Blacks and Trump

Townhall.com ^ | September 30, 2020 | Star Parker

[Kaslin]

Source: Official White House Photo by Shealah Craighead

President Donald Trump just rolled out his new "Black Economic Empowerment Platinum Plan."

The plan focuses on building on his achievements since 2016 to improve the lives of black Americans by creating more opportunity to participate in a growing economy and to achieve greater security in life and property.

A poll by The Hill and HarrisX released almost a month ago, after the Republican convention, showed approval for Trump surging among blacks, to 24% -- triple the 8% he got in the 2016 election.

A recent Washington Post/ABC poll and a recent Wall Street Journal/NBC News poll show the president at 9% and 5% black support, respectively.

If indeed the post-convention surge in support from blacks is eroding, it's important to think about why it is happening.

The Census Bureau just published an annual report called "Income and Poverty in the United States: 2019." The data shows substantial economic gains among black Americans that would very much justify strong new black support for the president.

Among the data reported is annual gains in real median income for all U.S. households, and for black households in particular, from 1967 to 2019.

The average U.S. household median income increased 6.8% from 2018 to 2019, the largest increase in history. However, the median black household income increased even more -- 8%, also the largest in history.

Furthermore, as American Enterprise Institute economist Mark Perry notes, the 8% increase was "almost nine times the average annual increase of 0.90% over the last half-century."

The report also breaks out black households by defining them as low-income, middle-income or high-income. Low-income is defined as $25,000 annual income or less, middle-income as $25,000 to $75,000 and high-income as above $75,000.

In 2019, per the Census Bureau, 29.4% of black households were high-income, compared with 9.1% in 1967. Forty-one percent of black households were categorized as middle-income in 2019, compared with 46.4% in 1967, and 28.7% were low-income in 2019, compared with 44.5% in 1967.

The defining landmark moment in 2019 was that, for the first time ever, the percentage of black households categorized as high-income, 29.4%, exceeded the percentage of black households categorized as low-income, 28.7%. The percentage of high-income black households in 2019 was over three times that of 1967.

If black support is not strengthening with news like this, and is possibly even weakening, what is a possible explanation?

One possibility is the aggressive and very well-funded disinformation campaigns the left disseminates into black communities, shutting down good news and manufacturing bad news.

I wrote a few weeks ago about a campaign initiated by my organization, the Center for Urban Renewal and Education, to disseminate into black inner cities via billboards the message that the way out of poverty is finishing school, taking any job and getting married.

As I reported, Black Lives Matter in Milwaukee immediately protested and got the billboard company, Clear Channel Outdoor, to take down the billboards.

Economist Perry examined the new Census Bureau data and checked the characteristics of high-income versus low-income families. His summary: "(I)ndividuals in high-income households are far more likely than individuals in low-income households to be well-educated, married, working full-time, and in their prime earning years. In contrast, individuals in lower-income households are far more likely ... to be less-educated, working part-time ... and living in single-parent or single households."

The Census Bureau data bears out to the letter the truth about escaping poverty that my organization had posted in black neighborhoods and Black Lives Matter had dismantled.

Similarly, the economic successes achieved in black communities by the current administration are suppressed and drowned out by systematic left-wing propaganda.

Unfortunately, real progress and real answers are not enough. The good news must be aggressively communicated inside black communities. Prodigiously funded left-wing propaganda into black communities must be addressed.

[bert]

Self segregating and inequality inducing blacks will reject the Trump message and resultant prosperity. For the mass of black citizens, wallowing in self pity and African village mentality will continue for ever.

There is no will to take personal responsibility. There is no will to become American

[dp0622]

You are right.

Talk around here of 25 percent of the vote is silly.

Just silly.

I DO think we can get between 10 and 15 percent of the vote because of black men. They voted in the teens percentage-wise last time.

Was it because they didn’t want to vote for a woman?

Was it because Trump was a known commodity from TV?

Or was it because they really thought he could make their chances in life better?

I’m hoping it was the last one.

Hillary got 96 percent of the black female vote.

Only 78 percent of the black male vote

I know ONLY 78 sounds silly.

But I think it was a game changer in PA and some of the upper midwest states and I hope it will be gain.

But let’s stop talking about 20 or 25 percent going for Trump.

I think we can get a third of Hispanic votes. Trump got 24 percent last time but the riots and dems really favoring blacks might hurt them this time around.

OK i’m done.

Can’t imagine anyone read this whole thing.

If you did, please start your reply with “you’re a damned fool!”

Even if i’m not one on this particular point, I will be on another before the day is done :)

[FormerFRLurker]

Did they remember to adjust for inflation as they compared incomes from 1967 and 2019? If not, then it is not surprising that more blacks are making more money than in 1967.