dagblog - Comments for "RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement"

Good luck with that.

kgb999 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 07:44:20 +0000

In reply to Thanks for your response.

Good luck with that.

Thanks for your response.

brewmn — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:36:30 +0000

In reply to So what's the point of

Thanks for your response. But I'd like Rick N. to explain the implication and innuendo in his comment, not you.

So what's the point of

kgb999 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 04:14:51 +0000

In reply to You don't offer any reason as

So what's the point of telling it here?

Because some of us found it an interesting perspective? Sometimes people can just share dude, it doesn't always have to be presented as an "I'm right you're wrong" battle.

What I heard is that this guy chose to have a different American experience than the one described by Wattree. You have to take things IN to your life in order for them to be there - that is a function of social experience. Being human, not being black. I imagine there are over 12 million correct answers to the question "what is the black experience in America?"

Or maybe not ... maybe it's just one; I've never lived in my friends' shoes - so I'm sort of drawing from how I perceive their lives. White dudes probably aren't the best individuals to debate the black experience.

You don't offer any reason as

brewmn — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 03:41:32 +0000

In reply to I am a Black conservative and

You don't offer any reason as to why blacks should embrace conservatism (unless, by implication, you are claiming that you can't be a liberal if you "live a good, honest life," "never take what does not belong to you," "save money" and work hard"). Wattree, on the other hand, provides plenty of reasons why black's shouldn't embrace conservatism.

So, maybe you should address the point of the post: why don't things like opposition to civil rights and subtle racist appeals that Wattree lists bother you about conservatives? And why do you think that serial adulterers like Newt Gingrich and pedophiles like Mark Foley are more virtuous than someone who advocates a more redistributive tax system and greater assistance to the poor?

Wattree is talking about the factual history underlining the black experience in America; you are talking about yourself. Your personal history doesn't change or contradict any points made in the original post. So what's the point of telling it here?

Excelent post. How I wish it

kgb999 — Wed, 23 Mar 2011 02:55:53 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

Excelent post. How I wish it was *only* the radical conservatives who seem involved with this conspriacy. They use the bigots ... but it's the corporatists driving the bus. I fear we are really adrift without a friendly port in the storm at the moment.

I am a Black conservative and

Rick N — Tue, 22 Mar 2011 13:53:45 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

I am a Black conservative and have been since 1991. My father, in which all of our family is from Florida, was a conservative, born in 1935. I have no positive or negative comments to say about this article. My only point is everybody is born to become what ideology he or she is immersed. No one is born, especially since the 1964 Civil Rights Act, with a pre-defined, political stamp on their foreheads. I have never related to liberal doctrine because it moves around too much. I could never figure out what liberals truly stand for.

My parents who attended college in Florida pretty much told me to live a good, honest life and never take what does not belong to you. They told me to save money and work hard. The person who had the greatest impact on my life was grandfather. He taught me how to read one of those old wooden construction rulers when I sometimes went to the construction sites with him. There was not too much daycare back in 1965 when I was 4 years old.

Born in 1915, attaining only a sixth grade education, grandpa was able to use his influence and personality to work as a foreman in the Florida homebuilding industry. The most profound information that he left me before he died was to treat people how you would like to be treated. This may sound like a religious saying, but he was not a churchgoer.

As I just recently celebrated my 50th birthday and am a father of three sons (one in the military, one in college and one attending high school), I have my comments for people to critique.

In my opinion, what I see that separates conservatives and liberals is U.S. history. Yes, we can focus on the bad stuff like slavery or the uprooting of native Americans, but I think what separates the two groups is the fact U.S. history is unique such that our Constitution has the longest track record. Just about every other country, and especially developing and third-world nations, change their constitutions when new people take power. I believe that the Constitution that overlooked Black people 50 years ago is the same Constitution that allows every person (even illegal aliens) to have more freedom. So what changed? People changed.
If I spent my time to size up people based on their political ideology or feelings about race, I would go broke. As a sales professional, I get to really see how people feel based on all the hot topics. What's important to understand here is I sell to all races. Have people refused to purchase a product or service because I'm Black? The answer is Yes and I have been told that in both subtle and direct statements. But guess what? Many other people have purchased from me in proportions that make the "No" sales pale in comparison. I can probably count on both hands incidents where I felt racial tension during the sales interview. So what's the point? The point is everybody faces some type of rejection based on color, ethnicity, gender, religious affiliation, college alumnus membership, economic status, etc. Are we to complain if women are favored in situations over men? Are we to file a discrimination lawsuit if the company hires people from their alma mater over people from a different college, given the same qualifications? It's called life. Instead of spending hours trying to figure it out, find your successes where you can, when you can.
Spending that much time looking back in the past to justify the present is insane. There is so much new information to include in our brains and so many new people to meet.

So again, I won't criticize the writer on his perspective on conservatives. We all have the right to see things through the prisms of our individual lives and experiences. The writer had has his experiences. I just wanted to include mine. Fair?

Thanks for this, Eric.

CVille Dem — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 23:38:26 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

Thanks for this, Eric. Excellent, as always.

Do you have any thoughts on what motivates the black republicans, who even admit that they are mistaken for waiters at repub events? They all seem totally pissed off; but not at republicans. I can't figure it out! Justice Thomas comes to mind, as do a handful of others.

Great write-up! Very

emerson — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:47:15 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

Great write-up! Very inspiring!

"Granted, we have many

Linda Tilsen — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:19:39 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

"Granted, we have many problems in the Black community, but thank God, being idiotic enough to vote Republican is not among them."

Exactly.

Today's G.O.P. is a scourge on humanity. It promotes racism, classism, sexism, homophobia, anti-intellectualism; it uses vile, vicious, virulent vitriol to crush its opponents; it promotes capital punishment, torture, rendition, indefinite detention, and unending wars -- all while selling itself as "pro-life;" in the name of Christianity it condemns abortion; in the name of conservatism it takes food, shelter, clothing, medical care, and decent schools from children.

Being a Republican in the 21st century means engaging in rank hypocrisy. Notorious profligate spenders, "conservatives" rail againt debt, deficits, and the size of government. They decry entitlement programs while making Wall Street the biggest welfare recipients in U.S, history; they invoke a "fair playing field" for insurance companies while stripping public employees of collective bargaining rights. When big bonuses are at stake, employment contracts are sacrosanct; when teachers' contracts are at stake, they're negotiable.

When right-wing ideology couldn't sell the G.O.P., they turned to hatred, prejudice, and bigotry. Richard Nixon used his "Southern Strategy" to lure white Democrats in the south; Ronald Reagan invoked "State's Rights" in Philadelphia, Mississippi; Bush I combined Lee Atwater & Willie Horton. For nearly half a century, poor and middle class white bigots have voted against their own interests, convinced by racist code -- and the lying liars in the Republican media -- that Democrats and especially liberals are evil.

What's evil, though, is the shell game Republicans have played with the American electorate. Moving whatever phony issue around and around, talking in circles, distorting and contorting. Meanwhile the middle class is disappearing, and civil liberties are vanishing. Like a crafty magician, they persuade through distraction, diversion, misdirection. One hand is on the Bible; the other is in your pocket.

They are pickpockets, nothing more and nothing less.

They've robbed us of our wages and our houses and our jobs. They've robbed us of our representative democracy and our independent press. They've robbed us of our civility, our compassion, our empathy. They've stolen the American Dream.

I, for one, would like it back. That's why I would never vote for a Republican. And I would never sit out an election. I may be white, but I'm not an idiot either.

GREAT POST, ERIC!

Call it cultural

LisB — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 22:18:00 +0000

In reply to RE: Why Black Americans Reject the Conservative Movement

Call it cultural intelligence, but Black people understand that “preserving traditional American values” is conservative politispeak for dragging America back to a racist, sexist, and genocidal dark age.

What a sentence! What a post!! Wattree, this is excellent. H/T to TMac for sharing it at Facebook. GREAT post.