What Do Black Americans Have to Lose?
I must admit I thought Donald Trump was nuts to go after the black vote in 2016. Not because the black vote isn’t important, but because history suggests at least 80 percent of African-Americans vote for the Democrat on the ballot. Sure, I know Flint Michigan has been under Democrat control for 86 straight years and the public water is (literally) killing black citizens, but there is just so much history and commitment there. Today, I think Trump might have been onto something.
Filmmaker Michael Moore called out Flint, Michigan, as an example of an urban area ruined by years of Democrat governmental control. This is true, and Flint is one of many cities laid to waste by Democrats.
Baltimore has not had a Republican mayor in almost 50 years, and the city is now infamous for crime and poverty.
Chicago last elected a Republican mayor in 1927, and it is now home to the worst inner-city violence in the USA. Plus, its bonds are junk status, only half its public pension liabilities are funded, and record numbers of taxpayers are fleeing Cook County.
Detroit last elected a Republican mayor in 1957, and it is now the poorest big city in America. 40% of its residents live below the poverty line. Inner city housing prices are at rock bottom.
Philadelphia’s last Republican mayor left office in 1952, and its finances are almost as bad as Detroit’s (i.e. falling into bankruptcy).
Saint Louis has not had a Republican mayor since 1949, and it is now the fourth most dangerous city in the USA. In 2014, it had the sixth-highest poverty rate among large American cities.
Michael Moore and Donald Trump don’t see eye to eye on many issues, but they agree that Democrats must be held accountable for failing those who dwell in America’s inner cities – who just happen to be predominantly black.
Don’t look now, but we are seeing the signs of shifting black sentiment, which is the result of 50 years of white liberal talk-talk-talk with no cha-ching! On Friday, the Department of Labor reported a record-low black unemployment rate of 5.9%, which is the first time in recorded history the rate has fallen below 6.0%.
This is real news, but liberals pooh-poohed it anyway. Vox reported the record-low number, adding “black unemployment is still higher than white unemployment” (which fell to 3.5%). Janelle Jones of the Economic Policy Institute cautioned, “[America cannot] set a very low bar for economic success for black workers and then applaud ourselves when we reach it.” And Nancy Pelosi campaigned: “Strong employment numbers mean little to families hit with soaring new costs under the Republicans’ watch. Democrats know that the American people deserve A Better Deal, with Better Jobs, Better Wages and a Better Future.”
No wonder Kanye West has spoken out against this liberal hypocrisy: he knows the jobs number represents “real” black men and women now earning a paycheck – and recognizes a pouting Democrat when he sees one. West has broken ranks because he believes Democrats want the black vote without having actually delivered A Better Deal. It is obvious Mr. West hit a sensitive nerve because white liberals have smeared him with “Uncle Tom” paintballs.
Lee Habeeb has an article in Newsweek that calls out white liberals for the racial bias that black Americans (like Kanye West) are now seeing: “In Chicago, it’s Parkland every week, but Americans know none of the thousands of innocent black men and women killed by other black men in our third largest city (and) there’s a reason. A young black man’s life is not worth reporting when it is taken by another black male.” This begs the question: when was the last time a black man killed by a white cop was not breaking news on CNN or reported in The New York Times?
Habeeb is convinced liberal “journalists and activists” don’t like the storyline because they “can’t blame the deaths on assault-style weapons like the AR-15…or the National Rifle Association.” In other words, white liberals tend to write stories that support their issue du jour (i.e. white racist cops or the right to bear arms). Black conservative scholar Shelby Steele believes liberal whites “must always imagine blacks outside the framework of individual responsibility” to redeem themselves from “America’s racial shame.” Kanye West supports this view with his reaction to putting Harriet Tubman on the $20 bill: “Why you gotta keep reminding us about slavery? Why don’t you show us – put Michael Jordan on a $20 bill.”
Democrats are fools to take the black vote for granted because the new word on the street is insincerity – as portrayed in the Nancy Pelosi Black Lives Matter Memo: “Be a partner and lead from behind. Listen to their concerns [in] personal or small group meetings. Invited BLM attendees should be limited. Don’t offer support for concrete policy positions.” It is exactly this example of two-faced identity politics that has left black Americans like Ben Carson, Kanye West, and Candace Owens exasperated with Democrats. Pelosi stumbles and record rates of black employment should invite Republicans to campaign in inner-city America with Trump’s challenge: What Have You Got To Lose?