Just about everyone I know black or white is gonna vote this election. That whole myth that the Black vote doesn't help nationally needs to be debunked, imo. Remember that Gore actually won the popular vote by half a million votes in the last election. It was the fiasco in Florida and more importantly, the activism of right-wing conservative judges on the Supreme Court that cost him the White House. It was a narrow margin of 500 or so votes that did him in. If the number of Black voters in the state that were disenfranchised were allowed to vote Gore would have won Florida handily.
Blacks and Voting
by Mecurious? 92 Replies latest social current
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roybatty
My question is why do 90% of black Americans vote democrat? Hell, here in Chicago I think it's 100%.
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bigboi
I think it's because of the Republican Party's embracing those with racist ideolgies in the South after the discord during the civil rights movement in the 60's. Those old southern segregationsits were largely democrats, who felt the elites in the party betrayed them by forcing de-segregation upon their communities. The Republicans saw this discontent as a chance to get a foothold in the South. If not locally then at least they could count on those votes nationally. IMO, its no coincidence that Ronald Reagan started his campaign for President in the same small Mississippi community where four civil rights workers were murdered.
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roybatty
IMO, its no coincidence that Ronald Reagan started his campaign for President in the same small Mississippi community where four civil rights workers were murdered
Kind of ironic that the average black American's economic health improved more so then the average white American during the Regan years. BTW, who has/had more black Americans at senior cabinet postions, Bush or the "first black president" Clinton? Personally, I think it's sad that the Democrats take for granted the black vote and that people like Jesse Jackson can "deliver" the black vote. Almost sounds like slavery when certain leaders can take for granted that a group of people will vote for them no matter what. I believe that the black community is realizing that the social progams shoved down their throats for the last 40 years has done more harm then good. What happened to people like MLK and the message of self-reliance? People like Jackson and Sharpton have replaced it with "where's mine?"
IMO if Powell runs as a republican in the 2008 presidency election, he'll win. He'll get enough of the conservative vote and at least 50% of the black vote. Powell as president and Rice as VP. They'd get my vote.
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ThiChi
Roy:
Your figure is incorrect. Bush has doubled the Black support, at about 20%. I wonder about this too, since it was the Democrats that tried to block the Civil Rights Bill, and without the Republicans, it would not have passed into law.
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bigboi
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Almost sounds like slavery when certain leaders can take for granted that a group of people will vote for them no matter what.
I guess you can apply that kind of "logic" to right-wingers or just plain ol conservatives who vote Republican all the time.
What happened to people like MLK and the message of self-reliance?
It's clear from this statement that all you know about MLK is what see during commercials on the tube every February.
As far as the rest of your spiel is concerned it's clear the question you asked was rhetorical. I'm sorry I wasted my time answering it for you.
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ignored_one
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
New Florida vote scandal feared
By Greg Palast
Reporting for BBC's Newsnight
A secret document obtained from inside Bush campaign headquarters in Florida suggests a plan - possibly in violation of US law - to disrupt voting in the state's African-American voting districts, a BBC Newsnight investigation reveals.
Two e-mails, prepared for the executive director of the Bush campaign in Florida and the campaign's national research director in Washington DC, contain a 15-page so-called "caging list".
It lists 1,886 names and addresses of voters in predominantly black and traditionally Democrat areas of Jacksonville, Florida.
An elections supervisor in Tallahassee, when shown the list, told Newsnight: "The only possible reason why they would keep such a thing is to challenge voters on election day."
Ion Sancho, a Democrat, noted that Florida law allows political party operatives inside polling stations to stop voters from obtaining a ballot.
Mass challenges
They may then only vote "provisionally" after signing an affidavit attesting to their legal voting status.
Mass challenges have never occurred in Florida. Indeed, says Mr Sancho, not one challenge has been made to a voter "in the 16 years I've been supervisor of elections."
"Quite frankly, this process can be used to slow down the voting process and cause chaos on election day; and discourage voters from voting."
Sancho calls it "intimidation." And it may be illegal.
In Washington, well-known civil rights attorney, Ralph Neas, noted that US federal law prohibits targeting challenges to voters, even if there is a basis for the challenge, if race is a factor in targeting the voters.
The list of Jacksonville voters covers an area with a majority of black residents.
When asked by Newsnight for an explanation of the list, Republican spokespersons claim the list merely records returned mail from either fundraising solicitations or returned letters sent to newly registered voters to verify their addresses for purposes of mailing campaign literature.
Republican state campaign spokeswoman Mindy Tucker Fletcher stated the list was not put together "in order to create" a challenge list, but refused to say it would not be used in that manner.
Rather, she did acknowledge that the party's poll workers will be instructed to challenge voters, "Where it's stated in the law."
There was no explanation as to why such clerical matters would be sent to top officials of the Bush campaign in Florida and Washington.
Private detective
In Jacksonville, to determine if Republicans were using the lists or other means of intimidating voters, we filmed a private detective filming every "early voter" - the majority of whom are black - from behind a vehicle with blacked-out windows.
The private detective claimed not to know who was paying for his all-day services.
On the scene, Democratic Congresswoman Corinne Brown said the surveillance operation was part of a campaign of intimidation tactics used by the Republican Party to intimate and scare off African American voters, almost all of whom are registered Democrats.
Greg Palast's film will be broadcast by Newsnight on Tuesday, 26 October, 2004.
Newsnight is broadcast on BBC Two at 2230 BST every weeknight in the UK.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/3956129.stm
Published: 2004/10/26 17:06:30 GMT
© BBC MMIV -
roybatty
Almost sounds like slavery when certain leaders can take for granted that a group of people will vote for them no matter what.
I guess you can apply that kind of "logic" to right-wingers or just plain ol conservatives who vote Republican all the time.Better guess again buddy before you peg me as someone who votes Republican all the time. But why bother explaining this to you after reading your dumbass assumptions about me. ANyway, if you were to look at the politics here in Chicago almost nothing has changed for 40 years!!! Nothing! The only thing that has changed is that the city counsel use to be 80% white but now it's 80% black but the rich areas still have the best schools and the poor areas have the worst schools. I know this. I went to college with guys who I became friends with and they told me about the texts books they had to use that were 10 years out of date and were missing half the pages. They told me about entire schools not even having one computer while the high school I went to (back in the mid 80's) had an entire lab full of them. How do you fix this? Let me give you an example. Instead of funding schools with local property taxes (which gives the rich areas much more money) get rid of this and pass a state wide income tax. Credit each student with an fixed dollar amount no matter where they go to school. Bam! Instantly schools in rich areas and poor areas would be more equal. I don't see any leaders (black or white) pushing this. Why not? Because they've "made it" and they want their kids going to good schools. I'm just tired of seeing people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpon leeching off of people they're supposedly helping.
So please tell me if MLK's vision was that some 35 years later 50 percent of blacks do not graduate high school and murder being the number one killer of young, black males. Something's not working but no one is doing anything about it. Here in Chicago civil rights leaders are a joke. Do a Google search on "Jesse the king of beers Jackson" and see what you find. It's a dam joke. You're trying to peg me as some right-wing neo-nazi who wants to cut welfare. I'm not at all saying that. I'm just saying if I were a black american looking at so-called "leaders" in the black community I'd say "what the f*ck?" If you want to talk about reducing government hadouts, start with white farmers here in the midwest and corporate america.What happened to people like MLK and the message of self-reliance?
It's clear from this statement that all you know about MLK is what see during commercials on the tube every February.
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roybatty
Roy:
Your figure is incorrect. Bush has doubled the Black support, at about 20%. I wonder about this too, since it was the Democrats that tried to block the Civil Rights Bill, and without the Republicans, it would not have passed into law.
I've never come across any hard numbers. I'll have to look it up. Thanks though.
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bigboi
Better guess again buddy before you peg me as someone who votes Republican all the time. But why bother explaining this to you after reading your dumbass assumptions about me. ANyway, if you were to look at the politics here in Chicago almost nothing has changed for 40 years!!! Nothing! The only thing that has changed is that the city counsel use to be 80% white but now it's 80% black but the rich areas still have the best schools and the poor areas have the worst schools. I know this. I went to college with guys who I became friends with and they told me about the texts books they had to use that were 10 years out of date and were missing half the pages. They told me about entire schools not even having one computer while the high school I went to (back in the mid 80's) had an entire lab full of them. How do you fix this? Let me give you an example. Instead of funding schools with local property taxes (which gives the rich areas much more money) get rid of this and pass a state wide income tax. Credit each student with an fixed dollar amount no matter where they go to school. Bam! Instantly schools in rich areas and poor areas would be more equal. I don't see any leaders (black or white) pushing this. Why not? Because they've "made it" and they want their kids going to good schools. I'm just tired of seeing people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpon leeching off of people they're supposedly helping.
I never made the assertion that you vote republican all the time. It was you who asked a question concerning the voting patterns of Blacks. I just offered my opinion on why Blacks tend to vote the way they do. All the rest of what you mentioned is probably true, and I'm glad you've taken the opportunity to get it all of your chest, but I fail to see what it has to do with the subject at hand.
So please tell me if MLK's vision was that some 35 years later 50 percent of blacks do not graduate high school and murder being the number one killer of young, black males. Something's not working but no one is doing anything about it. Here in Chicago civil rights leaders are a joke. Do a Google search on "Jesse the king of beers Jackson" and see what you find. It's a dam joke. You're trying to peg me as some right-wing neo-nazi who wants to cut welfare. I'm not at all saying that. I'm just saying if I were a black american looking at so-called "leaders" in the black community I'd say "what the f*ck?" If you want to talk about reducing government hadouts, start with white farmers here in the midwest and corporate america.
Nah, I don't think MLK's vision of life in America for Black people contained what you allude to here. However, when you imply that he believed some of the pull yourself up by your own bootstrap bs that right-wingers peddle, then I think you don't know as much about the man and his vision that you think. Don't you know that right-wingers often butcher the words of men like MLK watchtower style to misrepresent his true thoughts and to advance their own bigoted thinking?