Posted on 07/22/2003 10:46:34 PM PDT by JohnHuang2
Edited on 07/12/2004 4:05:35 PM PDT by Jim Robinson. [history]
President Bush's upcoming meeting with the Urban League, coupled with his snubbing of more-militant black groups, mirrors his outreach to moderate Palestinians while ignoring Yasser Arafat.
In both cases, Mr. Bush hopes to turn nearly hopeless relationships into constructive dialogues with groups not known for their fondness of conservatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at dynamic.washtimes.com ...
Well, you are wrong. Shades of gray aside, there are leftists and even rightists who will never vote for Bush. But the vast number of folks between those two poles can and should be convinced that right is right and I'm glad Bush keeps on keeping on in that area.
It's not easy but I'm thinking that W will double his share of the black vote this time around. Despite the histrionics of the NAACP, Bush as President has not dragged any minorities behind cars or trucks but he has made an attempt to stave off a crisis in Africa that could become a NS problem for AMerica, something his predecessor failed to do.
And besides that, as CIC, he still has the guys killing terrorists on a daily basis. Something which all thinking Americans should be proud and thankful for.
If it is bad news about black people around here, that post will get hammered with 100+ responses. If it is good about black people or tactics on increasing the numbers on the Right from the black electorate you will get mostly one of two responses: 1.) It's not worth it or 2.) Silence.
I was born at night but not last night. This is a consistent pattern around here.
So why bother?
I agree that the majority of black that do vote vote democratic. I don't think blacks receive any more of a handout from the dems than does any other minority group, it's just that the left makes an extraordinary effort to appear to give preference to minorities in general and blacks in particular.
Of course not. The girl's statement was stupid. Speaking the truth to anyone is never a waste of time.
(On foreign policy, he's much better. I think that only adds to my bitterness about his atrocious domestic record. He can do the right thing, just not for Americans, it seems.)
It's amazing that it has taken this long. Republicans were the ones who ended slavery, while Democrats fought for it. Republicans opposed Jim Crow Laws, which Democrats passed. Republicans passed the 1964 Civil Rights Act with greaters numbers and percentages than Dems. Republicans are for school choice, which blacks overwhelmingly support. Republicans favor race-neutral policies, which used to be the position of most blacks a generation ago... in fact, blacks voted for the GOP by the same 90-10 margins for almost 70 years after the Civil War. They switched once the Dems changed from favoring racial preferences against blacks to favoring discrimination in favor of blacks. Sadly, most blacks apparently drop their principles and vote for racism, as long as it is their group that comes out on top.
(Personal anecdote: during a debate at Law School, one black business-owning lady, who seems conservative on many other issues, said "I don't see why any black person would oppose affirmative action. It would be like shooting yourself in the foot, denying yourself an advantage like that!" I responded, "So did every white who fought for, marched for, and died for equal rights 'shoot themselves in the foot', since they opposed advantages for their own race?" She didn't reply.)
Why bother fighting for gun rights or any other cause? If you can convince only a small percentage of the people around here of your position, then maybe they will be able to convince more people and so on.
It's not only the blacks who have been brainwashed by people like Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, as well as many of the Democrats. Other people, including other minorities as well as whites, of all political affiliations have been fed this tripe for the last 10 to 15 years.
It will probably take at least that long to undo the damage. That is why we should bother. You can't expect people to change their minds overnight. It requires constant reminding. Sometimes you may feel like you're not getting anywhere or even moving backwards. But take heart, things are definitely improving.
The rappers and other "culture icons" on the left insist that they have a monopoly on "black experience" and "real life®" when it comes to "blackness."
They also insist that we have sold out, simply because we don't parrot the same line. (Thank you, Jesse Jackson [/sarcasm])
Young blacks coming to Conservatism is akin to youngsters discovering the true messages in Blues. When I was young, I thought blues was simply jazzy music that old folks listened to. But after going through some hard times, and coming out the other side, I began to understand where the B.B. Kings and Bobby Blands and Muddy Waters were coming from.
Once you've seen both sides -- rationally and dispassonately -- reality begins to dawn. There is a better way.
The poverty pimps seek to use the bully pulpit of emotion and racial division to continue to keep the wool over everyone's eyes.
To find an example, you need only look back a week to my appearance on MSNBC. Note how the more emotional the other guest got, the more irrational he sounded. He began to go all over the map, and began to try to pull other points into play. I stayed calm and stayed on target, and let my message speak for me.
If we can continue to stay away from that level of irrational emotion, and stay on target, we'll get there. It'll take time, but we'll get there. If we fall into the same kind of emotional rabble-rousing, we'll lose our message among the noise.
Many have that mentality. You won't get me to deny that. But just as many others are beginning to see the light, there are also those that can be shown the light.
There are plenty here that would rather deny that and ignore people like me.
Much of middle class black America is not reflected by the picture that you speak of. Sure, there is a large percentage of single-parent households in the black community.
But two points - first, would you deny even approaching those families because they don't represent your idea of what a family should look like? And secondly, what do you say to someone like myself: my wife and I, both working, raising three children. And mind you, we aren't unusual. Both of us come from households where both parents were (and are) in the home. My wife's brother and his wife live in suburban Washington, and are raising their three sons. Both sets of my grandparents were married for many years and raised their families. We have friends, relatives and acquaintances who all have stable two-parent households.
To hear you tell it, we as conservatives, should write off black America.
If I can change, then why can't others? Is it because the work to get that change to happen is too difficult? Or is it that you are willing to conceed that Jesse Jackson is simply too powerful for conservatives to counteract?
Of course she didn't. But I'll bet you that you got her to stop (albeit only for a minute) and think.
They'd also end up with some self-respect as well. They would learn that they do not have to define their very existance by how much of a victim they are.
Mind you, that would shake things up in that "cultural" community quite a bit.
Only you can answer that RD.
All I can tell you is that people change. I have.
But the point remains that you have to invite folks to dinner or accept their invitation before you can break bread with them.....
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