly into the hands of the local masses rather than through corrupt and incompetent givernment bureaucracies like teacher’s unions. Why spend $40,000 on travel to address the Urban League when the same $40,000 can be put directly into the hands of people running say local anti-crime patrols to make black neighborhoods safer, or directed to local tutoring initiatives to boost black educational performance? Small scale, grassroots local and individual capacity building is the key. This will build a lot more support and sympathy than symbolic gimmicks and gestures.

  5. DarkStar on July 26, 2004 July 26, 2004 - 4:42 pm

    You write about forgetting the Black vote, but Jewish people vote for Democrats 85% of the time. That’s compared to 90% for Blacks.

    Think about why the difference in attitudes towards the different voting blocs.

  6. DarkStar on July 26, 2004 July 26, 2004 - 4:47 pm

    I’ve been in a barbershop and watched a Black Republican state his political views and he generated polite back and forth. Of course, he was known in the shop and the area. He was known to be out there doing something in the community instead of just blasting it.

    I’ve been in conversations and started a verbal beat down because I called Clinton a cracka in a suit. I’ve been in conversations and started off listing how Clinton dogged Black people. At the end I stated Clinton was a crack in a suit. The last one got polite back and forth on the issues.

    I was in a conservative circle and stated that my income doubled during Clinton’s terms and my company was started during Clinton’s terms, and received a verbal beat down for it.

  7. Rosenblog on July 27, 2004 July 27, 2004 - 2:03 pm

    Hail The Conservative Brotherhood
    At the age of 12, in 1970, I found my very white self living in a neighborhood on the South Side of Chicago called South Shore. Though then considered home to the black aristocracy of Chicago, the class spectrum was…

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