# Blacks and the GOP **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 13, 2010, 10:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057 "2010-06-13T22:53:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 8
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/141 "2010-06-16T01:42:53Z")
Welfare was never the issue, though. That’s the point. “welfare queen” had nothing to do with welfare. It was code. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/142 "2010-06-16T01:43:34Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Uh, you do know that he ran as a Democrat for most of his life don’t you? Then why are you referring to him as a Republican? :dubious: You really, **really** need to learn about the party shift in the South. Start with the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which, you will learn, was opposed by the Republicans) and continue with the GOP Southern Strategy of embracing the repudiated racist faction. > [@](#): > > If you were alive during that time you would have remembered how hated he was and denounced by the party. I was. He was formally repudiated by the party _leadership_ but look at all the people who voted for him anyway. > [@](#): > > He wasn’t some naive kid who stumbled past a rally, he was the ranking member of his unit So he was a corporal instead of a private. So? > [@](#): > > He wasn’t a misguided Senator sitting on a fence post when he spent 14 hours straight filibustering the 1964 civil rights bill. Did you read the part about how he changed? Just like Strom Thurmond and Trent Lott didn’t? ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:46am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/143 "2010-06-16T01:46:52Z")
> [@Damuri\_Ajashi](#): > > yeah… and? Then what the hell did you mean by > [@](#): > > was suggesting why hispanics seem to vote republican > [@](#): > > Why are hispanics voting for Republicans even half as often as they vote for Democrats considering the low regard with which Republicans obviously hold Hispanics. Their Republican vote is far lower than the national average, How much lower do you think is appropriate? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:54am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/144 "2010-06-16T01:54:03Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > He was repudiated by the national Republican party. How courageous of them. He was still the Republican candidate for Governor of Louisiana in 1991, and won 55% of the white vote there. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/145 "2010-06-16T02:05:39Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > How courageous of them. He was still the Republican candidate for Governor of Louisiana in 1991, and won 55% of the white vote there. My point is that there is a double standard. I could pick on more Democratics with a bad voting record. You don’t see threads started about how racist The Democratic party is. The whole meme of Republican racism is nothing but political swill catering to a minority vote that is nothing short of the pot calling the kettle black. It gets old. ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/146 "2010-06-16T02:09:38Z")
The Democratic Party USED to be racist when it was the party of the right. That dynamic has flip-flopped. The Dems recently nominated and elected a black President, in case you didn’t notice. Protesting that the Dems used to be racist 50 years ago is not an argument to vote Republican in 2010. ---
**Author:** ![Nobody](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/94ad74/32.png) [@Nobody](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nobody)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/147 "2010-06-16T02:14:27Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The only reason anyone CARES about it is that they’re not white. Cite? > [@](#): > > Illegal immigration is a phony issue. It doesn’t really cause any significant problems (comparing it to 911 is ridiculous), I didn’t compare illegal immigration to 9/11 > [@](#): > > and undocumented workers are an essential part of the economy. Politicos gin up hysteria over it simply to exploit racial resentment. The issue is not really illegal immigration, it’s too many Mexicans. That’s what dog whistle politics is all about. Talking about one thing as code for something else, then feigning innocence when called on it. Even though you don’t believe it, there are plenty of people who are against illegal immigration who aren’t racists. > [@](#): > > The real crisis – the thing that is scaring Republicans to death at the moment – is that the numbers of Hispanic voters are growing larger than the numbers of their traditional redneck base. That’s why Arizona is trying to find ways to target legal immigrants and citizens (the Nazi “papers” law, trying to deny citizenship righst to babies born in Arizona with brown skin) to at least make the state an inhospitable place to live. Even though I think it goes to far, you do realize that there are plenty of brown skin people who support what Arizona did, right? And as for Arizonan’s being a bunch of red necks who hate brown skin people, do you know a large amount of people from there, or are you just painting them with a broad brush based on your opinions of them rather than facts? ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/148 "2010-06-16T02:21:01Z")
> [@Nobody](#): > > Even though you don’t believe it, there are plenty of people who are against illegal immigration who aren’t racists. Illegal immigration is neither here nor there. I’m not talking about the issue _per se_, but the exploitation of the issue by the Republican Party as a coded way to gin up racial resntment and fear. > [@](#): > > Even though I think it goes to far, you do realize that there are plenty of brown skin people who support what Arizona did, right? Percentage-wise, no. No there aren’t. > [@](#): > > And as for Arizonan’s being a bunch of red necks who hate brown skin people, do you know a large amount of people from there, or are you just painting them with a broad brush based on your opinions of them rather than facts? I didn’t say that. I said the REPUBLICAN BASE was a bunch of rednecks. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/149 "2010-06-16T02:29:54Z")
> [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](#): > > The Democratic Party USED to be racist when it was the party of the right. That dynamic has flip-flopped. The Dems recently nominated and elected a black President, in case you didn’t notice. Protesting that the Dems used to be racist 50 years ago is not an argument to vote Republican in 2010. Not voting in a black candidate in a primary \<\> racism and there is nothing stopping that from happening in the Republican party. The meme of GOP racism has created a situation where any black conservative gets labeled an uncle tom for not promoting every social spend fest that comes down the pike. That’s a complete load of bullshit. The dynamic is that the Republican party is not racist and when that is used as political fodder by a party with a blemished past it is doubly insulting. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 2:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/150 "2010-06-16T02:33:20Z")
The question at hand, I believe, is why black people do not vote in great number for the GOP. David Duke is a Republican. Robert Byrd is not widely known, IME, in the black community, and beyond that has repented his former conduct. Black Americans are Americans–we love a good repenting! Meanwhile, who are the prominent faces the Republican Party today? Rush Limbaugh. He of the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Republicans. Bill O’Reilly. He of the ‘Wow, they don’t scream where’s my iced tea muthafucka in Harlem restaurants’ Republicans. Glenn Beck, who dares to compare himself to Martin Luther King in one of the most disingenuous comparisons since… the last time he opened his mouth. The Tea Party–implicitly threatening to SHOOT THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT!!! Tea Partiers. And don’t even TRY to hand out a line of bullshit about what that sign meant. We came unarmed… this time. Sure. Right. How about your governors not threatening to secede upon the accession of the first black president to the Oval Office? You want black votes, Republicans? Call out this despicable conduct whenever and wherever you see it. Make it clear–and not with easily deciphered lip service–that you are committed to an America where all are treated equally and anyone in need is considered someone to be helped, and not a problem to be solved. I won’t hold my breath. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/151 "2010-06-16T03:08:58Z")
> [@Enfant Terrible](#): > > The question at hand, I believe, is why black people do not vote in great number for the GOP. > > David Duke is a Republican. Robert Byrd is not widely known, IME, in the black community, and beyond that has repented his former conduct. Black Americans are Americans–we love a good repenting! > > Meanwhile, who are the prominent faces the Republican Party today? Rush Limbaugh. He of the ‘Barack the Magic Negro’ Republicans. Bill O’Reilly. He of the ‘Wow, they don’t scream where’s my iced tea muthafucka in Harlem restaurants’ Republicans. Glenn Beck, who dares to compare himself to Martin Luther King in one of the most disingenuous comparisons since… the last time he opened his mouth. The Tea Party–implicitly threatening to SHOOT THE FIRST BLACK PRESIDENT!!! Tea Partiers. And don’t even TRY to hand out a line of bullshit about what that sign meant. We came unarmed… this time. Sure. Right. > > How about your governors not threatening to secede upon the accession of the first black president to the Oval Office? > > You want black votes, Republicans? Call out this despicable conduct whenever and wherever you see it. Make it clear–and not with easily deciphered lip service–that you are committed to an America where all are treated equally and anyone in need is considered someone to be helped, and not a problem to be solved. > > I won’t hold my breath. If I were to go to a tea party and see a sign like that you would know what I look like because I would in the news standing over a body. Duke was treated by derision by the GOP. That is in marked contrast to a Democratic presidential candidate who once called New York city Himeytown and was heard off mike saying he wanted to cut President Obama’s balls off. Apologies are great but shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/152 "2010-06-16T03:16:59Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > If I were to go to a tea party and see a sign like that you would know what I look like because I would in the news standing over a body. > > Duke was treated by derision by the GOP. That is in marked contrast to a Democratic presidential candidate who once called New York city Himeytown and was heard off mike saying he wanted to cut President Obama’s balls off. > > Apologies are great but shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. I don’t hold any great love for Jesse Jackson. And it’s better to have an apology for bad behavior than not. Derision for Duke? Only since the 90s. If even then. Meanwhile, you seem like a good egg. What you should understand is that going into a defensive crouch when your party is criticized for existing perception rarely helps. It won’t help Democrats to try to throw eggs at Republicans to make inroads in the Deep South. The only thing that will help is to own up to the perception, do deep thinking as to what might be fair about the criticism, and sincerely try to do better in future. ---
**Author:** ![Magiver](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/4491bb/32.png) [@Magiver](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Magiver)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/153 "2010-06-16T03:20:25Z")
> [@Enfant Terrible](#): > > I don’t hold any great love for Jesse Jackson. And it’s better to have an apology for bad behavior than not. > > Derision for Duke? Only since the 90s. I was referring to GOP derision. It’s not like I think either party deserves a gold star for 200 years of politics but I don’t see any justification for Democrats to throw stones from their house of glass. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Understander](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/3da27b/32.png) [@The\_Understander](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Understander)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/154 "2010-06-16T03:50:04Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > I was referring to GOP derision. > > It’s not like I think either party deserves a gold star for 200 years of politics but I don’t see any justification for Democrats to throw stones from their house of glass. Oh, I know you were. I just didn’t see it, given the vote count. No one should throw stones… including black people or hispanic people or whomever. We’re all just a bunch of hypocrites striving for social dominance, in the aggregate… but over the last forty years or so there is a clear demarcation between the public perception and policies between more liberal types and more conservative types as regards race. From my point of view, and, not to speak for anyone (though I will), from the point of many black Americans, the demarcation is so clear as to be almost laughable on its face. It takes a clear commitment and repudiation of more egregious, and more current, social issues to gain trust in a community. Tu quoque just won’t fly… that just maintains the status quo. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 12:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/155 "2010-06-16T12:41:54Z")
> [@Magiver](#): > > Duke was treated by derision by the GOP. In spite of all the GOP members who voted for him? :dubious: Please. > [@](#): > > That is in marked contrast to a Democratic presidential candidate who once called New York city Himeytown and was heard off mike saying he wanted to cut President Obama’s balls off. You don’t recall any derision for that? Really? > [@](#): > > Apologies are great but shouldn’t be necessary in the first place. But sometimes they are. And the facts are that the GOP has much to apologize for, before they can even begin to overcome their history. Dropping their racial politics of today is a necessary, though inadequate, start. ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 1:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/156 "2010-06-16T13:02:14Z")
> [@Kimstu](#): > > This sort of inference doesn’t seem to work the same way for other types of comparisons, though. For instance, [blacks and Hispanics have higher obesity rates than whites](http://obesity1.tempdomainname.com/subs/fastfacts/Obesity_Minority_Pop.shtml), but media narratives about obesity don’t present their subjects as overwhelmingly black or Hispanic. > > For whatever reason, blacks are disproportionately associated in the media with welfare and crime much more than with certain other social phenomena that also disproportionately affect blacks. Possibly because obesity doesn’t impact the taxpayer as directly as welfare (and street crime) does. > [@Magiver](#): > > Again, how is this a racist construct if the majority of welfare recipients are white? It isn’t. Accusations of racism are often used by the Left to avoid discussions of uncomfortable truths about core Democratic constituencies. As we’ve seen in this thread, and others. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/157 "2010-06-16T15:54:09Z")
Tell us honestly, **Shodan** : When Reagan mentioned his “welfare queen”, or when you hear or read the term today, what mental image comes to mind for you? And why? ---
**Author:** ![Shodan](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9f8e36/32.png) [@Shodan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shodan)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 3:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/158 "2010-06-16T15:59:25Z")
That of a dishonest parasite. Because that is what she was. Regards, Shodan ---
**Author:** ![Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e99b99/32.png) [@Diogenes\_the\_Cynic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diogenes_the_Cynic)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/159 "2010-06-16T16:00:32Z")
Welfare doesn’t affect the taxpayer. Illegal invasions and occupations of other countries affect the taxpayers. Gigantic, industry destroying undersea oil explosions affect the taxpayers. Global warming, collusion over gas prices, predatory lending, corporate welfare, irresponsible tax giveaways to the richest Americans – those things affect taxpayers. Welfare is virtually gone now, and was a negligable part of the budget even when it was at full force. “Welfare” is a code word. Politicians are not really talking about welfare when they talk about welfare, just like they’re not really talking about illegal immigration whn they talk about illegal immigration. ---
**Author:** ![ElvisL1ves](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/5daacb/32.png) [@ElvisL1ves](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ElvisL1ves)\ **Post date:** [June 16, 2010, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057/160 "2010-06-16T16:01:37Z")
> [@Shodan](#): > > That of a dishonest parasite. Because that is what she was. > > Regards, > Shodan Is that really all? No physical image came to mind then or now? Not at all? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057.md?page=7) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/blacks-and-the-gop/543057.md?page=9)