The Republican Fracture of the Black Community is Intentional.
By: Jay Franklin
Tags: Vote, BlackLivesMatter, Democratic Party, Republican Party, Election 2020

Recently, I had the chance to read “Why This Black Man is Voting for Trump” by Quincy Bingham.

I get why he wrote this, I really do. But I think he (and a lot of others who publish similar material) are basing a lot of these opinions off of ignorance on how things actually work.

I've worked in politics. I agree 100% with Quincy that in some cases Dems can be just as bad as Republicans. Heck, even worse.

I think the main issue I take with his central thesis, is that while he tries to make it seem like a neutral take, its very premise is pretty colored.

There's a key here with the "what has the Democratic party ever done for the Black community" speaking point that always lets me know how informed / uninformed people are when they talk about politics.

When Black people within the community usually trot out this speaking point (typically on the conservative side of the aisle), they are basically boiling down the entire conversation to the "dependent black" theory.

Basically, who's making you more dependent on them so you never actually succeed.

The conclusion almost always seems to be:

"Republicans don't want to give you anything, they want you to be self-sufficient. The Democrats just want you dependent. Look at all these terrible Dem-controlled cities."

And its this belief that while its intelligent in its structure and virality, its incredibly destructive in its ability to kill all meaningful conversation.

It was think-tanked and packaged for consumption for black people who feel out of place or left behind in society, angry about what they see, and need to validate their anger with "research" for the culprit. And if the echo-chamber was effective enough, Dems are usually the culprit.

And to that point, I get it, Dems make it supremely easy.

However, what most people don't actually know is that politics aren't about what's being done for you, its about what you can do for yourself. Political parties tend to represent the most active and vocal amongst them.

The squeaky wheel does indeed get the grease.

To that point, the most important aspect of a truly representative political party is mobility. Specifically, how mobile are you within your party's structure to succeed.

And this is where the parties differ.

The Black community has been a part of the Democratic Party since the Nixon realignment and have achieved more within the party during this period than at any other time in US history. They’ve been able to break the ultimate glass ceiling in politics, not once, but twice.

In both cases, it was the Black community’s activism and action that changed the political landscape and got their choice onto the main ticket for the Democratic Party.

No one did this for them. No one gave them anything. They did it for themselves.

They voted in the primaries and in the election for the person they felt would best represent them.

To suggest otherwise is to minimize the ability of every Black brother and sister that fights within the political system to make sure it represents them.

While I hope that one day it happens, I honestly don’t believe we will ever see the kind of mobility that would lead to a black face on the main ticket of the Republican party. The party has evolved and excelled at the art of quiet exclusion.

The people who represent the Republican party doesn’t care about you being self-sufficient. They care about resources. Anything they have to give up to you, means they can’t keep for themselves.

The result of that is the Black community being forced to figure it out for themselves — but not too much, because that too is a resource that needs to be stockpiled for more deserving purposes.

If you ever question this point, I urge you to spend some time looking at your state assembly’s lawmaking process while in session. I bet you would be surprised to find that, that “failing” majority black school in the Dem district or county often isn’t failing in a vacuum. Its due to years of intentional budget re-appropriations, onerous requirements and restrictions, and eventual takeover.

Don’t fall for the trap. If you are a part of the Republican party to fight within the system to make it more representative of everyone, more power to you. It’s an uphill battle, but I guess someone has to do it.

But the execution of a “better or safer” life within the Republican vision of America will include the intentional minimization of the Black community. Its who the Republican Party represents right now.