# Why do African Americans support the Democrats- the party of slavery? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [September 9, 2013, 7:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393 "2013-09-09T07:05:19Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 5
**Author:** ![Fiddle\_Peghead](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fiddle_peghead/32/3506_2.png) [@Fiddle\_Peghead](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fiddle_Peghead)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 10:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/81 "2013-09-12T22:36:54Z")
> [@adaher](#): > > Republicans actually supported the 1964 Civil Rights Act in larger numbers than Democrats. > > [Civil Rights Act of 1964 - Wikipedia](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Civil_Rights_Act_of_1964#By_party) nm. ---
**Author:** ![Truman\_Burbank](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ecc23a/32.png) [@Truman\_Burbank](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Truman_Burbank)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/82 "2013-09-12T23:37:16Z")
How come we’re not asking why white, Southern conservatives, who wrap themselves in the Confederate flag and bitch about state’s rights, are in the party of Lincoln? ---
**Author:** ![SlackerInc](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/slackerinc/32/275_2.png) [@SlackerInc](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SlackerInc)\ **Post date:** [September 12, 2013, 11:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/83 "2013-09-12T23:38:34Z")
Ha, good question. ETA: One wonders what Lincoln, Grant, and Thaddeus Stevens would make of all these “Republican” voters flying the stars and bars. ---
**Author:** ![thepillar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bc8723/32.png) [@thepillar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/thepillar)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 6:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/84 "2013-09-13T06:44:08Z")
> [@iiandyiiii](#): > > The perpetrators of those atrocities are long dead. And yet racial profiling and prejudices still haunt African-Americans to-date. What are we to make of the Travor Martin case and verdict? What of the treatment of African-Americans after Hurricane Katrina? Whom do you suppose is behind of all this? “Long dead” perpetrators? I think they’re very much alive. > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > You do realize the term “African-American” is not literally true? They’re Americans whose ancestors came from Africa. None of the black people living in America today were “forcefully removed from their native home and enslaved in a foreign land.” Heck, there were probably only a few hundred African-born ex-slaves still alive in 1865. I prefer the term “Black Americans” because, indeed, there isn’t much of a relationship between the former and Africa/Africans. However, this doesn’t altogether dispel the fact that Black Americans, out of all other Americans, are most likely to be on welfare and food stamps; unemployed; have little or no access at all to some nationally-accredited tertiary education; be involved in crime and many other not-so-wholesome aspects of American society. And this is all as a result of the marginalization and ostracizing I referred to earlier on. Faced with all these hardships, members of the Black American community usually attribute their current plight to history and their roots. And the moment they do that, slavery and Africa always springs up in the discussion, in addition to why certain Americans don’t consider themselves as “European-Americans” (an indication that a certain group of Americans with a final say on matters of national governance and economics deem to have more rights than all the other “hyphenated” Americans.) > [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > Black people in America generally have no interest in moving “back” to a place they’ve never been to. The demographics of Jews that return(ed) to Israel isn’t necessarily restricted to those that had been there before. > [@BrainGlutton](#): > > That was tried with the founding of Liberia. It did not work out too well. Garvey’s later, utterly hopeless movement was more a cry of despair than anything else. That was then. Times have changed. Besides, the whole process wasn’t well thought out. And let’s not forget the inevitable culture shock to be experienced by those who would manage to make the journey. All we’re saying is that measures should be set in place to facilitate and cushion the transition. There are certain states in Africa with a close resemblance to America in all material aspects–call it an ‘arrival point’, if you like. A state with as much an English fluency as in America serving as a first point of contact and hub for initiating the cultural assimilation process does exist in Africa. There, all Black Americans would be primarily viewed as just Africans, in order to first give them the opportunity to explore the various diversified cultures prevalent in Africa, and so on and so forth… ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/85 "2013-09-13T07:29:26Z")
> [@thepillar](#): > > I prefer the term “Black Americans” because, indeed, there isn’t much of a relationship between the former and Africa/Africans. However, this doesn’t altogether dispel the fact that Black Americans, out of all other Americans, are most likely to be on welfare and food stamps; unemployed; have little or no access at all to some nationally-accredited tertiary education; be involved in crime and many other not-so-wholesome aspects of American society. And this is all as a result of the marginalization and ostracizing I referred to earlier on. Faced with all these hardships, members of the Black American community usually attribute their current plight to history and their roots. And the moment they do that, slavery and Africa always springs up in the discussion, in addition to why certain Americans don’t consider themselves as “European-Americans” (an indication that a certain group of Americans with a final say on matters of national governance and economics deem to have more rights than all the other “hyphenated” Americans.) So what exactly are you saying? That black people should either “love it or leave it”? Black Americans shouldn’t have to go to a foreign country to get fair treatment. They should be able to get that here in their native country. > [@thepillar](#): > > The demographics of Jews that return(ed) to Israel isn’t necessarily restricted to those that had been there before. So what? Blacks and Jews are two different groups. If some Jewish Americans want to move to Israel, then that’s their decision. That doesn’t mean Black Americans should be sent off to Africa. ---
**Author:** ![Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/q/f04885/32.png) [@Qin\_Shi\_Huangdi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qin_Shi_Huangdi)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/86 "2013-09-13T07:33:37Z")
> [@thepillar](#): > > That was then. Times have changed. Besides, the whole process wasn’t well thought out. And let’s not forget the inevitable culture shock to be experienced by those who would manage to make the journey. All we’re saying is that measures should be set in place to facilitate and cushion the transition. There are certain states in Africa with a close resemblance to America in all material aspects–call it an ‘arrival point’, if you like. A state with as much an English fluency as in America serving as a first point of contact and hub for initiating the cultural assimilation process does exist in Africa. There, all Black Americans would be primarily viewed as just Africans, in order to first give them the opportunity to explore the various diversified cultures prevalent in Africa, and so on and so forth… Virtually all sub-Saharan states in terms of average income, life-span and any other measure of development is far inferior to that of blacks in the United States (not the United States as a whole even, mind you). And there is absolutely no interest among blacks currently for such a “Back to Africa” movement except for a few eccentrics. If they want to go back, they can go of their own accord by hopping on the next flight to Monrovia or Accra or Johannesburg. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 7:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/87 "2013-09-13T07:58:20Z")
> [@Little\_Nemo](#): > > So what exactly are you saying? That black people should either “love it or leave it”? I’m getting a kind of sickening vibe that he’s actually saying they should just “leave it.” What I can’t quite tease out is whether he’s coming from a black separatist position of “C’mon, guys, let’s blow this joint,” or a white separatist position of “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” I’ll admit, I’m leaning toward the latter, though. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 9:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/88 "2013-09-13T09:25:10Z")
> [@thepillar](#): > > And yet racial profiling and prejudices still haunt African-Americans to-date. What are we to make of the Travor Martin case and verdict? What of the treatment of African-Americans after Hurricane Katrina? Whom do you suppose is behind of all this? “Long dead” perpetrators? I think they’re very much alive. If they’re very much alive, they’re far more likely to be found in the Republican party than the Democratic party, IMO. And all of that is just more reason to make America better. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [September 13, 2013, 5:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/89 "2013-09-13T17:55:13Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > What I can’t quite tease out is whether he’s coming from a black separatist position of “C’mon, guys, let’s blow this joint,” or a white separatist position of “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” Richard Pryor did a sketch once where he was playing a preacher running a telethon. And he was going through all the various causes he was collecting for: schools, clinics, job programs, etc. And then he started talking about his Back-to-Africa program and the collection boards lit up with donations. Pryor said “Okay, we’re getting the white money now.” ---
**Author:** ![slowlearner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/a88e57/32.png) [@slowlearner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/slowlearner)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 12:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/90 "2013-09-14T00:38:33Z")
Herbert Hoover managed the government response to the great Mississippi river flood of 1927. The planters in the Miss delta impressed the entire black population of the region to sandbag the levies, then refused to let them be evacuated because they didn’t want to lose their labor force. Hoover was more than slow to respond to this, which angered black political leadership of the time. When H ran for pres in 1928 he struck a deal with the black leadership to advance civil rights if they wouldn’t make the abuse of African-Americans during the flood a political issue. He reneged on the deal, and that became an early cause of black political leaders turning toward the Democratic party. Hoover was one of the most fascinating Americans of any time, sad that he became the punching bag for the Great Depression and is completely ignored. ---
**Author:** ![iiandyiiii](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/iiandyiiii/32/7924_2.png) [@iiandyiiii](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/iiandyiiii)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/91 "2013-09-14T01:11:43Z")
> [@slowlearner](#): > > Hoover was one of the most fascinating Americans of any time, sad that he became the punching bag for the Great Depression and is completely ignored. Based on the way you describe him, it doesn’t seem so sad to me. ---
**Author:** ![Ibn\_Warraq](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/e19b73/32.png) [@Ibn\_Warraq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ibn_Warraq)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 2:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/92 "2013-09-14T02:05:42Z")
> [@Truman\_Burbank](#): > > How come we’re not asking why white, Southern conservatives, who wrap themselves in the Confederate flag and bitch about state’s rights, are in the party of Lincoln? Good question! ---
**Author:** ![Bridget\_Burke](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7cd45c/32.png) [@Bridget\_Burke](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bridget_Burke)\ **Post date:** [September 14, 2013, 5:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393/93 "2013-09-14T05:04:15Z")
> [@kaylasdad99](#): > > I’m getting a kind of sickening vibe that he’s actually saying they should just “leave it.” > > What I can’t quite tease out is whether he’s coming from a black separatist position of “C’mon, guys, let’s blow this joint,” or a white separatist position of “Here’s your hat, what’s your hurry?” > > I’ll admit, I’m leaning toward the latter, though. Better send them back to Africa than let them stay here & vote Democratic! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-do-african-americans-support-the-democrats-the-party-of-slavery/668393.md?page=4)