Yes, quite an appalling case of gerrymandering the facts! While 8 driver license offices were closed in majority black counties, the remaining 23 offices that closed were not.
13
If Hilary Clinton wins the U.S. presidential election, it will be the first time in history that two U.S. Presidents have slept with each other!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Donald Trump wins the U.S. Presidential election, it will be the first time in history that a billionaire moves into public housing vacated by a black family
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If Donald Trump wins the U.S. Presidential election, it will be the first time in history that a billionaire moves into public housing vacated by a black family
117
More mutual backslapping and choir preaching of the kind that is going to hand the election to Trump. Democrats are firmly in the bubble.
21
Trump's economic plan does not appear to do anything for poor African- Americans, poor Caucasians or even for the middle class except enhance the income for big business, the 1%, the rich as well as the stockholders and board members.
61
It would be nice if Trump spoke to the black community. I don’t expect he’d get the warmest reception and that might not look so good on television, especially since he lacks the glibness of Clinton, but that’s precisely why it would be so important: to speak to people of whom none but a few will vote for you. There’s little chance you could convince people with every reason to be skeptical that this candidacy is different and has nothing to with “outreach” or better “explaining” the same old policies. That could only be demonstrated if elected. Nonetheless, it would convey the seriousness of his campaign.
7
We all know how important our Black Americans have been to the success of this great nation. The Kahn family's story of immigration to the US and the sacrifice of their son on the nation's behalf reminds us of how important immigrants of all faiths have been to the success of the nation. We see in our daily lives the contributions of latino Americans both legal and illegal. This uniquely American diversity and richness has come to the forefront with the GOP's bombastic demagoguery that has culminated in Donald Trump as the personification of a rabid right wing Republican base that has lost its moral compass and support for American ideals and values expressed in our Constitution and in our daily lives. This is truly a "crossroads" election that Democrats will win with the help of its minorities and others who stand together against a GOP that has lost its way.
38
Dear Mr. Blow, the GOP might be DOA on election day, but I fear that the death rattle will include massive polling station shenanigans including: polls not opening, lack of staff at the polls, lack of ballots at polls, and many other "logistical" mixups. The list in your column, along with Texas and Wisconsin should be on everyone's watch list as the GOP and its operatives attempt to circumvent the election.
49
Weird how you seem to think Clinton can win a deep south state with 31% (or less) of the population supporting her. The "Black Belt" are states where more than 70% of the people aren't black? The last time there were two white candidates for President (2004) the turnout was of 67% White, 60% of Black. Hispanic populations have grown throughout the south and are almost certainly going to have record turnout. If she wins any southern state it will be because lots of people who aren't black voted for her.
5
I read elsewhere on line this morning that Trump is planning to challenge Mrs. Clinton by coming out with a plan to allow parents to deduct daycare costs from their taxes. Funny thing is, my daughter who has a 7 year old has been deducting her childcare costs from her taxes since Sophie was born. Sounds like this is another thing about real life that Trump didn't know, like Putin and the Ukraine situation!
57
Will Clinton's support among Blacks really make all that much difference? In the states with the largest number of Blacks will Clinton carry them? The thing that would be more important is the down ballot races. It would be great to see more Southern states get more Democrats in statehouses and state legislatures.
19
This old white lady humbly asks my fellow citizens--black, brown, Latino, Muslim, gay, bi, trans, immigrant, neuro-different, handicapped--to save us from a Trump presidency. Please forgive old white people our trespasses--we need you all so much now!
85
If Hillary thinks the black vote can carry her to victory in former red states, what is her campaign doing about it? Complaining about Shelby v. Holder is as useful as shaking one's fist at the sky after three straight days of rain. Put boots on the ground, drive people to the open driver license bureaus, help them get licenses and other state IDs online, explain what voters' rights mean and what is and is not appropriate on Election Day and before, offer rides to the voting stations, establish hotlines to answer questions and provide guidance, etc. More substantive approaches and fewer speeches about her African-American girlfriends who were later identified as her employees.
18
Trump's low support among black voters is the Spiral of Silence in action. Watch the results change when they reach the voting booth in November and seriously consider how much the policies of the last 8 to 15 years have improved their lives.
4
As always you have delivered another interesting and thought provoking column. Thank you. You forgot a key group that will also have a powerful impact on the coming election. Women... of all colors, ages and economic groups. Women will be a powerful force in the coming election. If the majority of women close the door on Trump...it's over.
33
"Welcome to the South, folks. And thank you very much, Chief Justice John Roberts, for your opinion in the disastrous Shelby County vs. Holder case. How did you put it: In the South, “Things have changed dramatically.” Yeah, right."
I wonder if John Roberts realizes now how wrong he was. My bet is he does, and regrets his decision, based not on law, but on opinion and impressions.
I wonder if John Roberts realizes now how wrong he was. My bet is he does, and regrets his decision, based not on law, but on opinion and impressions.
29
News flash Mr. Blow:
If Clinton wins, it won't be because of the black vote. It will be because of the irresponsible, obnoxious things Trump has said during the campaign about women, Hispanics and Muslims - not to mention nukes, Russia and NATO.
Trump has lost every segment of American voters, except white, non-college educated men. Can't win with only that group.
If Clinton wins, it won't be because of the black vote. It will be because of the irresponsible, obnoxious things Trump has said during the campaign about women, Hispanics and Muslims - not to mention nukes, Russia and NATO.
Trump has lost every segment of American voters, except white, non-college educated men. Can't win with only that group.
41
After reading Trump's economic policy speech, by the way which must have been prepeared for him without much of his input for he obviously read it from the teleprompters, did not impress me. Again, he and the Republican party once more offer trickle down economics. Reducing the tax for big business to 15% does nothing, absolutely nothing for the poor and the middle class. All it does make the rich, the 1%^ and stockholders richer! Not only that, how can the government rebuilt the crumbling infra structure when not enough money is coming in to support such a plan?? Someone please tell me what is he and the Republicans are they thinking?
32
Now is the time for anyone who does not want Trump to win to VOLUNTEER for Hillary and down ballot Democratic candidates. We cannot be complacent as the stakes are too high. If you have the means to go to a swing state, Hillary volunteers can put you up. Take vacation time or weekends...we need all hands on deck to save our democracy!
30
Rocky Suhayda, chairman of the American Nazi Party is quoted in several sources saying:
“Now, if Trump does win, okay, it’s going to be a real opportunity for people like white nationalists...
What more needs to be said. You either stand with or against racism. This is a time for choosing. "Which side are you on" has never been a more appropriate question.
“Now, if Trump does win, okay, it’s going to be a real opportunity for people like white nationalists...
What more needs to be said. You either stand with or against racism. This is a time for choosing. "Which side are you on" has never been a more appropriate question.
25
So blacks don't have ID's?? Hard to believe. More like you want to enable cheaters of all colors to vote multiple times. I think this country is the only one that doesn't require an ID to vote. You tell this to a European and they can't believe it.
12
I've been voting for 45 years......can someone please tell me how the Republican Party can say with a straight face that they are sympathetic to minority and gay voters? In the last 20 years they have adopted a strategy of hanging on to extreme right wing voters in the belief that it will help move them forward.....ask John Boehner how that's working.
If the Republican Party is serious about reaching out to minority and gay voters then they will have to put serious distance between themselves and the extreme right; even if it means losing this election. Let the extremists go off and start their own party, the NCP (National Crazy Party) and see how well they do without disenfranchised Republicans.
Time to man-up and take control back from those who forgot that these are the UNITED States.
If the Republican Party is serious about reaching out to minority and gay voters then they will have to put serious distance between themselves and the extreme right; even if it means losing this election. Let the extremists go off and start their own party, the NCP (National Crazy Party) and see how well they do without disenfranchised Republicans.
Time to man-up and take control back from those who forgot that these are the UNITED States.
31
So what? No Republican has ever been able to get any important part of the black vote.
That has hurt blacks. It has enabled the Democrats to take them for granted, and the Democrats did. Blacks have been used and abused by the Democrats, because there has been no need for the Democrats to spend any real resources governing to meet any black needs. And they haven't.
That was not always true. Martin Luther King, Jr. extracted a price for his support. He got things from LBJ in particular, but promises from Kennedy too that were proposed laws that LBJ later got passed.
What like that has happened lately? Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Who is to blame for that? Ultimately, it is the black leadership that allowed itself to be taken for granted, co-opted for the private benefit of the leaders, aka corruption.
Want black lives to matter? Put the black vote into play again. Demand real things, and enforce that.
Or you could trust Hillary. Good luck.
That has hurt blacks. It has enabled the Democrats to take them for granted, and the Democrats did. Blacks have been used and abused by the Democrats, because there has been no need for the Democrats to spend any real resources governing to meet any black needs. And they haven't.
That was not always true. Martin Luther King, Jr. extracted a price for his support. He got things from LBJ in particular, but promises from Kennedy too that were proposed laws that LBJ later got passed.
What like that has happened lately? Nothing. Nada. Zip.
Who is to blame for that? Ultimately, it is the black leadership that allowed itself to be taken for granted, co-opted for the private benefit of the leaders, aka corruption.
Want black lives to matter? Put the black vote into play again. Demand real things, and enforce that.
Or you could trust Hillary. Good luck.
15
The DNC lives and breathes by taking various blocs for granted. The far left is another example, as witnessed by the turnout for Senator Sanders. Sooner or later it will come back to haunt them, but not as long as the Republican Party is such a convenient foil. Ralph Nader probably did them out of the Presidency in 2000, but they haven't learned their lesson yet. If it were not for the Supreme Court hanging in the balance, this might have been the election.
5
If anybody out there feels that President Obama has done nothing to improve the lives of Black Americans........the mere fact that Republicans have openly admitted to working to suppress the black vote is reason enough to vote for a Democrat! BTW - there is not room enough here to list all that President Obama and the Democrats have accomplished or worked to accomplish...higher minimum wage, equal pay for women, lower tax rates for the middle class, more money for PreK........helps all middle income folks including African Americans!
76
Could you please provide evidence "that Republicans have openly admitted to working to suppress the black vote?"
Also, the sad fact remains that black men are more unemployed than ever in comparison to non-blacks (reference Atlantic Monthy 12/15 article "Education Gaps Don't Fully Explain Why Black Unemployment Is So High".
Then there is Flint Michigan. Just ask Roger Moore how he feels Obama helped stepped in proactively to help this helpless Black Americans?
Also, the sad fact remains that black men are more unemployed than ever in comparison to non-blacks (reference Atlantic Monthy 12/15 article "Education Gaps Don't Fully Explain Why Black Unemployment Is So High".
Then there is Flint Michigan. Just ask Roger Moore how he feels Obama helped stepped in proactively to help this helpless Black Americans?
8
In response to the gentleman who criticizes Charles Blow for righting about "African American Issues".....
My hats off to Charles Blow for bringing these issues to us (and always with facts to back him up). Charles is the only writer I know that does focus on issues that affect African Americans. So 1 out of how many white guys and gals..........and this Colorado gentleman is offended? I am one white lady that appreciates Charles Blow's thoughtful, informative and enlightening articles. Martin Luther King would be so proud of Mr. Blow!!!!!!
My hats off to Charles Blow for bringing these issues to us (and always with facts to back him up). Charles is the only writer I know that does focus on issues that affect African Americans. So 1 out of how many white guys and gals..........and this Colorado gentleman is offended? I am one white lady that appreciates Charles Blow's thoughtful, informative and enlightening articles. Martin Luther King would be so proud of Mr. Blow!!!!!!
63
I'm another white lady who appreciates Charles Blow's excellent columns!
23
There used to be a much better writer and journalist called Bob Herbert who is now writing for Demos. His columns had a much more personal touch, usually citing the impact of some policy or event on an average person.
http://www.demos.org/bob-herbert
But like all things at the NYT, Mr. Herbert and other good Op-Ed columnists departed. And this is what the readers get in place. Mr. Blow and his less than convincing (I'm being generous here) column arguments.
http://www.demos.org/bob-herbert
But like all things at the NYT, Mr. Herbert and other good Op-Ed columnists departed. And this is what the readers get in place. Mr. Blow and his less than convincing (I'm being generous here) column arguments.
9
Oh, I wish I was in the land of cotton,
Old times there are not forgotten.
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!
In Dixie's Land, where I was born in,
early on one frosty mornin'.
Look away, look away, look away Dixie Land!
I wish I was in Dixie, Hooray! Hooray!
In Dixie's Land I'll take my stand,
to live and die in Dixie...
OK. You wish you were in Dixie. We get it .... But what 's your point????
11
Thank you Mr Blow, especially for bringing the Alabama driver's license agency closings to our attention. This is the "freedom" that so many Americans have given their lives to preserve? How unpatriotic can Republicans get!? I hope legal action has been taken on that, and that Justice Roberts hears about it daily until it's fixed, and that he never forgets how wrong he got it.
You're so right about the importance of the black vote and the younger vote in November. One can't help but think back to the turnout dropoff in the 2010 midterm elections, and the Republican redistricting that followed in so much of the country--redrawing the game board for who knows how long ... Please keep doing your part to increase turn out!
You're so right about the importance of the black vote and the younger vote in November. One can't help but think back to the turnout dropoff in the 2010 midterm elections, and the Republican redistricting that followed in so much of the country--redrawing the game board for who knows how long ... Please keep doing your part to increase turn out!
37
I have a question. How many drivers license offices were closed statewide? How many are open in mostly white counties?
6
After reading all of the comments- I can always count on the majority coming form Whites when Charles "goes racial": Charles- you really know how to ruffle the peacock feathers.
21
Considering that the readership of this paper is probably 90% white, that would be par
4
'Dead and buried', it couldn't happen to a better political group of obstructionists. Time for a new party to take their place.
45
Ironically, "Dead and Buried" make up small, but not insignificant voting block in Minnesota and Chicago, each election cycle. Kudos !
6
What's the point of exhorting Black Southerns to vote when they can't even register because the drivers license faces are closed. Is anyone bringing a Federal lawsuit to get them opened? Is anyone driving potential voters to open offices in the State?
Talk is cheap. Where's the plan for effective action?
Talk is cheap. Where's the plan for effective action?
30
Mr. Blow, normally I find myself rolling my eyes at your high octane exaggerations and often race-baiting opinion pieces. That being said, if black voters save us from the Orange menace in November, I will give a donation to any one of your favorite causes. I will also restrain from making snarky comments about your columns for at least a month.
14
Racists, cowards, and thugs who will deny the right to vote in order to win.
The Republican Party deserves to die.
The Republican Party deserves to die.
41
Your artful and skilled use of language, jumps right off the pages of a Louis Farrakhan speech.
6
Every time you talk about voting in terms of the "black vote" or the "white vote" you are continuing to perpetuate a sense of racism and class divide in this country. Do not all American citizens have the same needs and the same goals for this country? Regardless of one's ethnicity, we all want better helath-care coverage, better education, a stronger sense of economic security, etc.
8
Mike, while those things you mentioned are important to most people, regardless of ethnicity, it is unrealistic to think that black Americans don't have different needs and priorities than white Americans. Just as women quite often have different priorities than men, gays want laws passed that aren't important to straight people, and young voters care about issues that older voters dismiss!
You call it racism and class division and condemn it. I call it human nature to support candidates who agree with my particular concerns.
You call it racism and class division and condemn it. I call it human nature to support candidates who agree with my particular concerns.
10
“We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too. We must recruit more candidates who come from minority communities. But it is not just tone that counts. Policy always matters.”
Translation : we must become the democratic party !
Translation : we must become the democratic party !
9
Mr. Blow, in alleging that Alabama is closing its driver's license offices to specifically discriminate against black voters, I suggest you are doing your share of discrimminating and it bring your credibility into question.
First, according to the article you cited, the driver's license offices closed were ones that were not owned by the state.
What you conveniently omitted from your op-ed is that the cuts were part of a broader series of cuts which included closing 5 state parks, and National Guard armories, and consolidating a warehouse. These latter cuts were not directed at minorities and it brings into question whether the driver's license cuts were either.
Moreover, as a minority myself, I find it condescending to assume we cannot figure out how to get a simple photo id ahead of voting.
First, according to the article you cited, the driver's license offices closed were ones that were not owned by the state.
What you conveniently omitted from your op-ed is that the cuts were part of a broader series of cuts which included closing 5 state parks, and National Guard armories, and consolidating a warehouse. These latter cuts were not directed at minorities and it brings into question whether the driver's license cuts were either.
Moreover, as a minority myself, I find it condescending to assume we cannot figure out how to get a simple photo id ahead of voting.
12
Two things I know for certain. In recent years, Democrats haven't done much for black people. Repblicans will do even less. Much less.
8
The notion that blacks support David Duke more than they support Donald Trump blows my mind.
I suppose I am glad that Mr. Blow has no explanation for it, because it seems next-to inexplicable to me; utterly baffling.
In a grasping-at-straws effort to come up with ideas ... any chance this is "the devil you know" in action? But why support either of them?
In fairness to the GOP, nobody in the mainstream GOP appears to have supported Mr. Duke's candidacy and the Louisiana GOP leadership has disavowed him, but cannot prevent him from registering as a Republican.
I would hope that he is defeated in the primary, if not then one might well hope he is defeated in the general election, by the Democrat.
I suppose I am glad that Mr. Blow has no explanation for it, because it seems next-to inexplicable to me; utterly baffling.
In a grasping-at-straws effort to come up with ideas ... any chance this is "the devil you know" in action? But why support either of them?
In fairness to the GOP, nobody in the mainstream GOP appears to have supported Mr. Duke's candidacy and the Louisiana GOP leadership has disavowed him, but cannot prevent him from registering as a Republican.
I would hope that he is defeated in the primary, if not then one might well hope he is defeated in the general election, by the Democrat.
9
Too bad that there is a 'black belt'. I always thought of 'America', instead. I guess that we need more education for this belt and any other 'belts'.
7
Does that mean you haven't heard about the "Rust Belt", or the "Bible Belt"??
Well, they're ALL part of America, and most educated people have already heard of them.
Well, they're ALL part of America, and most educated people have already heard of them.
18
During this year's primaries we already saw some dry runs at dropping registered voters from the rolls, as well as the more publicized instances of registered Democrats finding themselves among the "unaffiliated." Couple that with closing down polling stations, a la Maricopa County in Arizona, and they won't even need to worry about imposing more stringent voter ID laws.
10
What else is new? That blacks as a monolithic block are more likely to vote for Hillary, despite that she characterized at least some blacks as 'super predators' and despite that Bill Clinton's policies led to tougher penalties for drug offenses for black youths, speaks to level of cluelessness that obtain in that community.
Economic realities for blacks have worsened under Obama's presidency, with more people on food stamps and with black unemployment at nearly 7 times average unemployment in the country. Hillary is the baton-carrier for Obama and to think that her policies would create a better economic reality for blacks is to be punch-drunk on Obama koolaid.
What is surprising is that 1% of blacks in the 'black belts' would even consider voting for Trump.
As long as blacks are mired in economic woes, Democratic party will exploit them for votes by using divisive rhetoric against whites and the rich. It is not in the interests of Democrats to see that the black lives get better for if they do, then blacks will cease to support the politics and polices of Democratic nominees.
Economic realities for blacks have worsened under Obama's presidency, with more people on food stamps and with black unemployment at nearly 7 times average unemployment in the country. Hillary is the baton-carrier for Obama and to think that her policies would create a better economic reality for blacks is to be punch-drunk on Obama koolaid.
What is surprising is that 1% of blacks in the 'black belts' would even consider voting for Trump.
As long as blacks are mired in economic woes, Democratic party will exploit them for votes by using divisive rhetoric against whites and the rich. It is not in the interests of Democrats to see that the black lives get better for if they do, then blacks will cease to support the politics and polices of Democratic nominees.
6
@pisonny
Sorry. But who made you the expert in how all Black people vote??
And all this negativity about the Democrats -- but what have the Republicans done???
Not only have they blocked President Obama since his inauguration, but now they're floating a nominee who's been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.
Get real.
Sorry. But who made you the expert in how all Black people vote??
And all this negativity about the Democrats -- but what have the Republicans done???
Not only have they blocked President Obama since his inauguration, but now they're floating a nominee who's been endorsed by the Ku Klux Klan.
Get real.
9
"As long as blacks are mired in economic woes, Democratic party will exploit them for votes..."
You just described the Democratic Party's MO every day of my life.
You just described the Democratic Party's MO every day of my life.
3
Repubs do the same with whites.
4
The Republican Party is indeed dying. They maintain power through very successful gerrymandering and minority voter suppression. The GOP cannot survive in a true democracy. Trump is symptom of their disease
22
“We [Republicans] need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too. We must recruit more candidates who come from minority communities. But it is not just tone that counts. Policy always matters.”
As long as Republican parties, legislatures and attorneys general are actively working to disenfrachise black voters, they are the party of Trump, Duke and the Klan, without all that messy lynchin'.
As long as Republican parties, legislatures and attorneys general are actively working to disenfrachise black voters, they are the party of Trump, Duke and the Klan, without all that messy lynchin'.
12
Mr. Blow, may your insights and prognostications prove to be true. I believe they are and your article gives me and, I'm sure many others, hope that this country will pull back from the terrible consequences that would result from a Trump presidency.
11
Ken Burns delivered this year's Jefferson lecture for the National Endowment for the Humanities. In referring to his epic film, "The Civil War," he stated that America never really ended that struggle; we still fight that War. Disenfranchising black voters was perhaps job #1 for those who would destroy Reconstruction. It would take over a century and a bloody Civil Rights revolution to get the black vote back again. And like clockwork, when we elected a black President -- so inconceivable that the US Senate's top Republican pledged to make him fail -- that the racist forces once more would act to gut the voter protections enacted into law only a half century before. No more black Presidents, you see. And so we fight battles again, in this Civil War begun in 1861. When will we get too exhausted by the hate? How can it be that officialdom can find comfort in hacking away at the power of ordinary US citizens to exercise fundamental rights?
20
The support for David Duke by 14% of African-Americans has a possible explanation. It's New Orleans! Call it a sarcastic answer to a really stupid question, adding a bit of levity to pollsters who take themselves too seriously.
I live in a battleground state and am fed up with pollsters. The first few years were flattering, but then it became a nuisance. (We have an unlisted number, call blocking, and a place on the "Do Not Call" list, but they still get through.) They invariably call during dinnertime, when we are likely to be home. And if you are undecided, they continue to call until they get an answer. They often have a haughty attitude that their work in far more important than whatever they interrupted. Just look at the proliferation of polls and imagine how many people pollsters are bothering each day. I just hang up on them now.
I live in a battleground state and am fed up with pollsters. The first few years were flattering, but then it became a nuisance. (We have an unlisted number, call blocking, and a place on the "Do Not Call" list, but they still get through.) They invariably call during dinnertime, when we are likely to be home. And if you are undecided, they continue to call until they get an answer. They often have a haughty attitude that their work in far more important than whatever they interrupted. Just look at the proliferation of polls and imagine how many people pollsters are bothering each day. I just hang up on them now.
8
"(We have an unlisted number, call blocking, and a place on the "Do Not Call" list, but they still get through.) "
So do the telemarketers, especially Heather from Account Services. Perhaps the only way to stop these pests is with really stiff fines or prison terms.
So do the telemarketers, especially Heather from Account Services. Perhaps the only way to stop these pests is with really stiff fines or prison terms.
6
Congressman John Lewis is still fighting for voting rights, and it is sad that the Roberts Court gutted the Voting Rights Act. There have been a number of problems in Georgia. At the same time, if you look at a graphic electoral map from 2012 (such as one of the pointillist dot ones by Goldsberry/Nelso), you will see a blue crescent curving through the South http://gizmodo.com/5960290/this-is-the-real-political-map-of-america-hin...
The deep red states had surprisingly large swaths of blue. It is not just a large population of black voters in Georgia but also other minorities. The immigration of more educated northern voters to Atlanta and other locations also plays a role.
Many of these states are more purple than red now. Current politicians (almost all of whom are Republican) are ignoring many of their constituents in favor of their Republican base voters. That could be a big mistake.
The deep red states had surprisingly large swaths of blue. It is not just a large population of black voters in Georgia but also other minorities. The immigration of more educated northern voters to Atlanta and other locations also plays a role.
Many of these states are more purple than red now. Current politicians (almost all of whom are Republican) are ignoring many of their constituents in favor of their Republican base voters. That could be a big mistake.
11
Seems like Blow writes every column using race as the prism of his opinions. Wonder if he ever heard Martin Luther King's admonition of judging people on the content of their character rather than on the color of their skin.
I'd be glad to send him the link to that speech.
I'd be glad to send him the link to that speech.
6
It seems like the country is judging the Republican Party on the content of its character regarding the color of a citizen's skin.
10
Let me guess. You're white. First, walk a mile in a black man's shoes and then try to lecture Blow on his prism. Did you not read the article? It's about the GOP using race. It's about the GOP's racism. Direct your lecture to the GOP, not the messenger.
10
Wow, did you reread your post before sending? I'm grateful that there is an opinion writer who represents a large minority in this country and shares views with me about which I know little. To what do you ascribe the closing of driver license or photo ID centers in certain geographic areas?
4
Roberts didn't vote by himself in the Shelby County vs. Holder case. There's no other way to put it: The five justices who knowingly unleashed voter suppression, gave it their stamp of approval, are racists. Whatever justification each of them dreamed up, privately or publicly, were rationalizations; and they knew it when they acted.
38
The race-based closing of drivers license offices in Alabama is shocking.
Chief Justice Roberts has led the most disgraceful Supreme Court since the end of the 19th century -- game, set, match.
We're one Supreme Court justice away from re-establishing rule of law in this country.
Chief Justice Roberts has led the most disgraceful Supreme Court since the end of the 19th century -- game, set, match.
We're one Supreme Court justice away from re-establishing rule of law in this country.
50
The solution for the GOP is obvious and already well underway: suppression of black votes. Problem solved.
22
It's always so interesting as an African American to see how the attitudes towards blacks and minorities in general, change the closer we get to election day. But both sides make a lot of promises and neither are exceptional at delivering. And this time around, both parties are going to have to back up their words with policy.
The Republicans brought out several black speakers at the convention in an attempt to be inclusive, and all they did was alienate minorities even further. And every time Trump hollered about restoring "law and order" it was clear who he was referring to. At least the Dems are willing to acknowledge racial disparities that persist throughout our society, which must be addressed going forward. The GOP is still telling us that racism is not the problem and the problems that disproportionately effect blacks are of our own making.
The Republicans brought out several black speakers at the convention in an attempt to be inclusive, and all they did was alienate minorities even further. And every time Trump hollered about restoring "law and order" it was clear who he was referring to. At least the Dems are willing to acknowledge racial disparities that persist throughout our society, which must be addressed going forward. The GOP is still telling us that racism is not the problem and the problems that disproportionately effect blacks are of our own making.
22
I watched a video this morning of a young Black woman working a crummy job in fast food for $7.50 an hour and blaming the corporation for that. "They make billions " The concepts of marketing forces and customer choice would probably make no sense to her.
But we find out she dropped out of school and has a child. The Father provides no support. He probably can't.She shops without a list. I assume she didn't read the newspaper supermarket ads. She doesn't know how to cook. How to buy sales items and prepare two meals, one for now and one for the freezer to stretch her budget. She buys no fresh vegetables or vegetables. She gets SNAP.
Her rent is subsidized. her and her son have subsidized medical care.
But it is the corporation's fault. "They make billions"
But we find out she dropped out of school and has a child. The Father provides no support. He probably can't.She shops without a list. I assume she didn't read the newspaper supermarket ads. She doesn't know how to cook. How to buy sales items and prepare two meals, one for now and one for the freezer to stretch her budget. She buys no fresh vegetables or vegetables. She gets SNAP.
Her rent is subsidized. her and her son have subsidized medical care.
But it is the corporation's fault. "They make billions"
1
@Wcdessert
Don't you notice the impracticality in your statement that neither party delivers much of anything to the black community but then you state that "this time around, both parties are going to have to back up their words with policy?" Neither party can deliver any policy in 2016 all they can do is promise policy but as you pointed out they don't deliver.
The black community has set such a low bar for the Dems to get their votes that they Dems don't have to deliver anything. Your words "At least" reveal how low that bar has been set. Dems just promise to deliver something and then talk about how bad the Rep Party is which has been the good enough formula to get the black vote.
If you are going to sell your vote at least get something for it besides hot air.
Don't you notice the impracticality in your statement that neither party delivers much of anything to the black community but then you state that "this time around, both parties are going to have to back up their words with policy?" Neither party can deliver any policy in 2016 all they can do is promise policy but as you pointed out they don't deliver.
The black community has set such a low bar for the Dems to get their votes that they Dems don't have to deliver anything. Your words "At least" reveal how low that bar has been set. Dems just promise to deliver something and then talk about how bad the Rep Party is which has been the good enough formula to get the black vote.
If you are going to sell your vote at least get something for it besides hot air.
4
I wasn't alienated by Trump's speech or any speeches given at the RNC.
On the other hand, the DNC was so offensive I could barely watch. It was as if the Democrats had preplanned camera shots of Black people to bludgeon the audience with. The "see we have Blacks" was over the top at the DNC.
And nothing is as offensive to me as a Black lawyer in Washington DC with a degree in American History than the 8 year minstrel show known as the Obama presidency.
What could be more sinister than the liberal White elite giving us Barack Obama, a Black president who isn't Black?
On the other hand, the DNC was so offensive I could barely watch. It was as if the Democrats had preplanned camera shots of Black people to bludgeon the audience with. The "see we have Blacks" was over the top at the DNC.
And nothing is as offensive to me as a Black lawyer in Washington DC with a degree in American History than the 8 year minstrel show known as the Obama presidency.
What could be more sinister than the liberal White elite giving us Barack Obama, a Black president who isn't Black?
5
The Republican Attorney General of Arkansas recently sent list of "felons" to country voter registrars to be purged from voter rolls. At first count in Pulaski Country, many of these "felons" either were not, or had their voting rights restored years ago. I'll bet most of them are black. Remember, that's really how Jeb stole Florida for Dubya in 2000: thousands of black voters purged in "error". The butterfly ballot was small change in comparison.
14
voting standards should be national and the
electoral college should be in the dust bien...
electoral college should be in the dust bien...
11
There's no way to get rid of the electoral college without a constitutional amendment, and the core problem, the "legalized gerrymandering" of the count of electors (that gives low-population states more clout) is never going to be amended away, or ratified. The states that benefit from it will never let it go.
But the current practice where most states have winner-take-all electoral college apportionment is not constitutionally required, indeed 3 states do otherwise.
And if all states went to proportioned electoral college votes our elections of President would become much fairer, and also enfranchise all voters to a much greater degree (the votes of those not in the majority would matter more).
But the current practice where most states have winner-take-all electoral college apportionment is not constitutionally required, indeed 3 states do otherwise.
And if all states went to proportioned electoral college votes our elections of President would become much fairer, and also enfranchise all voters to a much greater degree (the votes of those not in the majority would matter more).
Racism is America's founding problem. And Donald Trump is the 21st Century reiteration of that fundamental problem.
14
Why aren't democrats doing more in Alabama, and Louisiana, and Mississippi, and Texas, and ...? These regions often have corrupt and ineffective state and local governments, for example Alabama where every Republican leader is under indictment, enveloped in scandal, or a laughing stock at best. They have the worst records in employment opportunities, educational achievement, and all other measures - for white citizens of the state! Yet, the Democratic party is either missing or dead, half of the state and local elections are not contested, and those that are contested have weak candidates. I would say these states are ripe for picking, to soon "be dead and buried," as Mr Blow so eloquently states.
11
You live in Texas, you tell me! Texas used to elect smart Democrats. Now they elect particularly dumb Republicans. There's no other state you can look at that has elected so many dumber-that-a-posthole politicians as Governor or to Congressional office.
Granted, Texas is a big state, but compare Texas to California, or New York. Even the Republicans from those states are a step up (mostly, Murphy of California is an exception). And Texas outdoes almost all of the other "deep red" states combined for really-dumb politicians.
Do you have any idea what can be done about this?
Granted, Texas is a big state, but compare Texas to California, or New York. Even the Republicans from those states are a step up (mostly, Murphy of California is an exception). And Texas outdoes almost all of the other "deep red" states combined for really-dumb politicians.
Do you have any idea what can be done about this?
6
That is a very good question. Clearly conservative policies have failed miserably in these states for blacks and whites. The Democratic party should present them with an alternative.
2
I am fairly sure that Trump can get his support from black voters down below one percent.
What I don't get is why half the working people who call themselves "white," would cheer for a guy who's just named his "financial team"--Wall Street fatcats all--and will be announcing today his Big Plan to chop regulations on them, as well as hand them a 19% tax cut.
What I don't get is why half the working people who call themselves "white," would cheer for a guy who's just named his "financial team"--Wall Street fatcats all--and will be announcing today his Big Plan to chop regulations on them, as well as hand them a 19% tax cut.
26
If the publicans changed their policies to reach out to minority voters they would be Democrats.
4
I wonder why?
This makes sense. What doesn't make sense is anyone voting for him. Oh, but what about Hilary's emails. Lol
This makes sense. What doesn't make sense is anyone voting for him. Oh, but what about Hilary's emails. Lol
5
Her issues are paltry, negligible, in comparison to his, as Nicholas Kristof pointed out in his piece yesterday. It's only the insistent aggression of the GOP ( who have nothing else to fight on) that has blown Hillay Clinton's three improperly tagged emails into any kind of problem.
8
Yes, lets circle back to Hillary's email from 4 years ago and rehash that. Forget what Trump has said for the past year.
And at the same time lets get the FBI to examine Albrights email server along with Colin Powell's. And while theyre at it lets open the murder investigation of Vince Foster. lol
And at the same time lets get the FBI to examine Albrights email server along with Colin Powell's. And while theyre at it lets open the murder investigation of Vince Foster. lol
6
Just out of curiosity, has anyone here actually spent time in a black belt community? The idea that they're going to supply a significant number of votes is absurd. If they were going to, they already would've in 2012 and in 2008, but across the deep south in these years, these states still remained deep red.
Why? Just go some of these places and see for yourselves. These counties are made up almost entirely of older, extremely impoverished, rural black people. In some studies, it's been found that a staggering 90-100% of the working age population is on disability, the rest being on social security. These communities are even more desolate and bombed out than their inner city counterparts are; out in the country, they don't even have the energy and hustle required to get bothered enough to shoot one another, let alone vote for anything.
Go see for yourselves. Drive to these places, and hang out at a gas station for an hour while people who appear to be stumbling out of a 19th century cotton field stumble in front of a bank of slot machines and zone out. It's zombie land, a place more hopeless even than the inner cities are. At least those places have energy, albeit of the negative variety. The rural black belt is just a void. Going there is like going back in time. On paper it might look like there's life there, and votes, but it's just not there. You people need to get out more!
Why? Just go some of these places and see for yourselves. These counties are made up almost entirely of older, extremely impoverished, rural black people. In some studies, it's been found that a staggering 90-100% of the working age population is on disability, the rest being on social security. These communities are even more desolate and bombed out than their inner city counterparts are; out in the country, they don't even have the energy and hustle required to get bothered enough to shoot one another, let alone vote for anything.
Go see for yourselves. Drive to these places, and hang out at a gas station for an hour while people who appear to be stumbling out of a 19th century cotton field stumble in front of a bank of slot machines and zone out. It's zombie land, a place more hopeless even than the inner cities are. At least those places have energy, albeit of the negative variety. The rural black belt is just a void. Going there is like going back in time. On paper it might look like there's life there, and votes, but it's just not there. You people need to get out more!
9
Where were you when the Clintons were barnstorming all over the South during the Primaries?? -- Do you think she got that overwheming support from the Black community by chance?
Not only that, it wasn't the only time they've been down there.
No offense, but judging from what you have to say about the rural black belt, a racist candidate endorsed by the KKK may be more to your speed.
Not only that, it wasn't the only time they've been down there.
No offense, but judging from what you have to say about the rural black belt, a racist candidate endorsed by the KKK may be more to your speed.
9
reply to Ben G: Who is your comment directed? White folks or blacks who live in the so-called Black belt?
2
The Democrats have arranged it so that blacks and progressives "have to" vote the Democratic ticket -- and then, of course, their concerns will be utterly ignored.
9
You've started with the idea that Democrats have set up their electoral success. It couldn't possibly be that blacks and "progressives" actually think Clinton is the better person to be President. Democrats, by the way, are black and progressive.
2
How have Democrats "arranged it" when it's clearly Republican-dominated legislatures and governments doing the blatant disenfranchising? And how do you know the particulars of Democratic political activity in Southern states from your, I'm guessing, lily-white perch in New York? Explain your thinly-veiled hyper-partisan insinuation with details, facts, and some basic higher reasoning. Otherwise, your just spewing Faux Noise.
5
Actually, the GOPhas left blacks no other place to go.
7
"If Trump loses in November and the black vote tips even one of the Deep South, Black Belt states blue, the Republicans won’t only need an autopsy, they’ll need a Ouija board — because they’ll be dead and buried."
Okay, now write a column on black voter turnout in the last two midterms, Ferguson, Missouri, and other cities with majority or near majority black populations. We need to get out the vote for Democrats everywhere!
Okay, now write a column on black voter turnout in the last two midterms, Ferguson, Missouri, and other cities with majority or near majority black populations. We need to get out the vote for Democrats everywhere!
25
reply to The Iconoclast: Nope: Republicans will attempt to revive Slavery. Seriously, there needs be a column on black voter turnout- which will take shape in all manner of manifestation; first and foremost the disenfranchisement of millions of black voters due to felony convictions. That in itself is a whole other chapter & verse of our criminal injustice system and a way of live with Republicans since Reconstruction. Lastly, Democratic turn out during mid-term elections, is historically dismal across the nation.
1
You are confusing support - or lack thereof - for a presidential ticket with support for a specific party so let me explain a few things to you !
first thing to consider is the fact that blacks that are low income or on public assistance always have voted D so the ceiling already has been hit and Trump is not going to change this much , middle class blacks are almost evenly divided between D and R and even they may not support Trump they will simply split the ticket just like they did in past presidential elections !
first thing to consider is the fact that blacks that are low income or on public assistance always have voted D so the ceiling already has been hit and Trump is not going to change this much , middle class blacks are almost evenly divided between D and R and even they may not support Trump they will simply split the ticket just like they did in past presidential elections !
reply to fritz baier: NO, we "Middle-Class Blacks" aren't almost evenly divided between D and R". Cannot fathom where on earth you arrived at that conclusion.
6
Maybe we should amend the Constitution to say that all members of Supreme Court should volunteer in places that shut down the Driver's License offices to work for a voter registration-get out the vote month. They are on vacation right?
10
Bob Dylan wrote, "The Times They Are A-Changin'" in 1964.
Glad they still are!
Glad they still are!
5
Obama to the Supreme court? Are there really people that walk around with this kind of hope. Good night.
The Supreme Court wouldn't pay enough to interest the upwardly mobile Obamas. How will they be able to afford those birthday parties?
1
There are crazies in both Parties. The only thing is Many Republican Leaders are playing to the extremists. They dog whistle phrases to ignite those people. They Push Voter ID knowing it will effect many African American Voters. They have come out and Admitted the Voter ID laws will play better for them. ... The American Voter is becoming mosaic not just White. Just a matter of time the Republican Party will either change or become the Party of whites and extremists.
4
I find it amusing that whenever a slightly controversial political view is aired by me, (like to Mr. nlow's artivke) i receive immediate confirmation that my political viewpoint has been published, but then upon examination, it has been discarded and indeed not published., or if it is it is the next day at the bottom of the queue. Is this merely a " short circuit" from the official NYT first amendment screener for acceptable political commentary in conformity w democrat talking points? Or is it just outright deception? I expect this will not be published either .
4
So Steve... obviously this got published. But what point(s) where you trying to make, and how profanely, in those other posts?
1
You were published! Don't take exclusions personally. I had a letter printed today that I'd written five days ago that was published an hour before they closed comments. Three I wrote about the plight of Afrikaners and English under the rule of the ANC never made it all. This probably won't either. Op Oranje!
1
how is it possible that 17% of blacks in louisiana support a man that would have had them hung from a tree and burned for talking to a white woman?
how is that possible?
how is that possible?
16
My theory is you get these really "countrified" black folks who pass down the, "He's a 'good' white man" trope, which I think means, although he beats his slaves at least he feeds them or he's known to not have participated in lynchings.
Basically, expectations are very low for what whites will do to you or for you and then you cross your fingers and hope some crumps will be thrown your way by the "good white folks" or at the very least they won't hassle you.
I've lived on the west and east coasts and I've visited the south and it is an entirely different country down there. I've gone to places with one stop light and white folks on one side and blacks on the other. A literal line dividing whites and blacks. This is normal down there. If you ask for a Mr. Smith, they immediately ask if its the black Mr. Smith or the white Mr. Smith (related from way back when????). It's like going back in time.
People have lived for generations that way. When you do that, you think abnormal is normal. So, yeah, I get how that could happen.
Basically, expectations are very low for what whites will do to you or for you and then you cross your fingers and hope some crumps will be thrown your way by the "good white folks" or at the very least they won't hassle you.
I've lived on the west and east coasts and I've visited the south and it is an entirely different country down there. I've gone to places with one stop light and white folks on one side and blacks on the other. A literal line dividing whites and blacks. This is normal down there. If you ask for a Mr. Smith, they immediately ask if its the black Mr. Smith or the white Mr. Smith (related from way back when????). It's like going back in time.
People have lived for generations that way. When you do that, you think abnormal is normal. So, yeah, I get how that could happen.
1
One out of three whites support a monster.
3
GOP voters are brought to face to face with PolitiFact statistics that Trump's mouth issues lies 7 out of every 10 times it opens. Not only do they give it a pass, but they go it one further: HRC lies more.
The same cohort is brought face to face with Alabama's infantile systemic cheating of fellow citizens' rights to vote, and turn away, comfortable with business as usual between whites and blacks.
These very people will cast ballots on 8 November. Insofar as democratic principle is concerned, they are spoiling their ballots; a very weak notion of one person, one vote.
Weak because millions are absolved of one of the essential rules of democracy: citizen participation, precisely the thing that people didn't have when aristocracies ruled the earth by varying degrees of violence and hereditary ineptitude. The tacit contract between citizen and state has it that each has a responsibility to the other. Rights are meaningless once one party or the other reneges on its obligations to the contract.
It's deeper than that. All voters have an essentially human obligation to the truth of things, political or otherwise. Without it, a person casts his or her fate to the whims of superstition. History shows clearly that fate, driven solely by the arbitrary - more often bloody - wielding of power, is not very kind to social well-being.
Who could be so stupid as to act and think as though one's "rights" precludes their valuing of truth?
Abject subjugation for all is a good thing?
The same cohort is brought face to face with Alabama's infantile systemic cheating of fellow citizens' rights to vote, and turn away, comfortable with business as usual between whites and blacks.
These very people will cast ballots on 8 November. Insofar as democratic principle is concerned, they are spoiling their ballots; a very weak notion of one person, one vote.
Weak because millions are absolved of one of the essential rules of democracy: citizen participation, precisely the thing that people didn't have when aristocracies ruled the earth by varying degrees of violence and hereditary ineptitude. The tacit contract between citizen and state has it that each has a responsibility to the other. Rights are meaningless once one party or the other reneges on its obligations to the contract.
It's deeper than that. All voters have an essentially human obligation to the truth of things, political or otherwise. Without it, a person casts his or her fate to the whims of superstition. History shows clearly that fate, driven solely by the arbitrary - more often bloody - wielding of power, is not very kind to social well-being.
Who could be so stupid as to act and think as though one's "rights" precludes their valuing of truth?
Abject subjugation for all is a good thing?
5
What you say about Sectretary Clinton and the fact checking websites is dead wrong!
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/opinion/sunday/clintons-fibs-vs-tru...
http://mobile.nytimes.com/2016/08/07/opinion/sunday/clintons-fibs-vs-tru...
2
Well I am in that 1% and proud to be.
So the Trump campaign must be doing something right.
So the Trump campaign must be doing something right.
5
There's an article today in the Charlotte Observer about an entire Black independent church voting for Trump. They're anti-abortion and see the Democrat's policies as having destroyed the Black community.
And they're tired of the quadrennial promises to make life better and seeing no change except for worse.
What would happen to the Democrats if all Blacks were to come these realizations.
And they're tired of the quadrennial promises to make life better and seeing no change except for worse.
What would happen to the Democrats if all Blacks were to come these realizations.
3
Proud Trumpists are bringing back the racist Obama birther propaganda. Bumper stickers are available
5
you're a fraud
5
If it will be African Americans and other minorities who save us from President Trump, they deserve our gratitude.
28
The provision of the voting rights act that the Supreme Court struck down in Shelby County vs Holder applied only to a small number of states. Given that discrimination against blacks and others is prevalent in many other states, including some major metropolitan areas in the North, I'm not convinced that SCOTUS was wrong. Some of the states trying to enact strict voter ID laws would not have been covered by that provision anyhow.
What is needed is assurance of voting rights for everyone -- black, hispanic, Muslim, across the entire country.
I wish some of the effort expended on opposing voter ID laws was shifted to helping people get photo IDs. Those without them can't cash a check, fly, or even take a Greyhound bus some places. Helping these people get photo ID would help them in many more ways, and show that you're not just after their vote.
What is needed is assurance of voting rights for everyone -- black, hispanic, Muslim, across the entire country.
I wish some of the effort expended on opposing voter ID laws was shifted to helping people get photo IDs. Those without them can't cash a check, fly, or even take a Greyhound bus some places. Helping these people get photo ID would help them in many more ways, and show that you're not just after their vote.
10
There are a lot of people responding to this article who are still afraid of the the black voter. Many blaming Obama for the struggle of black Americans and conveniently refusing to look at the obstructionist House and Senate which fought against Every step the President has taken since in office. Just because the GOP may die this election it doesn't mean that the prejudice and hate will die with it. Black Votes Matter.
17
There is some hope in all the confusion of this election , slim but some hope for a better tomorrow.
Any doubts of the ranking of who ranks first In the minds of devout republicans can safely assume this is their ranking:
#1 Party Loyalty.
# 2 Country & God
#3 Family
All else
Or is their a better opinion when their chosen leader treats with contempt Senator Mc Cain, Purple Heart earners and sticks to long enough to get the seeds of confusion planted in his loyal follows.
As a DEEP Southerner , I feel strongly Mr Blows article is on target, and although there are a few cracks in some areas , much work remains.
Any doubts of the ranking of who ranks first In the minds of devout republicans can safely assume this is their ranking:
#1 Party Loyalty.
# 2 Country & God
#3 Family
All else
Or is their a better opinion when their chosen leader treats with contempt Senator Mc Cain, Purple Heart earners and sticks to long enough to get the seeds of confusion planted in his loyal follows.
As a DEEP Southerner , I feel strongly Mr Blows article is on target, and although there are a few cracks in some areas , much work remains.
2
Justice Roberts is a product of the Federalist Society. The group that supports "States Rights". This hyper conservative legal lobbying organization regularly sees the right wing of the Supreme Court attending an speaking at its functions.
Scalia had the equivalent of 1,000,000 frequent flier miles for attending and speaking at its events where he propounded "original intent" as a legal theory of constitutional interpretation. He and Thomas come close to advocating counting Black votes as 3/5ths of a white vote. This is the newest interpretation. haha.
Scalia had the equivalent of 1,000,000 frequent flier miles for attending and speaking at its events where he propounded "original intent" as a legal theory of constitutional interpretation. He and Thomas come close to advocating counting Black votes as 3/5ths of a white vote. This is the newest interpretation. haha.
7
With all that Donald "Draft-Dodger" Trump has said about the black community,
I'm surprised that he has 1% of them. These must be folks who are unaware of the harm Trump's presidency would bring to all Americans, black, white, Latino, Asian, etc.
I'm surprised that he has 1% of them. These must be folks who are unaware of the harm Trump's presidency would bring to all Americans, black, white, Latino, Asian, etc.
12
Thank you Mr. Blow. The voter disenfranchisement in Alabama is absolutely criminal; a clarion call that a Clinton Administration must make the next two (three?) Supreme Court appointments.
I hope your call of Southern election results rings true. The South could rise again!
I hope your call of Southern election results rings true. The South could rise again!
9
Oh my, from your column to the voting booth. But it will take effort! And , yes, voters it will make a difference in your lives and the next generations. We cannot allow this country togo odwn the road to fascism and regression!
11
Seth Myers nailed it at the 2011 Correspondents' Dinner when he said, "Donald Trump said recently he has 'a great relationship with the blacks.' But unless the Blacks are a family of white people, I bet he's mistaken.” Now we have polling data to back him up.
18
Am deeply concerned how diehard Bernie supporters will vote for Jill Stein and do a Ralph Nader impact on Hillary's chances to win. Very concerned about this.
What are: Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, Trump & Hillary's polling numbers, nationally and in the Black Belt regions?
Would appreciate Mr. Blow writing an column addressing the above real concern. Thank you.
What are: Jill Stein, Gary Johnson, Trump & Hillary's polling numbers, nationally and in the Black Belt regions?
Would appreciate Mr. Blow writing an column addressing the above real concern. Thank you.
3
Yes, how dare people vote for the candidate they think is better, rather than the Anointed One of the party? What are they thinking, that they have a right to think for themselves?
When Mr. Cruz urged Republicans to vote their conscience, the anti Trump camp cheered him on. When Democrats want to do so, no cheering.
When Mr. Cruz urged Republicans to vote their conscience, the anti Trump camp cheered him on. When Democrats want to do so, no cheering.
3
Hey Karen, are you trying to disenfranchise anyone who does not vote for your candidate.
Glad I live in a "red state" so I can vote for Jill Stein.
Never Hillary and Never Trump.
Glad I live in a "red state" so I can vote for Jill Stein.
Never Hillary and Never Trump.
1
He (the Donald")is probably doing better in the "Black Belt" than in the NYT Opinion and "News" pages.
6
It's probably a safe bet to think that most Black people won't support a candidate who's endorsed by the KKK.
4
Here's an idea. The South remains a foreign body in the greater United States. It still copies the Caribbean plantation culture established by the British and the Spanish. In this age of apologies, the rest of the US should apologize to the States of the Confederacy for attacking their feudal outpost. In return, we should now offer them the opportunity to secede once again. Tthese are not Americans in the sense of the Constitution.
9
I agree about the 'black belt'.
One would have to be deaf and blind to not see the racism permeating the Trump campaign. White supremacists are jubilant over his candidacy - the biggest thing they have ever had going for them! Black voters, along with all minority groups, MUST come out and vote this year to send an unmistakable message to Trump and the right wing - you're fired!!!
31
"Black Belt." Great imagery. At once evokes power & subjugation.
Whenever I read an article like this, I think of Harriet Tubman's brilliant observation about the insidious nature of entrenched subservience: "I freed 1000 slaves. I could have freed 1000 more if only they knew they were slaves."
Will "the paper of record" ever report the Clintons' sorry history w/ blacks?
Rental discrimination & racist words are small ball in ClintonWorld. As Michelle Alexander warns, "There is such a thing as a lesser evil & Hillary is not it."
When deconstructing reflexive black support for the Clintons, Randall Robinson implored: "For God in heaven, what for?"
Consider: Hillary's "superpredators," "Hillary's Firewall" & "drag & drop," virulent, insidious, dehumanizing racism, vote-stealing & vote-denial disguised as voting rights. NAACP suing Clintons for intimidating blacks at polls. The Clinton crime bill. Indeed, Rwanda.
Some black intellectuals argue that blacks were against the crime bill and blame its passage on the "selective hearing" of whites. "Selective hearing" sure sounds like "black lives do not matter."
How else can one possibly explain Rwanda?
"Be Careful…Genocide finding could commit USG to do something" nsarchive.gwu.edu/NSAEBB/NSAEBB53/
The Clinton role in Rwandan genocide, Haitian refugee repatriation to certain death, Ricky Ray Rector execution, & expansion of mass incarceration, should have long ago disabused all blacks—& all whites—of Clinton nostalgia.
8
Love Marian!
Eloquent and accurate.
Let's also consider the fact that African Americans have fared worse, in larger numbers, and in more ways during the Obama presidency than any other race in America.
Eloquent and accurate.
Let's also consider the fact that African Americans have fared worse, in larger numbers, and in more ways during the Obama presidency than any other race in America.
7
African-Americans haven't fared any worse under Obama, than under any other President.
Almost as a rule, Blacks have always been last in the recieving line, and they definitely won't do any better under Donald Trump.
Almost as a rule, Blacks have always been last in the recieving line, and they definitely won't do any better under Donald Trump.
6
Next time you should click your ruby red maryjanes together, close your eyes and wish it away more.
"Barack Obama has done zero for black people
Black people have had it worst under America's first black president, despite all his promises. No wonder voters are warming to Donald Trump's bluntness - Telegraph (UK) August 2015
"Barack Obama has done zero for black people
Black people have had it worst under America's first black president, despite all his promises. No wonder voters are warming to Donald Trump's bluntness - Telegraph (UK) August 2015
5
When you are a governor or a legislator you really have to serve all of your citizens. Becoming elected does not mean you do not have to be fair.
The mind of the "collected offenses" Republican operates in a manner that does not think first "let's make peoples like better." They operate with impunity with conviction.
The mind of the "collected offenses" Republican operates in a manner that does not think first "let's make peoples like better." They operate with impunity with conviction.
3
50 years of throwing money at the problem has only made it worse.
1
It seems that many of the people who have commented claim to know Black folks who are going to vote for Trump. Yet Mr. Trump has only 1% of the vote.
Black people watched the convention. We saw the 17 Black delegates in sea of angry White people.
Republicans claim that Blacks haven't done well under the Obama administration. How many Black people believe they would do BETTER if the mob from Cleveland were in power?
Black people watched the convention. We saw the 17 Black delegates in sea of angry White people.
Republicans claim that Blacks haven't done well under the Obama administration. How many Black people believe they would do BETTER if the mob from Cleveland were in power?
17
Answer to Laura174's question: 17 at most
2
Applying propaganda terms like "mob" to your opposition's political convention does little for your case. The opposition is your fellow citizens expressing themselves, your best friend in seeing your veiws vetted and made acceptable to a majority and becoming a cultural norm. You may grumble about the pain but it identifies the sliver. Wake up and stop poisoning the well that all of us drink from.
1
The demographics are not in favor of the republican party. In a few decades, this country will be a majority minority population. Whites will have a plurality but will be outnumbered by the combination of minorities.
This fact does not bode well for the angry white male party.
This fact does not bode well for the angry white male party.
16
Still, white males = 31% of population but hold 65% of elected positions. Sickening.
5
I saw on Meet The Press yesterday that astonishing news that Clinton leads in Georgia as of now. Impossible to imagine a red state in the deep South being competitive for Democrats! But as we're seeing in 2016, the standard rules don't apply in this election.
8
Mr. Blow - You would hope that the "Black Belt" would vote for the most qualified candidate. As a New Yorker, I can attest that both candidates are unfit to be in office.
Trump is a demagogue who is on a ego-trip with no governmental experience to speak of. I see him being no better than President Obama who is unwilling to compromise, thin-skinned and "full of himself".
Clinton......a weak, do-nothing New York Senator. Hopefully the "Black Belt" will look at her track record as Secretary of State and the mess that the Middle East is in (causing refugee chaos in Turkey and Europe, growth of ISIS), China aggression, North Korea provocation, soon to be a nuclear Iran....and the list goes on. And then there are serious questions about the Clinton Foundation, Email carelessness and the potential impact it has had on our National Security etc....etc...
So hopefully the "Black Belt" will see beyond the "pandering" and "reality-show" mentality and vote for the lesser of two evils.
Finally, I find it amazing that the NY Times allows columnists who obsess about race to voice their opinion. I'm wondering if there is a Caucasian version of Mr. Blow?? I guess there would be an article called the "Caucasian Belt"?
Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)
Trump is a demagogue who is on a ego-trip with no governmental experience to speak of. I see him being no better than President Obama who is unwilling to compromise, thin-skinned and "full of himself".
Clinton......a weak, do-nothing New York Senator. Hopefully the "Black Belt" will look at her track record as Secretary of State and the mess that the Middle East is in (causing refugee chaos in Turkey and Europe, growth of ISIS), China aggression, North Korea provocation, soon to be a nuclear Iran....and the list goes on. And then there are serious questions about the Clinton Foundation, Email carelessness and the potential impact it has had on our National Security etc....etc...
So hopefully the "Black Belt" will see beyond the "pandering" and "reality-show" mentality and vote for the lesser of two evils.
Finally, I find it amazing that the NY Times allows columnists who obsess about race to voice their opinion. I'm wondering if there is a Caucasian version of Mr. Blow?? I guess there would be an article called the "Caucasian Belt"?
Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)
8
He can attest? ROL.
4
See Hannity, Coulter, Limbaugh, Fox News, et al.
3
The Democratic Party has adopted the tactic of increasing racial animosity and divisiveness to increase the Black voter turnout.
This has been politically successful but has severely damaged the country.
This has been politically successful but has severely damaged the country.
8
Really? What would you make of the efforts of the GOP. Especially in the states of the former Confederacy.
7
jck, I do believe that you have the cause and effect backwards!
It's the Republicans and their "Southern strategy," among other things (Freedom Caucus, anyone), who, by their own extreme and biased actions (against people who didn't look, think, and worship like them), have "severely" (to use your word) damaged what should have been a smoother path to a "more perfect Union," harkening back to the post-war (Civil War) and Reconstruction/Jim Crow era.
It's the Republicans and their "Southern strategy," among other things (Freedom Caucus, anyone), who, by their own extreme and biased actions (against people who didn't look, think, and worship like them), have "severely" (to use your word) damaged what should have been a smoother path to a "more perfect Union," harkening back to the post-war (Civil War) and Reconstruction/Jim Crow era.
7
@jck
No offense. But if anything, what you are saying is divisive.
Another thing.
The Republican Party ceased to be "The Party of Lincoln" long ago -- And they've made no secret about not wanting to do anything to support, or advance Civil Rights.
Think not?...Look at their Presidential nominee.
No offense. But if anything, what you are saying is divisive.
Another thing.
The Republican Party ceased to be "The Party of Lincoln" long ago -- And they've made no secret about not wanting to do anything to support, or advance Civil Rights.
Think not?...Look at their Presidential nominee.
4
The post mortem report by the G.O.P. after the 2012 election is like a dieter acknowledging he or she should not be indulging in ice cream and doughnuts, and vowing to change his or her ways, then going right back to indulging themselves. Instead of reaching out to women, blacks, hispanics, and the LG.B.T community, Donald Trump ripped the mask off the Republican Party by openly appealing to the racists, misogynists, the xenophobes and homophobes which now comprise a goodly portion of their base. Misogyny, racism, xenophobia, homophobia and religious right wing zealotry are what the G.O.P. now openly and unabashedly stands for. If that were not true, Ryan, McCain, and McConnell would have withdrawn their support from Trump. Instead they have stood by that support with a few slaps on the wrists when Trump spews forth some unconscionably vile remark.
I hope and pray Trump will be trounced in November along with enough Republicans to give the Democrats a majority in Congress. Why on earth would any woman, Black, Latino, Muslim, or person of the L.G.B.T community vote for any Republican? Why would anyone who cares about this country and what it stands for?
I hope and pray Trump will be trounced in November along with enough Republicans to give the Democrats a majority in Congress. Why on earth would any woman, Black, Latino, Muslim, or person of the L.G.B.T community vote for any Republican? Why would anyone who cares about this country and what it stands for?
45
Exactly what do we mean when we say "reaching out?" It sounds like pretending to honor the interests of a group of people, but maybe actually lying to them, with no intent to honor their promises. The term "reaching out" makes me very nervous.
Martyrs died. Freedom Riders were bombed and attacked. Marchers were attacked by dogs, fire-hosed, beaten bloody, shot and killed. Little girls died in church bomb blasts. Jails were filled with freedom fighters.
For this? This is simply a disgrace on our country. A stain on all we profess to care about. And it must end. Is it time for a new mass movement in support of civil rights and voting rights? Sadly, it may be.
For this? This is simply a disgrace on our country. A stain on all we profess to care about. And it must end. Is it time for a new mass movement in support of civil rights and voting rights? Sadly, it may be.
41
And why isn't the DNC doing absolutely everything possible to ensure that black voters in the states Mr. Blow is referring to have the necessary ID and transport to the polls come November? How could their funds be more profitably spent?
34
Stu: At least among Latinos in a number of important states (e.g., AZ), voter registration efforts are strong. So I suspect it is happening in these states as well.
That said, Clinton would be wise to put her money completely into two areas: The ground game and pummeling Trump when he is not doing it himself.
In other words, forget about "expanding the map," trying to eliminate her "trust deficiency," etc. As the race tightens up (likely starting next month), many of those states that appear unusually close now will go back to being comfortably red/Trump.
I fully expect it will be closer in the end, Republicans voting for Trump and Democrats for Clinton. The Hatfields versus the McCoys. Very little in-between, so protecting your flank via voter turnout is paramount. And Clinton will win if she simply holds the states where Democrats are traditionally strong, and hold a number of Democratic-leaning swing states like Pennsylvania and Virginia.
That said, Clinton would be wise to put her money completely into two areas: The ground game and pummeling Trump when he is not doing it himself.
In other words, forget about "expanding the map," trying to eliminate her "trust deficiency," etc. As the race tightens up (likely starting next month), many of those states that appear unusually close now will go back to being comfortably red/Trump.
I fully expect it will be closer in the end, Republicans voting for Trump and Democrats for Clinton. The Hatfields versus the McCoys. Very little in-between, so protecting your flank via voter turnout is paramount. And Clinton will win if she simply holds the states where Democrats are traditionally strong, and hold a number of Democratic-leaning swing states like Pennsylvania and Virginia.
1
@freeman
Valid point. But just out of curiosity, how do you know that they aren't??
The DNC has strong and long-standing ties to the Black electorate, and through this, also has ties to the churches, and community organizations that will be doing everything to get out the vote.
Valid point. But just out of curiosity, how do you know that they aren't??
The DNC has strong and long-standing ties to the Black electorate, and through this, also has ties to the churches, and community organizations that will be doing everything to get out the vote.
2
Good article but let's see how this correlates with republican attempts to control " rampant voter fraud" and " voting day difficulties" in predominantly black areas. Republican dirty tricks on the way.
6
I would love to see a coordinated effort to arrange regular free bus transportation from these Alabama districts without offices to those with offices to enable poor blacks to get the ID they require to vote.
How about Leagues of Women Voter's in other states looking into it?
How about Leagues of Women Voter's in other states looking into it?
9
It boils down to this. Only voters with deficient thinking skills, and knowledge, will be voting for Trump, or any other candidate who is unable to take positive action, not to mention unelectable. Those are also people who cling to magical thinking no matter how much contrary evidence they receive. They think they are making a "statement," when really the only statement they will make is "I have no idea how things work in my government, nor do I have any idea of my responsibilities as a citizen."
16
Being from Louisiana I find it hard to believe that Duke “gets support from 14 percent of black voters". That figure shows you what polls are worth.
Not in my area. We'll see what he gets in the election, he won't top 15% of all voters, but shouldn't get anymore than 1%.
Not in my area. We'll see what he gets in the election, he won't top 15% of all voters, but shouldn't get anymore than 1%.
9
@mgaudet
I am not from Louisiana, but I totally agree with you.
And not only do I find 14% to be a ridiculous number, I also question the entire Poll since it was conducted by the University of New Orleans' Survey Research Center.
Not exactly objective, is it???
I am not from Louisiana, but I totally agree with you.
And not only do I find 14% to be a ridiculous number, I also question the entire Poll since it was conducted by the University of New Orleans' Survey Research Center.
Not exactly objective, is it???
4
I've lived in Texas, Louisiana and Mississippi for the last 63 years. From that perspective there has been a great deal of progressive change, the kind President Obama talks about. One small change that was startling at first was interracial marriage. It's now an everyday, mostly accepted change. There are lots of little Barack Obamas growing up here, getting educated. There time is coming.
The changes I see were slow and painful. Every small change had to be forced down the throats of our politicians, but the changes are coming. Bigotry and ignorance are powerful forces here. They still control the day to day things, but they're getting more desperate, afraid and angry. They will lose this new civil war. I'm putting my money on those little Barack Obamas I see.
The changes I see were slow and painful. Every small change had to be forced down the throats of our politicians, but the changes are coming. Bigotry and ignorance are powerful forces here. They still control the day to day things, but they're getting more desperate, afraid and angry. They will lose this new civil war. I'm putting my money on those little Barack Obamas I see.
26
African-American voters may be astute in harboring an aversion to Donald Trump. But are they any more so for their allegiance to Obama, Clinton, and democrats across the board? While it may be that black-belt states reject Trump, and may cost him the election, it is almost certain than a Clinton presidency will not reverse or bring any tangible benefits to blacks overall. Even a cursory review will show that even under Obama, the first black president, the state of black Americans has stagnated or grown even worse. In fact, Obama has failed to deliver for blacks, even as whites made gains, albeit marginally so.
So yes, blacks will vote for the democrat, but they shouldn't expect to be the better off for it.
So yes, blacks will vote for the democrat, but they shouldn't expect to be the better off for it.
7
And why not?? -- For starters, it's not the Democrats who are trying to repeal the Voting Rights Bill, and undermine every social advance Blacks have made in the past decades.
Another thing.
If you think that President Obama "has failed to deliver for blacks" -- you might want to ask WHY???
Here's a hint: it has something to do with a Republican Congress that has sworn to block him since DAY 1.
Another thing.
If you think that President Obama "has failed to deliver for blacks" -- you might want to ask WHY???
Here's a hint: it has something to do with a Republican Congress that has sworn to block him since DAY 1.
8
So, what is the justification, as an African-American, for voting for the party of Reagan, Thurmond, Helms. Trump, Gingrich, King, Duke, Paliin, Lott, et al?
4
The black vote is pretty intensely loyal to the Dem Party which is not helpful to blacks since anyone taken for granted does not receive attention.
Uneducated white and black workers share a very large problem which is good paying jobs. Trump is targeting those folks and they don't have any positive reason to vote for HRC. She has been in DC a long time and has done nothing to help them while she certainly helped herself on Wall Street.
HRC's hope is that Trump's negative outweigh her negatives. We shall find out. I wouldn't bet any money on the outcome.
Uneducated white and black workers share a very large problem which is good paying jobs. Trump is targeting those folks and they don't have any positive reason to vote for HRC. She has been in DC a long time and has done nothing to help them while she certainly helped herself on Wall Street.
HRC's hope is that Trump's negative outweigh her negatives. We shall find out. I wouldn't bet any money on the outcome.
6
The people of NYC benefitted greatly from jobs that HRC brought to their State as their twice elected Senator.
6
@tsk
You haven't done your homework. Clinton has a long-standing relationship with the Black community starting with her days in Law School and her work done with Marian Wright-Edelman, and the Children's Defense Fund.
It's all there -- you can Google it.
You haven't done your homework. Clinton has a long-standing relationship with the Black community starting with her days in Law School and her work done with Marian Wright-Edelman, and the Children's Defense Fund.
It's all there -- you can Google it.
6
So Hillary's working with Congress to insure 6 million kids didn't help anyone in any community of any color below a certain income level. The laws on adoption and equal pay she's introduced and fought for, the money she and Schumer got together for New York after 9/11, any of her accomplishments as Secretary of State had no positive impact on anyone's lives.
Trump doesn't have a stellar record on treating his employees well, or even hiring domestic ones.
Trump doesn't have a stellar record on treating his employees well, or even hiring domestic ones.
4
It is a given that Chief Justice Roberts is an intelligent man. That said, there are, therefore, only two explanations for his opinion in Shelby County v. Holder, to wit: He is incredibly naïve, or he is cynically doing what he can to influence a biased election outcome.
21
No there are many explanations, including he is an honest man that disagrees with you. Your explanations are self-serving, stupid, and a good example of the degradation of political discourse. Wake up and lose the programmed thoughtless doublethink
1
@smith
Way too condescending -- See, in this country there is still such a thing as "Freedom of Speech", even with those with a different opinion.
Besides, we already have a Donald Trump to insult people.
Way too condescending -- See, in this country there is still such a thing as "Freedom of Speech", even with those with a different opinion.
Besides, we already have a Donald Trump to insult people.
3
Trump does not have a black belt problem. Blacks have a problem because they are so mentally fragile that they believe that the woman who supports mass black incarceration is looking out for their best interests. Blacks consistently vote for the party that has misused their loyalty. This misplaced loyalty is driven by inability to be responsible for themselves instead of fostering and nurturing hatred. The mentally deficient and fragile state of the black community is not a Trump problem, it is a black problem.
8
Blacks 'have a problem' because we've had to put up with this kind of nonsense for hundreds of years. Mentally deficient? Fragile? Run those clips of Trump supporters in their natural habitat, THEN come tell me about the 'master race'.
5
Thank you for your diagnosis Dr. Freud. However, "If it walks like a duck, and quacks like a duck", it behooves you to recognize that its a duck.
3
When Blow uses these terms he is applauded by some but when someone else uses these words you object to them. My statement was meant to point out how Blow throws around baseless accusations which are accepted as long as they are used against whites. You prove my point by using the Blow Theory to attack people who you do not agree with. Please review Blow articles which consistently attack people because of their race.
1
So Charles, why didn't you link to THIS article by a Democrat from the same paper, showing this ISN'T about race or voter suppression? Hack. http://www.al.com/opinion/index.ssf/2015/10/drivers_license_office_closu...
2
Because the article you cited has a somewhat weird argument (who would want to suppress the vote in majority-black counties?), and concludes that nah, wasn't race, just Alabama sticking it to poor people as usual?
4
Yes, one isolated county report proves everything.
2
South Carolina?
I'm glad that Mr. Blow mentioned Justice Roberts' wrong headed opinions on voting rights, a good example of pursuing ideological goals with one's head in the sand. While I don't think he is as political or craven as some of his right wing cohorts, I do think that he owes it to himself and the country to spend more time in the world outside of his lofty chambers. Having said that, I admit that I, too, have been somewhat naive, not about the fact that racism still exists, but to the extent, as exemplified by the rise of Trump, whose bigotry was glaringly obvious even before he boarded his gold lame escalator and began spewing toxins into the national discourse.
I also find it astonishing that any candidate in this day and age would simply ignore, not to mention insult and/or demonize, large and growing swathes of the citizenry not as a result of ignorance, although he is that, but for the purpose of courting a particular constituency by confirming their worst projections and stoking their fears.
As far as I'm concerned if the GOP wants to avoid being buried in dirt they don't have the luxury of waiting until the election is over, whatever the outcome. The party is in dire need of a no tolerance/anti bullying policy mandated from the ground up, which had it been in place would have resulted in pledges not to party, but to monitor and openly censor this dangerous demagogue at day one with escalating consequences.
I also find it astonishing that any candidate in this day and age would simply ignore, not to mention insult and/or demonize, large and growing swathes of the citizenry not as a result of ignorance, although he is that, but for the purpose of courting a particular constituency by confirming their worst projections and stoking their fears.
As far as I'm concerned if the GOP wants to avoid being buried in dirt they don't have the luxury of waiting until the election is over, whatever the outcome. The party is in dire need of a no tolerance/anti bullying policy mandated from the ground up, which had it been in place would have resulted in pledges not to party, but to monitor and openly censor this dangerous demagogue at day one with escalating consequences.
4
Read Ari Berman`s book:"Give Us the Ballot: The Modern Struggle for Voting Rights in America."
We know John Roberts as Chief Justice gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County vs. Holder case - saying: "Things have changed dramatically in the South." Few know what happened in 2000 on election night in Florida as Bush led Gore by 1,784 votes.
Immediately hundreds of lawyers flew to Florida.
Ben Ginsberg, national counsel for the Bush campaign, called it “Woodstock for constitutional lawyers.”
The Ted Cruz, then a 29-year-old domestic-policy adviser on the Bush campaign at the time and a former law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, put together Bush’s legal team. His first calls went to John Roberts, one of the best Supreme Court lawyers in the country.
Cruz told The New York Times in 2005. Roberts, who had clerked for Rehnquist in 1980 and was now in private practice, caught the next flight to Tallahassee.
Roberts had a long history of opposition to voting rights. As a young lawyer in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department, Roberts led the charge against the 1982 re-authorization of the VRA, writing more than two dozen memos criticizing the landmark civil-rights law. Voting-rights violations “should not be made too easy to prove,” he wrote, and would lead to “a quota system in electoral politics.” Now he was helping the Bush team prevent eligible votes from being counted.
The rest is History. Bush was elected and Roberts got the Supreme Chair.
We know John Roberts as Chief Justice gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County vs. Holder case - saying: "Things have changed dramatically in the South." Few know what happened in 2000 on election night in Florida as Bush led Gore by 1,784 votes.
Immediately hundreds of lawyers flew to Florida.
Ben Ginsberg, national counsel for the Bush campaign, called it “Woodstock for constitutional lawyers.”
The Ted Cruz, then a 29-year-old domestic-policy adviser on the Bush campaign at the time and a former law clerk for Chief Justice William Rehnquist, put together Bush’s legal team. His first calls went to John Roberts, one of the best Supreme Court lawyers in the country.
Cruz told The New York Times in 2005. Roberts, who had clerked for Rehnquist in 1980 and was now in private practice, caught the next flight to Tallahassee.
Roberts had a long history of opposition to voting rights. As a young lawyer in Ronald Reagan’s Justice Department, Roberts led the charge against the 1982 re-authorization of the VRA, writing more than two dozen memos criticizing the landmark civil-rights law. Voting-rights violations “should not be made too easy to prove,” he wrote, and would lead to “a quota system in electoral politics.” Now he was helping the Bush team prevent eligible votes from being counted.
The rest is History. Bush was elected and Roberts got the Supreme Chair.
14
Good heavens! You've tied up this horrible conspiracy in ribbons and presented it to the world with such clarity and force of noble commitment that who could deny it? Our country is driving over a cliff brought about by political nut jobs like you. As the wheels come off we can endlessly frolic about mentally masturbating about who won the election in 2000 while American democracy burns to the ground.Bush won you nitwit, get over it.
The fact that polls show Mrs. Clinton as even competitive in states like Georgia is very encouraging. First, if Trump has to spend campaign money to fight for a one-time guaranteed red state, that means less he has to spend on Pennsylvania, Ohio, and other established swing states. Second, it would signify that the lost generation[s] of Southern Voters since the Civil Rights Act are finally returning to the rest of the United States and can at least consider candidates for who they are.
6
Who are they? One is spending 5-10 times as much as the other all the while carping about the deleterious effect of Citizens United and money in politics? The civil rights act was half a century ago, do you really believe that dynamic still exists? Didn't we elect a black president almost a decade ago? In 1920 did Coolidge run on the republicans freeing the slaves in the 1860s?The damn country is broke, the unemployment rate in the inner city is over 50% and murder and mayhem is accepted by the party of slavery and Jim Crow as just fine by them. Instead of anal-yzing summer polls that don't mean anything ,about long ago events in previous centuries perhaps you could consider the horrific problems of 2016 AMERICA, one country one people.
1
@smith
If you think that by electing a Black President, we have made any
real significant progress in this country toward achieving equal Civil Rights, you are sadly mistaken.
Another thing.
"..murder and mayhwm is accepted by the pary of slavery and Jim Crow as just fine by them."
Sorry. Pretty convoluted.
If you think that by electing a Black President, we have made any
real significant progress in this country toward achieving equal Civil Rights, you are sadly mistaken.
Another thing.
"..murder and mayhwm is accepted by the pary of slavery and Jim Crow as just fine by them."
Sorry. Pretty convoluted.
5
The Constitution makes every American a citizen of the United States. The Constitution should be amended to specify that fact of citizenship, the right to vote in all federal and state elections, and reasonable standards for exercising that right nationwide. There is no rationale for letting the individual states decide on what basis individual citizens can vote in elections which directly or indirectly are federal elections. (Remember: elections for state legislators can influence the federal government: state legislators can vote on amendments to the Constitution and can vote on convening a Constitutional convention.)
9
Perhaps you should read all of the documents including the Federalist Papers. The biggest fear of the founders with good reason was a tyrannical central government. Power is supposed to held in a series of checks and balances. The states are an important part of that balance. People in RI don't want to be pushed around by NY or California. States with larger populations could dominate elections and steamroll smaller states. Such a brainless scheme as yours would surely lead to massive fraud. If it ain't broke, don't try to fix it.
I think that insult--"Brainless scheme"--is unnecessary, especially since your entire point is irrelevant to mine. The Constitution is empowered by "We the People," unqualified by their residency in states. National standards for citizenship should entail national standards for voting since all citizens are equal under the law. It has nothing to do with check-and-balances that some states make their citizens less equal to citizens in other states.
BTW, if we did not have the electoral college, states with large populations under a winner-take-all system would not dominate national elections as much as they do.
BTW, if we did not have the electoral college, states with large populations under a winner-take-all system would not dominate national elections as much as they do.
2
Hard to say which pronouncement by our supreme court is more laughable, Roberts in the Shelby case or Kennedy in Citizens United:
“[the] appearance of influence or access” [by corporations on the political process] “will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy.”
I only hope Hillary appoints Obama to the court during her run as president.
"And thank you very much, Chief Justice John Roberts, for your opinion in the disastrous Shelby County vs. Holder case. How did you put it: In the South, “Things have changed dramatically.” Yeah, right."
“[the] appearance of influence or access” [by corporations on the political process] “will not cause the electorate to lose faith in our democracy.”
I only hope Hillary appoints Obama to the court during her run as president.
"And thank you very much, Chief Justice John Roberts, for your opinion in the disastrous Shelby County vs. Holder case. How did you put it: In the South, “Things have changed dramatically.” Yeah, right."
5
Do you equate yourself to a supreme court justice? I don't. Flippancy begets flippancy. I hope Trump appoints honest, upright people that care more for their country than poseurs of dubious wisdom.
Oh please. There isn't one person to be found in Donald Trump's
coven who is "honest" and "upright".
Besides, he onlly listens to himself....remember??
coven who is "honest" and "upright".
Besides, he onlly listens to himself....remember??
5
Dear Mr. Blow,
Would you please publish the names of organizations that are doing the best work to combat voter disenfranchisement?
I believe there are many of us around the country who would support one or more of these groups if someone of your journalistic reputation would report on their work and their effectiveness.
Thank you.
Would you please publish the names of organizations that are doing the best work to combat voter disenfranchisement?
I believe there are many of us around the country who would support one or more of these groups if someone of your journalistic reputation would report on their work and their effectiveness.
Thank you.
15
Do a search : "organizations that combat voter disenfranchisement". One is People for the American Way...also some churches...
3
Here's another -- Southern Poverty Law Center:
www.splcenter.org
www.splcenter.org
3
Nothing causes people to treasure something more than the threat it could be stripped away. Look for Blacks to vote in record numbers this year. Look for President Clinton to appoint very liberal justices to the Supreme Court so that disenfranchisement can never again be an Republican election strategy.
7
Blow is wrong in saying that the disaster Trump will be hurt by what he calls, "the black belt," at least no more than any other Republican.
In recent times, the overwhelming majority of black citizens have always voted for the candidate which promises to provide them with the most free government handouts.
Perhaps that is why their community continues to slide in so many categories when compared with other racial and ethnic groups in the USA.
In recent times, the overwhelming majority of black citizens have always voted for the candidate which promises to provide them with the most free government handouts.
Perhaps that is why their community continues to slide in so many categories when compared with other racial and ethnic groups in the USA.
1
Perhaps they vote for the least racist?
I think everyone apparently doesn't know this, especially ones who think they know why black people vote the way they do, but welfare is temporary. The laws changed long ago. Under Clinton, I believe. No longer can you go on welfare and stay on welfare for a lifetime. I know, I help people to get jobs.
So the idea that black people vote democrat to get free stuff is a lie.
I'm black. I don't qualify for free stuff. I vote democratic.
See the first sentence.
I think everyone apparently doesn't know this, especially ones who think they know why black people vote the way they do, but welfare is temporary. The laws changed long ago. Under Clinton, I believe. No longer can you go on welfare and stay on welfare for a lifetime. I know, I help people to get jobs.
So the idea that black people vote democrat to get free stuff is a lie.
I'm black. I don't qualify for free stuff. I vote democratic.
See the first sentence.
6
News of Jim Crow's demise has been much exaggerated. "Many minorities think Republicans do not like them." Not true; not true at all. The GOP likes minoriries well enough; it just doesn't like minorities voting.
www.endthemadnessnow.org
www.endthemadnessnow.org
7
What ever Hillary does, no matter the deceit, the blatant lies, the incredible straight faced nonsense about her debacles and travesties there will be those who support her and think she's great. These are the people who admire her for sticking with Bill Clinton- 'nuff said.
3
If you think that "sticking with Bill Clinton" is the only reason why she has garnered the amount of support she has, you are only showing your own lack of acquaintance with the real facts.
3
Old School: Yeah, better vote for the orange guy with the bad hairdo who can buy himself a new model wife from the money he inherited from his daddy, when the old one starts showing some wear.
3
You are misinformed. The facts are not on your side.
1
I have asked here before - forgive the repetition. Let me put it this way ...
If on election day, a coordinated attempt was made to obstruct voters on the basis of party by (say) closing roads, stopping public transport, shutting down the water supply in (hot) counties, power outages ... you know, dirty tricks ...
would the organizers be criminally liable?
If not - why not?
If so - why not now?
I think race is distracting - here. Republican State legislators are using it to target the Democratic vote, but the issue is not the 15th amendment, it is the simple basic fundamental right-to-vote that is under attack and the outrage should be felt equally by all Americans.
It is not a partisan act to defend the Constitution - prosecute.
If on election day, a coordinated attempt was made to obstruct voters on the basis of party by (say) closing roads, stopping public transport, shutting down the water supply in (hot) counties, power outages ... you know, dirty tricks ...
would the organizers be criminally liable?
If not - why not?
If so - why not now?
I think race is distracting - here. Republican State legislators are using it to target the Democratic vote, but the issue is not the 15th amendment, it is the simple basic fundamental right-to-vote that is under attack and the outrage should be felt equally by all Americans.
It is not a partisan act to defend the Constitution - prosecute.
2
I guess the Black Belt can just dig in and have another half century of poverty, bad schools, and high crime neighborhoods by leading the Democrats dream life.
3
The charade of hateful Republicans dividing whites from blacks to access cheap labor is over.
The hated flag of racism is coming down across our Land
from Alabama to Washington State
from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pacific
from the Hawaiian Islands to the North Atlantic
There will be no more racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia
there will be no more war on science
and the Republican party will be thrown in the trash bin of history
to the end of time.
The hated flag of racism is coming down across our Land
from Alabama to Washington State
from the Gulf of Mexico to the North Pacific
from the Hawaiian Islands to the North Atlantic
There will be no more racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and homophobia
there will be no more war on science
and the Republican party will be thrown in the trash bin of history
to the end of time.
3
Hello JP,
All of those states are solidly Republican (hopefully ending with this election), and have been Republican led and governed.
Republicans hate government, is it any wonder they're so bad at it.
All of those states are solidly Republican (hopefully ending with this election), and have been Republican led and governed.
Republicans hate government, is it any wonder they're so bad at it.
3
@jp
Interesting. Except you seem to have forgotten that it's the Republicans who are making it more difficult for Blacks to vote....for ANYBODY.
Interesting. Except you seem to have forgotten that it's the Republicans who are making it more difficult for Blacks to vote....for ANYBODY.
1
This is indeed a last gasp of the white supremacist power. This election, even more than Obama's elections, in a way, is about the racist white male clinging to power. They stoked their own rage during Pres. Obama's administration, and now they feel entitled to grab back control. If Trump were to be elected, we would see disaster after disaster and chaos among Republicans as they try to manage their monster. It would spell the end of the GOP and its Southern Strategy base. But that demographic and that mindset is on the way out anyway, simply by the fact of our changing world. I'm not saying there isn't a tremendous amount of work still to be done, but the violence attending Trump's campaign is about fear, not fear of "other" as they say, but fear of insignificance, fear of disappearing into history.
I read this week that Roger Stone, Trump's advisor, predicts a "bloodbath" if Trump loses. That's a cue from him to Trump's supporters. We may in fact see violence from these enraged and resentful people when DT loses. That too, will put another nail in the GOP coffin.
I read this week that Roger Stone, Trump's advisor, predicts a "bloodbath" if Trump loses. That's a cue from him to Trump's supporters. We may in fact see violence from these enraged and resentful people when DT loses. That too, will put another nail in the GOP coffin.
10
Bring on crooked Trump hoodlum supporters and make my day.
We can empty the prisons from all the marihuana "criminals" and make space for real violent criminals, Trump raging supporters breaking the law. Their violence may help build a national consensus to regulate ammunition to keep them out of hands of criminals.
We can empty the prisons from all the marihuana "criminals" and make space for real violent criminals, Trump raging supporters breaking the law. Their violence may help build a national consensus to regulate ammunition to keep them out of hands of criminals.
5
Don't bet on the bloodbath. You'll find a lot of the noisiest people are just blustering wimpy blowhards. Like the candidate.
6
Clinton demonizes whites. The same demons that buy tickets tob the NFL and NBA.
1
@ken
"Clinton demonizes whites".......Got any proof of that???
"Clinton demonizes whites".......Got any proof of that???
4
Nonsense and wishful thinking. The reality is that in those states almost without exception, voters will vote along racial lines. 22% doesn't go far against 65%, hence the "Southern Strategy"
4
This will be the true litmus test of Donald Trump's Presidential campaign,
because he has missed very few chances to malign the African-American community at every turn. And whether they are in the Deep South or not, Black people are keenly aware of this...and also of the fact that Trump is endorsed by none other than David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
If Trump loses the Black vote, and there is every justifiable reason to believe that he will, it won't be a matter of election "rigging", or any other excuse he might come up with.
Like everything else Trump claims to do, it will be all of his own doing.
because he has missed very few chances to malign the African-American community at every turn. And whether they are in the Deep South or not, Black people are keenly aware of this...and also of the fact that Trump is endorsed by none other than David Duke, a former Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan.
If Trump loses the Black vote, and there is every justifiable reason to believe that he will, it won't be a matter of election "rigging", or any other excuse he might come up with.
Like everything else Trump claims to do, it will be all of his own doing.
17
I never wonder how Chief Justice Roberts can sleep at night, but I do wonder how he deals with the fact that he and the SCOTUS he heads will be regarded as laughingstocks in law school classes around the country, if not the world.
The court under Roberts isn't "supreme"; it's more like "subprime".
Of course, if Mrs. Clinton wins in November, which is starting to look increasingly likely, she may be appointing up to four Supreme Court Justices. Let's hope at least some of them aren't from the same old Ivy League law schools. If you look at judges and cabinet members under FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower, you'll see a lot more diversity of background, if not color or gender. And the country was clearly better off for it.
The court under Roberts isn't "supreme"; it's more like "subprime".
Of course, if Mrs. Clinton wins in November, which is starting to look increasingly likely, she may be appointing up to four Supreme Court Justices. Let's hope at least some of them aren't from the same old Ivy League law schools. If you look at judges and cabinet members under FDR, Truman, and Eisenhower, you'll see a lot more diversity of background, if not color or gender. And the country was clearly better off for it.
13
A new North Carolina poll revealed that 32% of blacks there support Trump. So do we believe the mainstream media narrative or the locals' voice?
1
@bz
What's the source of your North Carolina poll??? --
What's the source of your North Carolina poll??? --
4
The title of this commentary, "Trumps Troubles in the Black Belt" implies that he's troubled, as if he cares what black people think or do. Is there actually any evidence of that?
3
The very definition of reflection is the ability to step outside of one's cultural/intellectual stance and critique it using an objective standard in whatever field is being questioned. Using this definition, the GOP does not have a reflective bone in its body. Now faced with another DOA election the only strategy in their election tool box is voter suppression.
4
HRC must win in November if only to assure that the next Supreme Court appointments are not reactionary conservatives who support voter suppression laws. Trump cares nothing for fairness only winning. In this he is perfectly aligned with Republican interests.
6
Black Voters Matter!
God bless!
God bless!
10
One can only hope that this the final death blow to the Southern Strategy that Nixon ushered in in 1968, and that gave outsized political power to confederate values (bigotry, racism, unlimited guns, religious suppressions of civil rights) by marrying them with business class of the Republican Party. The outsized influence of confederate values has had a catastrophic effect on our great country - here's hoping the Trump run will be the final death throes of this horrid element of our society.
7
As a journalist who has written extensively on the history of the presidency, I know Trump is the most dangerous candidate ever. It's my opinion that Clinton is the most misunderstood--please share my documented reasons for supporting her with the coalition of the sane (read by over 8700 so far): https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/open-letter-sanders-supporters-scott-s-sm...
5
Mr. Blow failed to bring his Alabama story to its correct conclusion. There was such an outcry, among all citizenry, that the offices reopened almost immediately.
3
Regardless of what you see at his crazy, racist rallies trump can't win with the White House with only a split white electorate as his base - it just can't happen. Add to that the fact that a majority of the Republican Party leadership (publicly, privately or both) want trump to lose and what you'll see in November (God willing) is a landslide victory for Clinton without modern comparison. With his mouth, trump has managed to negatively energize the minority vote in much the same way Obama energized it positively.
5
Voter suppression, gerrymandering, and disinformation campaigns laced with racism are the only reason Republicans control the south, and the only reason they control congress and the senate. Until voting laws are reformed and everyone has an equal opportunity to vote, national nightmares like the Bush administration and eight years of congress doing nothing but hating and scheming, not to mention monstrosities like Trump, will continue.
6
It has become so troubling with Mr.Blow that if
He were writing about puppies being adopted, he
Would suggest that the white puppies were being
Chosen more often than black ones because of
Rascism.
I have never encountered a man who sees EVERYTHING through the prism of race.
He needs a long vacation.
He were writing about puppies being adopted, he
Would suggest that the white puppies were being
Chosen more often than black ones because of
Rascism.
I have never encountered a man who sees EVERYTHING through the prism of race.
He needs a long vacation.
1
Blow doesn't need a vacation. With respect Mr. Frank, you need to get a clue. Black dogs ARE adopted less often than lighter colored dogs. See http://thebark.com/content/black-dogs-face-hard-choice-shelter and a host of other sites.
Racism exists. It may be difficult to see, just like gravity, but it is real. Voter suppression is real, while voter fraud represents figments of Republican imagination.
Racism exists. It may be difficult to see, just like gravity, but it is real. Voter suppression is real, while voter fraud represents figments of Republican imagination.
8
@Walter Rhett: Amidst all the verbiage, his tendency to be prolix and verbose, Mr. RHETT conveniently overlooks the facts of history, that it was his Democratic Party that perpetuated Jim Crow after Reconstruction(1976)supported Plessy v. Ferguson, and produced race baiting politicians like Benjamin(Pitchfork) Tillman, Vardaman,Gene Talmidge and his son, Herman Talmadge, Bell Timmermann, James Oliver Eastland among others. Dem. party supported segregation across the south when it was morally indefensible to do so. Even Bull Connor and Jim Clark were registered Dem. Party stalwarts. Byrd of W.VA was a former KKK wizard. Cities in America have been run by Democratic Party for decades, and you know the result of that.Ur biases appear to be getting in the way of ur ability to think clearly on the abovementioned issues. I always strive to be fair, even handed in my judgements of others, and above all, educative. I spent a part of my life in the south, went to school there, and interviewed those who not only pressed for change, but those who resisted it, often violently."Dynamite" Bob Chandless, Sam Bowers, John Casper r just some examples.
Verbiage? I know envy when I read it.
5
The GOP has been yelling "voter fraud" for several election cycles and only met a tepid response by the Democrats, even though it has been debunked convincingly by responsible investigations. On the other hand, black and Latino voter suppression and gerrymandering by The Republican establishment is a proven fact, and it has hurt the fairness of our voting process greatly. It is just one of those cases where the Republicans avoid serious scrutiny by attacking first and making ludicrous claims that serve only as a distraction of who really is committing voter fraud in this country. Mr. Blow and colleagues, please keep at it. The USA cannot call itself a democracy when it allows scores of eligible voters to be denied their most important right to participate in it.
12
Not scores; hundreds of thousands, possibly millions.
3
Why doesn't Alabama simply institute a new version of the poll tax? They've been trying to disenfranchise blacks and poor whites for years.
5
"Leading lady like Hillary grabbing big Bills"
Even rappers love her cause she has bling.
Even rappers love her cause she has bling.
1
Well, it appears as that the decades of pandering and brainwashing is really paying off for the democrats. Of course they couldn't have done it without the main stream media.
2
The black community is so bamboozled by so-called black leaders like Sharpton and Jesse Jackson that they think Obama is worthy of hero worship. However, in fact, anyone with open mind can see and will readily admit that the black community has suffered one of the worst declines in recent history, since Obama took office. No meaningful gains, economically or culturally and much higher unemployment, much higher rate of blacks on welfare, food stamps and other entitlements. Couple this with an unprecedented increase in nationwide racial discourse setting back gains achieved over 50 years since the Civil Rights Act was passed.
So, Mr. Blow, while your article exudes giddiness over Trump’s polls among black voters, you are supporting Obama’s third term policies as promised by Mrs. Bill Clinton. I bet you can’t wait to see how much further damage will be inflicted on the black community. Good luck with that!
So, Mr. Blow, while your article exudes giddiness over Trump’s polls among black voters, you are supporting Obama’s third term policies as promised by Mrs. Bill Clinton. I bet you can’t wait to see how much further damage will be inflicted on the black community. Good luck with that!
4
I don't know any black people that pay any attention to Sharpton, et al.
But apparently a lot of white people are bamboozled by Hannity, Palin, Trump, Coulter, et a,
But apparently a lot of white people are bamboozled by Hannity, Palin, Trump, Coulter, et a,
2
Since the election of 1964 the Democratic candidate for President has received 90+% of the black vote. While the Republican Party since that election has increasingly become the party of white people, by white people and for white people. Culminating in the elections of 2008 and 2012 where 57% and 59% of whites voted McCain/Palin and Romney/Ryan. But Obama still ended up in "their" White House with his dusky family.
But we do not have a national election decided by popular vote. While that white vote is concentrated in the South, rural areas, blue collar, high school educated or less and evangelical Americans.
And despite losing the popular vote in five out of the last six Presidential elections, the Republicans still control both houses of the U.S. Congress, a majority of state executive governor mansions and state legislatures. Until the death of Scalia, the Republicans also controlled a majority of the Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Finally, the Black Belt refers to both the soil and the people in the South. The historical legacy of humanity denying African enslavement and equality defying Jim Crow still lingers in the former Confederate States of America and beyond. Having moved North away from the South during their Great Migration, blacks are once again returning to the South. That represents trouble for the Republican Party.
But we do not have a national election decided by popular vote. While that white vote is concentrated in the South, rural areas, blue collar, high school educated or less and evangelical Americans.
And despite losing the popular vote in five out of the last six Presidential elections, the Republicans still control both houses of the U.S. Congress, a majority of state executive governor mansions and state legislatures. Until the death of Scalia, the Republicans also controlled a majority of the Justices on the Supreme Court of the United States.
Finally, the Black Belt refers to both the soil and the people in the South. The historical legacy of humanity denying African enslavement and equality defying Jim Crow still lingers in the former Confederate States of America and beyond. Having moved North away from the South during their Great Migration, blacks are once again returning to the South. That represents trouble for the Republican Party.
7
Charles, I really didn't need any new reasons to not visit Mississippi and Alabama, the only two states south of the Mason-Dixon Line that I have never set foot in. My best recall guess is I've been in Louisiana a total of three times, staying overnight only once. My wife and I visited New Orleans more than twenty years ago, planning a 4-5 day stay in that city. But we cut it short, heading back home after the second night. Haven't been back since.
Only Montana and New Mexico break into the strangehold the South has on the poorest 12 states in the country and they are, respectively, the second and fourth "wealthiest" of the poor. Only in New Mexico and Montana has the Democratic Party consistently been a player in local, state-wide and national elections during the past half century.
The other 10 have been dominated by the Republican Party for decades, and the disconnect between the stated goals of the Republican Party and the actual result of its policies in those areas where it dominates is glaringly obvious.
Should the black vote, despite the crushing efforts of the party in charge in the Deep South, manage to hand the electoral votes of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the Democratic candidate, I will reconsider my boycott of these states and embark on a leisurely tour.
Only Montana and New Mexico break into the strangehold the South has on the poorest 12 states in the country and they are, respectively, the second and fourth "wealthiest" of the poor. Only in New Mexico and Montana has the Democratic Party consistently been a player in local, state-wide and national elections during the past half century.
The other 10 have been dominated by the Republican Party for decades, and the disconnect between the stated goals of the Republican Party and the actual result of its policies in those areas where it dominates is glaringly obvious.
Should the black vote, despite the crushing efforts of the party in charge in the Deep South, manage to hand the electoral votes of Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana to the Democratic candidate, I will reconsider my boycott of these states and embark on a leisurely tour.
10
GOP dead and buried! What a wonderful tought.
7
This article can't be bigotry for its from a black man. You can't play the race card anymore with Americans and not destroy the very foundation of our country. Or is that what the corporate controlled media is trying to do.
2
Republicans have a problems in the “black belt” because Democrats have succeeding into dividing American by race, ethnicity and sexual orientation. The 51-page Democratic Party Platform mentions African Americans, Latino Americans, Native Americans, people of color, and lesbians, gays, bisexuals, or transgender individuals more than 80 times. It mentions white Americans only four times, all in a negative fashion. One of these four references is to “white supremacists.” The other three complain that whites make more money than African Americans and Latino Americans and have lower arrest rates than African Americans and Latino Americans.
"An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll released Thursday found that a measly 1 percent of registered black voters overall support Trump."
Now that's a 1% I can get behind!
Now that's a 1% I can get behind!
1
Good Luck. You'll have to find them first.
1
The Black Belt South refers to the soil, not to the large proportion of African-American citizens. This black soil of coincides with the cotton plantation economy that was dependent on slave labor in until the Civil War, and on enforced share-cropping afterwards. This concentration of African Americans formed the basis of African-American culture and growing political power. The progressive shift in Georgia politics is improving the life of everyone in the state, and represents an irreversible trend.
1
In reference to the comment at the end of your note, I say, from your mouth to God's ears.
1
With every truth that emerges: Michael Brown, the gentle giant allegedly murdered by police actually caused his own death: Ditto, Freddie Grey, Eric Garner, Sandra Bland ect., the Trumpsters couldn't ask for more!
It's always jarring to see the kind of unfiltered racism that fills the comments section of the local newspaper in the NYT. But in a perverse way I guess it's valuable to see Capt. Bob's views on the police murders of black people, just in case anyone still thinks that each of these murders is at worst the action of a "bad apple" rather than an obvious result of a widespread police mindset.
6
I wonder how many blacks Blow bloviates about are uneducated, work with their hands and sweat through their shirts?
Uneducated
Manual labor
Hard working
Sounds like Trump supporters know no color.
"Uneducated"
Uneducated
Manual labor
Hard working
Sounds like Trump supporters know no color.
"Uneducated"
1
"I love the uneducated!" - Donald J. Trump.
4
Do you think John Roberts is aware of this? Do you think he feels any remorse?
Someone could start an organization called BLACK VOTES MATTER.
Obviously help is still needed in the South to get black voters registered. Hear that John Roberts- the South has changed? With the election of Obama, it seems it's trying to change back.
The quickest possible solution is a massive Clinton win and new Supremes to fix what they've done to the country. Registering the black population was a story out of the 60's. People died trying to fix that and here we are again (eye roll.)
Someone could start an organization called BLACK VOTES MATTER.
Obviously help is still needed in the South to get black voters registered. Hear that John Roberts- the South has changed? With the election of Obama, it seems it's trying to change back.
The quickest possible solution is a massive Clinton win and new Supremes to fix what they've done to the country. Registering the black population was a story out of the 60's. People died trying to fix that and here we are again (eye roll.)
14
The Rust Belt? Are you speaking of the Industrial Midwest? Where we make cars and auto parts, are the largest manufacturer of wind and solar power generating equipment, and lead the biomedical field? Words matter.
2
Neither words nor history nor context mean much to Charles. It's obvious in the way he composes.
1
Wouldn't it be nice to have SCOTUS on board!
4
Thank you mr blow for this article
I've been reading the times for awhile and just want to acknowledge and support you.
Your articles have a unique and needed perspective. It saddens me that the times does not have more non white writers. As a result you are left to carry the torch on racial issues and I'm sure the burden is immense.
Stay strong
I've read the vitriol spewed at you for some of your pieces that directly confront racism. I hope you have strong support from your family or from your coworkers.
Best wishes
I've been reading the times for awhile and just want to acknowledge and support you.
Your articles have a unique and needed perspective. It saddens me that the times does not have more non white writers. As a result you are left to carry the torch on racial issues and I'm sure the burden is immense.
Stay strong
I've read the vitriol spewed at you for some of your pieces that directly confront racism. I hope you have strong support from your family or from your coworkers.
Best wishes
7
The votes for Hillary Clinton are there for the taking in the “Black Belt” if Democrats can overcome Chief Justice Roberts’ gratuitous gutting of the Voting Rights Act in a result as outrageous as Citizens United.
Recent decisions in lower federal courts suggest that efforts to stop voter suppression in the Deep South can be successful even with the eight-person Supreme Court we now have.
Democrats should be making a two-prong effort right now. They should be intensifying the legal attack on state laws discouraging and blocking black voters. And, Democrats should be mobilizing a gigantic registration drive and voter ID compliance effort.
Recent decisions in lower federal courts suggest that efforts to stop voter suppression in the Deep South can be successful even with the eight-person Supreme Court we now have.
Democrats should be making a two-prong effort right now. They should be intensifying the legal attack on state laws discouraging and blocking black voters. And, Democrats should be mobilizing a gigantic registration drive and voter ID compliance effort.
8
It appears, Charles, if what the current polls reflect is accurate, black is now on the verge of becoming the new blue. Most of us are exceedingly weary of having to support the red states which contribute nothing and rake in tax dollars from the rest of the nation - so if black is the new blue, I'm all in.
7
Instead of relying on evidence based thinking, the GOP prefers to delve into fantasies, and then suppress the votes of those who want to use evidence based thinking. Sounds like the party of tyrants instead of a Republican democracy.
2
Blacks--in voting in the 90+ percentile Democrat--vote like lemmings. They followed Obama over the cliff--twice. How's that guy working out for blacks on issues of race, jobs, the economy, education, et? Hillary will be more of the same--guaranteed. In these days and times, I couldn't get 90+ % of people to agree the sky is blue on a sunny day, why should blacks pull the handle en masse for a particular party? Think for yourselves people. Think for yourselves.
2
President Obama may not have transformed the lives of African Americans over 8 years, but thanks to Obamacare and low unemployment there have been many improvements. Are you suggesting that the Republicans would have achieved as much? Few would agree with you.
6
exactly how would Romney have been better ?
5
Barack Obama has transformed the lives of African Americans.
That's why the Black middle class is extinct and more African Americans are suffering poverty, homelessness, unemployment, mass incarceration, drug related/gang violence than any other race or ethnicity in America during the Obama presidency.
It's not whether Obama has transformed Black lives, it's what Obama transformed millions of them into.
That's why the Black middle class is extinct and more African Americans are suffering poverty, homelessness, unemployment, mass incarceration, drug related/gang violence than any other race or ethnicity in America during the Obama presidency.
It's not whether Obama has transformed Black lives, it's what Obama transformed millions of them into.
2
That IMO silly/specious poll that the Washington Post is promoting about black people & David Duke is the problem with all this "data-driven" reporting that newspapers are doing as opposed to observing and listening to human beings. First of all, it was a landline-only poll. (This should be an obvious joke and nullify the data but obviously "data-driven" people - who often ignore what doesn't fit - ignore that many people aren't using landlines.) Second, the poll seemed to go on name recognition of David Duke from the older people who typically use landlines. Don't take that for real support - but also don't discount that name recognition for exactly why David Duke could win.
I cannot emphasize this enough. David Duke is not running against one "conservative, typical Republican" for his Senate seat. He is running against *22 other people* so he and the candidate named John Kennedy (I'm not kidding, but he's a Republican now) will likely end up in a runoff for the Senate seat on name recognition factor alone.
David Duke is going to come very close to winning that Senate seat. Donald Trump is going to come very close to winning the presidency. Those of you who are already moving forward to theorizing about an assumed Clinton administration and its actions are making a YUUUGE mistake.
Voting booths are private. Desperate people who aren't thinking ahead may just Trump those of you who are thinking ahead - and show you what's really up. Don't count your chickens and all that.
I cannot emphasize this enough. David Duke is not running against one "conservative, typical Republican" for his Senate seat. He is running against *22 other people* so he and the candidate named John Kennedy (I'm not kidding, but he's a Republican now) will likely end up in a runoff for the Senate seat on name recognition factor alone.
David Duke is going to come very close to winning that Senate seat. Donald Trump is going to come very close to winning the presidency. Those of you who are already moving forward to theorizing about an assumed Clinton administration and its actions are making a YUUUGE mistake.
Voting booths are private. Desperate people who aren't thinking ahead may just Trump those of you who are thinking ahead - and show you what's really up. Don't count your chickens and all that.
6
Alabama started closing 8 DMVs in October of 2015 in overwhelmingly black counties, obviously in anticipation of the general election of 2016.
I hope there is a law suit pending against voter suppression in front of the Federal Appeals Court of the 11th District, which hopefully overturns their blatant attempt to keep minorities from voting in November as other courts did already.
There is not one single advanced country in the world which makes voting as difficult as the supposedly greatest country of the world.
I hope there is a law suit pending against voter suppression in front of the Federal Appeals Court of the 11th District, which hopefully overturns their blatant attempt to keep minorities from voting in November as other courts did already.
There is not one single advanced country in the world which makes voting as difficult as the supposedly greatest country of the world.
313
America used to claim it was not only the greatest country in the world but also that it was a democracy.
6
Remind us all. What policies did candidate Obama espouse that 97% of the black voters found so appealing? One senses that it is a very short list.
Follow-up: How did they fare under two Obama administrations (i.e.: Are they better off than they were eight years ago)?
Follow-up: How did they fare under two Obama administrations (i.e.: Are they better off than they were eight years ago)?
14
Obamacare for 20 million in the states that allowed it.... for starts
6
YES.
7
You failed to asked the other side of question. What policy did candidate Mitt Romney espouse that 90% of WHITE voters in Alabama & Mississippi found so appealing? So, if you were suggesting that the 97% black who voted for Obama couldn't have any reasonable policy-based reason for voting Obama, shouldn't the same question be asked of the 90% white Romney voters in those states?
8
Your fear and paranoia are gray areas, in the black vs. white 24/7 world of your fervid imagination, you might do well to examine Mr. Blow. Despite the endless repetition of the grievances of half a century ago the lives of black people of today actually are the ones that matter. Parents want choice as to where their children are educated, and jobs for them when they're done. They want out of the prisons the inner cities have become under the administration of the Democratic party. They are sick and tired of the corruption and stagnation associated with a hypocritical professional grievance industry that does nothing constructive except to maintain their lucrative status quo while life gets worse for unrepresented people. Be careful Mr. Blow black people and white people are not monolithic voting blocks subject to outdated sociological mumbo jumbo but real live people that might not continue to do your bidding when their kids lives are at stake.
13
That you use most of your words describing what Black(They) want undermines your position.
2
Democrats offer blacks the old carrot and stick, and the blacks fall for it every time. Who are the real uninformed voters?
3
dem negroes aint got what you white folkses is got up in da head
deys jess poor ol' darkies needin' da white man to tell em whats to do
Considering the poorest of the poor regions that repubs have locked up across the south while talking about things like cutting taxes for the top 1%, their must be a bunch of carrots and they're not all going to the black neighborhoods.
6
The real uninformed coters are those who think cares a hoot about anyone outside his immediate family.
2
There is one curious fact that may be worth looking at for the RNC. In 2001 /2002 majority leader Trent Lott Mississippi was forced by President Bush to step down from that post because of comments he made at a birthday party for 99 year old Strom Thurmond. Lot made a comment that suggested he supports Thurmond's rascist positions. Now there is nothing that is disqualifying. Seeing Jeb Bush's soon endorse Trump makes it official. The racism clearly existed pre 2001 the question is when and why did it become a qualification for President?
4
Roberts is either: an ignorant arrogant man, or a racist.
He either ignores facts or embraces the situation.
Either way he fails as a judge.
He either ignores facts or embraces the situation.
Either way he fails as a judge.
5
I think Trump adheres to a kind of social stratification of races. He’s not racist in the traditional ‘supremacist’ sort of way, as one might tend to think. What he condones is a bit more like the ability and position to manipulate ‘economic’ options for minorities, thus causing a kind of chain reaction of lifelong financial problems and hence making it inherently difficult to be a citizen and voter. He is after all, a businessman. So, I’d say when you think of Trump, don’t think of racism in this ‘traditional’ white v. black way. Think of his possible presidency and its subsequent racism as more one; are they worth the money?
1
"....they’ll need a Ouija board — because they’ll be dead and buried." That's the funniest tag line I've read in awhile. Thank you Charles.
2
Change "the party nominated Trump" to "the party reluctantly nominated Trump" and you can stopv rolling your eyes.
3
Ludwig, how about, "the party is stupid, it nominated a madman".
2
As a Black lawyer in Washington DC and a 13th generation descendant of slaves and sharecroppers, with a degree in American History I can safely tell Charles M. Blow that thanks to the failed Obama presidency, the Black Belt has far bigger problems than Donald Trump.
What about our troubles in the Black community because of Obama's arrogance, ignorance, incompetence and neglect? Have you taken a look at the actual unemployment numbers? For African Americans? For our youth.
An interesting statistic: An 18 year old Black man in 2016 in the exact socio-economic, familial, educational and personal circumstances that I was in when I was 18 back in 1997, could not follow my path through college and law school and do what I do today because of the Obama presidency.
The jobs I took as a 20 year old to help pay my expenses? The two jobs I worked in law school? A kid my age in the Obama Era won't get those jobs. That is absolutely immoral. The opportunities I received and the ones that I made for myself are gone for millions of Black youth just like me. And Obama's response? Golf on Martha's Vineyard.
I really don't blame Obama for what's happened to the Black Community. After all Obama isn't Black. A biracial con artist who only pays lip service to MLK and pretends to respect my race when he needs something isn't the guy who will roll up his sleeves and organize the Black Community. I am a mentor in the poorest Black neighborhood in DC. I've never seen Obama there. Ever.
What about our troubles in the Black community because of Obama's arrogance, ignorance, incompetence and neglect? Have you taken a look at the actual unemployment numbers? For African Americans? For our youth.
An interesting statistic: An 18 year old Black man in 2016 in the exact socio-economic, familial, educational and personal circumstances that I was in when I was 18 back in 1997, could not follow my path through college and law school and do what I do today because of the Obama presidency.
The jobs I took as a 20 year old to help pay my expenses? The two jobs I worked in law school? A kid my age in the Obama Era won't get those jobs. That is absolutely immoral. The opportunities I received and the ones that I made for myself are gone for millions of Black youth just like me. And Obama's response? Golf on Martha's Vineyard.
I really don't blame Obama for what's happened to the Black Community. After all Obama isn't Black. A biracial con artist who only pays lip service to MLK and pretends to respect my race when he needs something isn't the guy who will roll up his sleeves and organize the Black Community. I am a mentor in the poorest Black neighborhood in DC. I've never seen Obama there. Ever.
4
Right not to blame Obama for what's happened in the black community, though yr reasons are specious. If Republicans had approved more stimulus funding, more young people, black and otherwise, would be able to find productive work. If Republican appointee John Roberts' court had not struck down key provisions of the Voting Rights Act, the black community in many southern states would find it easier to organize and represent itself. If Republicans had not targeted everything Obama promoted as the evil doings of a black man (oh, not black? kenyan?) perhaps we would not be suffering the backlash against blacks, Latinos, immigrants, lgbt people, and all the other groups (incliding wwomen) the GOP presidential nominee is whipping up in his campaign.
3
Your own bigotry is showing, sir. You provide no documentation, just assertions. Use some factual information to back up your claims, please!
4
Do you think the Black Community would have been better off had Romney won the election? Or is that "biracial con artist" conveniently responsible for every gripe you have?
4
The GOP's 2012 Autopsy proved that conservative intellectuals didn't understand the voters in their own party. Those minorities who think that Republican voters don't like them and don't want them in the country were not wrong.
7
If the Southern Vote represented the population Republicans will be finished as a Party. They have demonstrated gross incompetence these past 6 years, stalling the recovery, preventing the atrocity in Gitmo from ending, supporting global warming by supporting Coal, exploding the debt by swearing allegiance to Grover Norquist thereby refusing to honor the oath of office, and fomenting racism, xenophobia, misogyny, and religious intolerance, and promoting the anti-democracy, anti American Tea Party cabal invented and funded by the Kochs.
The Republican Party delenda est. The future of the United States depends on the eradication of Republican corruption. Yes, there are corrupt Democrats, but, the Republican Party is fundamentally corrupt and with Trump, will destroy our Republic. Let Eisenhower's prophecy prevail: "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history."
The Republican Party delenda est. The future of the United States depends on the eradication of Republican corruption. Yes, there are corrupt Democrats, but, the Republican Party is fundamentally corrupt and with Trump, will destroy our Republic. Let Eisenhower's prophecy prevail: "Should any political party attempt to abolish social security, unemployment insurance, and eliminate labor laws and farm programs, you would not hear of that party again in our political history."
5
Black voters opposing Trump does not equate to Black voters going to the polls on November 8. Entirely apart from the anti-voting measures the states are enacting, there's the question of the degree of enthusiasm Black voters can muster for an all-white ticket which takes their support for granted.
No, Black people don't vote for candidates *just* because of skin color. But if the message is, "You'll vote for me because.. what choice do you have?" quite a lot of folks will exercise their choice to stay home.
No, Black people don't vote for candidates *just* because of skin color. But if the message is, "You'll vote for me because.. what choice do you have?" quite a lot of folks will exercise their choice to stay home.
3
The Trumpet has dissed so many, it's hard to find a class of the American electorate which hasn't been scorned. Even Trump's base, the poorly educated white male, has faced the brunt of his ridicule. The difference with them is that they are so ignorant to his insults they take them as a sign of reverence: Trump mentioned us, they cry out. He's one of us.
Yeah, you're one of them, Donnie. The thing which separates many of the uneducated working poor and Trump is a billion dollars. Anyone in America who has a billion dollars is more respected than the poor slob. They'll listen to a billionaire no matter what prejudice fear and loathing he spreads. That's what America admires, the Almighty Dollar. If you're wealthy you must be doing great things. That is the myth of the uneducated white male, a myth that is indicative of how naive and gullible and poorly informed they must be, to equate the amount of money one has as a correlation to intelligence common sense and wisdom, the true value of a person's worth and a contribution to society.
DD
Manhattan
Yeah, you're one of them, Donnie. The thing which separates many of the uneducated working poor and Trump is a billion dollars. Anyone in America who has a billion dollars is more respected than the poor slob. They'll listen to a billionaire no matter what prejudice fear and loathing he spreads. That's what America admires, the Almighty Dollar. If you're wealthy you must be doing great things. That is the myth of the uneducated white male, a myth that is indicative of how naive and gullible and poorly informed they must be, to equate the amount of money one has as a correlation to intelligence common sense and wisdom, the true value of a person's worth and a contribution to society.
DD
Manhattan
2
It is touching to see that Blow is actually concerned about injustice in the system, and the way Republicans collude to prevent dark-skinned people from voting.
Perhaps if Blow could expand his knowledge base, he might be equally moved by the way the Democratic Party colluded with the Clinton campaign and the media to hand the nomination to Clinton.
Charles, are you familiar with the WikiLeaks publication of the DNC emails? Because it would have been interesting to get an insider's take on what it's like to run your stories past the candidate for vetting purposes. Even if Blow doesn't have first hand experience with that, he surely knows or has access to people who do.
But these injustices, although they strike directly at the heart of our so-called Democracy, do not appear to concern Blow one bit.
Blow is so much a part of the establishment that marching in step like a good soldier is second nature to him, like a swimming school of fish.
Here's a newsflash that I hope can reach you in your ivory tower: although the NYT reminds readers every day that this race is about Democrat v. Republican, millions of Americans have moved on.
This election is about the Elites versus Everybody else.
Hillary is a war hawk who will send our kids off to the middle-east and Africa. But that is of no concern to the Elites, because their kids won't be shipped off to war.
War is for the little people, just like taxes.
Thank you sir, may I have another!
Perhaps if Blow could expand his knowledge base, he might be equally moved by the way the Democratic Party colluded with the Clinton campaign and the media to hand the nomination to Clinton.
Charles, are you familiar with the WikiLeaks publication of the DNC emails? Because it would have been interesting to get an insider's take on what it's like to run your stories past the candidate for vetting purposes. Even if Blow doesn't have first hand experience with that, he surely knows or has access to people who do.
But these injustices, although they strike directly at the heart of our so-called Democracy, do not appear to concern Blow one bit.
Blow is so much a part of the establishment that marching in step like a good soldier is second nature to him, like a swimming school of fish.
Here's a newsflash that I hope can reach you in your ivory tower: although the NYT reminds readers every day that this race is about Democrat v. Republican, millions of Americans have moved on.
This election is about the Elites versus Everybody else.
Hillary is a war hawk who will send our kids off to the middle-east and Africa. But that is of no concern to the Elites, because their kids won't be shipped off to war.
War is for the little people, just like taxes.
Thank you sir, may I have another!
3
Mr. Blow - You would hope that the "Black Belt" would vote for the most qualified candidate. As a New Yorker, I can attest that both candidates are unfit to be in office.
Trump is a demagogue who is on a ego-trip with no governmental experience to speak of. I see him being no better than President Obama who is unwilling to compromise, thin-skinned and "full of himself".
Clinton......a weak, do-nothing New York Senator. Hopefully the "Black Belt" will look at her track record as Secretary of State and the mess that the Middle East is in (causing refugee chaos in Turkey and Europe, growth of ISIS), China aggression, North Korea provocation, soon to be a nuclear Iran....and the list goes on. And then there are serious questions about the Clinton Foundation, Email carelessness and the potential impact it has had on our National Security etc....etc...
So hopefully the "Black Belt" will see beyond the "pandering" and "reality-show" mentality and vote for the lesser of two evils.
Finally, I find it amazing that the NY Times allows columnists who obsess about race to voice their opinion. I'm wondering if there is a Caucasian version of Mr. Blow?? I guess there would be an article called the "Caucasian Belt"?
Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)
Trump is a demagogue who is on a ego-trip with no governmental experience to speak of. I see him being no better than President Obama who is unwilling to compromise, thin-skinned and "full of himself".
Clinton......a weak, do-nothing New York Senator. Hopefully the "Black Belt" will look at her track record as Secretary of State and the mess that the Middle East is in (causing refugee chaos in Turkey and Europe, growth of ISIS), China aggression, North Korea provocation, soon to be a nuclear Iran....and the list goes on. And then there are serious questions about the Clinton Foundation, Email carelessness and the potential impact it has had on our National Security etc....etc...
So hopefully the "Black Belt" will see beyond the "pandering" and "reality-show" mentality and vote for the lesser of two evils.
Finally, I find it amazing that the NY Times allows columnists who obsess about race to voice their opinion. I'm wondering if there is a Caucasian version of Mr. Blow?? I guess there would be an article called the "Caucasian Belt"?
Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)
2
He, he's called David Brooks.
There is already several articles on "Caucasian belts". What do you think the journalists and pundits mean by "Rust Belt"???
1
You wrote: "Finally, I find it amazing that the NY Times allows columnists who obsess about race to voice their opinion. I'm wondering if there is a Caucasian version of Mr. Blow??"
Really? Than race is not an issue in America? Race is not something that should be talked about in the national conversation?
"Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)" Indeed. I'm rolling my eyes.
Really? Than race is not an issue in America? Race is not something that should be talked about in the national conversation?
"Open Minded / Independent / Republican / Caucasian (with tan)" Indeed. I'm rolling my eyes.
2
Race remains the best indicator of someone's political leanings in the South.
Mississippi is a clear example of this: Obama won 97 percent of the black vote there and Romney won 90 percent of the white vote (including 95 percent of white males).
A common phenomena is the blacker a state is, the more conservative white voters are in reaction. Meanwhile, states with less racial diversity are more attainable: Obama was able to win lily-white states like Iowa, Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin or Washington.
But he got soundly rejected by white voters in far the more diverse states of the South (he also lost the white vote in NY, CA, IL, OH, MI or MD but not to the same degree).
Mississippi is a clear example of this: Obama won 97 percent of the black vote there and Romney won 90 percent of the white vote (including 95 percent of white males).
A common phenomena is the blacker a state is, the more conservative white voters are in reaction. Meanwhile, states with less racial diversity are more attainable: Obama was able to win lily-white states like Iowa, Vermont, Maine, Oregon, Minnesota, Wisconsin or Washington.
But he got soundly rejected by white voters in far the more diverse states of the South (he also lost the white vote in NY, CA, IL, OH, MI or MD but not to the same degree).
3
The Blacks have been hoodwinked by the Dems who promise a lot and deliver little. And what they do deliver doesn't help in the way of jobs and education.
15
Gosh ! If only the Reps offered them Blacks something ... at all.
3
The whites are hoodwinked by the Repubs who promise a lot and deliver little. And what they do deliver doesn't help in the way of jobs or education.
7
Blow isn't paying attention, that much is clear.
1
If black votes are critical to winning Florida, Democrats and the Clinton campaign have to replicate the impressive campaign apparatus of the last two presidential elections.
At the state level, a lot of office holders are term limited and a lot of members of Congress are retiring, some prompted by court-ordered reapportionment intended to be fair to both parties.
So it just might be a good year for gains in the legislature, which at present is bent on emulating all things Texas.
At the state level, a lot of office holders are term limited and a lot of members of Congress are retiring, some prompted by court-ordered reapportionment intended to be fair to both parties.
So it just might be a good year for gains in the legislature, which at present is bent on emulating all things Texas.
5
How is it possible, in this day and age, to disenfrachise black (and Latino?) votes, and claim justice? Are republicans crazy, thinking they can survive by voter suppression, and counting mostly on 'whites'? Certainly not in a diverse society, as will be demonstrated this November. Still, what a shameful, despicably racist attitude by the very same folks that 'love' the 'Michael Jordans' of this world. When willful ignorance is the law of the land, prejudices will diminish us, even convert us into bigots...if not idiots, of our own making. Some call it stupidity, and with good reason.
30
Which is why instead of outreach which is not realistic for a party that has played the 'Southern exceptionalism' card for decades they have done everything they can to supress the black vote.
14
I can describe the media made narrative that Republicans are running around in hoods, robes and bedsheets plotting ways to deprive Black people of voting rights in one word: Myth.
How do liberals fall for this nonsense?
How do liberals fall for this nonsense?
1
Who needs the media to report it?
The code words come right out of their mouths.
The code words come right out of their mouths.
2
I know many black men who say they will vote for Donald Trump, not so much because they like what he says, but because they don't like Hillary Clinton. These men are perceptive and know Clinton is a liar and will do more harm to the black population than in all the previous years since LBJ.
I've told them, they should not make a "spite vote" but should stay home instead. Or better yet, look at the two "3rd party" candidates and consider casting their votes to one of them.
I've told them, they should not make a "spite vote" but should stay home instead. Or better yet, look at the two "3rd party" candidates and consider casting their votes to one of them.
6
Those men sound grossly uninformed.
What kind of "harm" do these black men you know anticipate from a President Clinton?
1
And just how many black men have you polled? 3? 5? 2,700?
How many is "many"?
Many people I have spoken to, black, white, brown, whatever, can see that when it comes to lies Donald Trump's pants (made in China) have long since turned to ash.
How many is "many"?
Many people I have spoken to, black, white, brown, whatever, can see that when it comes to lies Donald Trump's pants (made in China) have long since turned to ash.
1
As a caucasian, it is hard for me to understand how blacks could really support Obama, Clinton, and the Democrats given their strong support for normalizing the more that 11 million illegal aliens, wanting to increase immigration, and taking in thousands upon thousands of refugees. These people will largely be competing with blacks for jobs and other resources, and, unfortunately for blacks, many of them will lose out to this competition. Republicans, on the other hand want to control immigration, reduce illegal aliens, and carefully vet who can come in as a refugee. This would likely make it easier for blacks to get ahead as there would be less competition for jobs and resources. More important, most blacks are citizens and have been for generations, but the Democrats only give lip service to that and do not want to take the steps that would clearly make it easier for more blacks to move ahead.
A good case in point, was the civil rights legislation in the early 1960s, under Kennedy/Johnson which was potentially a good step forward for blacks. However, at the same time, we changed our immigration laws so that large numbers of people from nontraditional areas came here and immediately started competing with blacks for jobs. So, what was given on one hand was essentially taken away on the other.
A good case in point, was the civil rights legislation in the early 1960s, under Kennedy/Johnson which was potentially a good step forward for blacks. However, at the same time, we changed our immigration laws so that large numbers of people from nontraditional areas came here and immediately started competing with blacks for jobs. So, what was given on one hand was essentially taken away on the other.
18
What makes you think black people want those low-level jobs?
5
Under a Democrat Presidency and a Democrat Legislature there would not be such a shortage of good jobs and we would need immigrants as we always have.
2
So I guess you're saying that not only illegal immigration, but all immigration of people from "non-traditional" areas is bad for black people, since immigrants compete with blacks for jobs? It must also be hard for you to understand why most immigrants support Clinton, Obama, and the Democrats, just like the majority of African-American citizens....
1
Didn't the 14th amendment guarantee all those born in the US or naturalized as citizens here the right to vote? We're not living in the 19th or 20th century any longer. The question of who can vote was settled back in 1868 and should have been completely settled after the Voting Rights Act of 1965. There is no reason except GOP fear to try to deprive African Americans of the right to vote for whomever they want. There is however a good reason to start putting southern states back under federal supervision when it comes to voting rights, voting places, and other issues like education.
At this point, with Trump as the nominee, the GOP has arrived at the nadir of its political life. They have selected a man with a huge ego, no sense of restraint, and one who can, if he wins, set the country back to pre-Civil War days which were fairly acrimonious. Disenfranchising voters because you don't like the way they might vote is ridiculous. Then again, these people haven't got the courage to change or to see anyone other than a white American as worth helping. We are recreating apartheid in America some 25-30 years after it was ended in South Africa. Thanks to Justice Roberts it's fine for big money to outshout the average American, the Red States are free to discriminate against voters they don't want exercising their rights, and the rest of us are being turned into modern day serfs. Does anyone remember the French Revolution and why it started?
At this point, with Trump as the nominee, the GOP has arrived at the nadir of its political life. They have selected a man with a huge ego, no sense of restraint, and one who can, if he wins, set the country back to pre-Civil War days which were fairly acrimonious. Disenfranchising voters because you don't like the way they might vote is ridiculous. Then again, these people haven't got the courage to change or to see anyone other than a white American as worth helping. We are recreating apartheid in America some 25-30 years after it was ended in South Africa. Thanks to Justice Roberts it's fine for big money to outshout the average American, the Red States are free to discriminate against voters they don't want exercising their rights, and the rest of us are being turned into modern day serfs. Does anyone remember the French Revolution and why it started?
30
Lets get this sorted once and for all. We need a federal law that 1) registers everyone for voting automatically (such as with your social security number, or when you are born), and 2) reinstates everyone who has been stripped of the right to vote, regardless of the reason. No more loss of voting rights for being a convicted felon or anything like that, regardless of the crime. Voting isn't a right, it's a responsibility, a duty, an obligation, though a person always has the right to refrain from voting, but they can not be prevented from voting.
119
In Peru & Australia, if you fail to vote, you have to pay a fine.
You are correct that voting is a responsibility. And if you can't meet your civic responsibilities, then you should be fined. Period.
You are correct that voting is a responsibility. And if you can't meet your civic responsibilities, then you should be fined. Period.
6
Voting IS a right AND a responsibility. At least in this country. Every free citizen of the United states of America has a civic duty to act in the best interest of the country, and its citizens. Those who don't show up at the polls, should be ashamed. Those who try to prevent them from showing up, should be damned.
5
Included in that "measly one percent of black voters" voting for Trump is the elder brother of Medgar Evers,slain civil rights leader,whom I met "tout a fait comme par hasard" in a retirement home in Greenville, Mississippi, who told me that he was voting for Trump because DT had promised to build a catfish processing plant in the state which is sorely needed.(Ironically, purpose of my research in Delta towns was to interview surviving relatives of Roy Bryant and JW Elam, self confessed killers of Emmett Till. Carolyn Bryant has since passed away.But as an unconditional Trump supporter, I too am disappointed by his superficiality,his lack of specifics, his willingness to be sidetracked by issues--dispute with Judge Curiel and Michael Bloomberg just 2 examples--which do not help his campaign or advance his cause. U can tap into little white anger for just so long until even his followers begin to ask themselves:"Is that all there is?"Informative article by Mr. Blow. However, it all could have been written from his den or study at home. Would have appreciated if if he, in the tradition of Breslin, had gone "down home,down yonder" to interview denizens of both black and white communities and brought us back some good quotes.
7
Any Democrat who takes the Nov election for granted is asking for a Trump presidency. We're in waters unfamiliar to most of us.
Winston Churchill says the first world war was from 1792 to 1918. Hobsbawm refers to the Thirty One Years War of 1914-1945. Both highlight the stress and fear in peoples' lives. Both agree that after 1945 the lives of many improved. Part of the improvement in Western Europe is attributed by Judt to the provision of social safety nets, most of which were provided by Christian Democrats and not by socialists. Two popes urged pro-worker policies (Leo XIII and Pius XI; Rerum Novarum; Quadragesimo Anno). Catholic Ireland took their message somewhat literally and still provides family support.
In 2007, Judt noted that fear was again on the rise: “fear of terrorism…fear of the uncontrollable speed of change…loss of employment…unequal distribution of resources…above all, fear…that even…those in authority had lost control…”
He continued: “we should not be surprised at the revival…of fear of foreigners and open communications…free exchange of unwelcome opinions…” and we “can expect restrictions on “the flow of threatening goods and ideas as well as people. The politics of insecurity are contagious.”
In 2007! Before the bubble burst in 2008 and before birtherism and its dark lord, Trump. We should listen to more of what Judt had to say, and it is not a Pollyanna message.
Winston Churchill says the first world war was from 1792 to 1918. Hobsbawm refers to the Thirty One Years War of 1914-1945. Both highlight the stress and fear in peoples' lives. Both agree that after 1945 the lives of many improved. Part of the improvement in Western Europe is attributed by Judt to the provision of social safety nets, most of which were provided by Christian Democrats and not by socialists. Two popes urged pro-worker policies (Leo XIII and Pius XI; Rerum Novarum; Quadragesimo Anno). Catholic Ireland took their message somewhat literally and still provides family support.
In 2007, Judt noted that fear was again on the rise: “fear of terrorism…fear of the uncontrollable speed of change…loss of employment…unequal distribution of resources…above all, fear…that even…those in authority had lost control…”
He continued: “we should not be surprised at the revival…of fear of foreigners and open communications…free exchange of unwelcome opinions…” and we “can expect restrictions on “the flow of threatening goods and ideas as well as people. The politics of insecurity are contagious.”
In 2007! Before the bubble burst in 2008 and before birtherism and its dark lord, Trump. We should listen to more of what Judt had to say, and it is not a Pollyanna message.
20
Even if the Republican candidate was a Black man or woman, they would not get the African-American vote.
There is something very perverse about that, The Democratic Party has certainly not helped the Black man in this country, and the past 8 years has gotten much worse.
There is something very perverse about that, The Democratic Party has certainly not helped the Black man in this country, and the past 8 years has gotten much worse.
7
The Democratic Party has not been working overtime in state after state to disenfranchise black voters.
The GOP has.
That alone is reason for anyone with a conscience not to vote Republican.
The GOP has.
That alone is reason for anyone with a conscience not to vote Republican.
7
The Republican party hasn't done much for poor and working class Whites either but they seem to line up to vote against their own self-interests.
8
Is Hawk a black man, making such an accusation?
Then there's all that lost support from rebel-rousing "Wall Street haters" who backed Trump because he promised to "throw out the rich bums on Wall Street who rig life against whose poor white males without higher ed.
Whaddya mean, Trump just brought the bunch of 'em onto his team? And, they WHAT? Love free trade??? Yessir, Trump stiffs those who bought his little red hats. Not to be trust, the Donald.
Whaddya mean, Trump just brought the bunch of 'em onto his team? And, they WHAT? Love free trade??? Yessir, Trump stiffs those who bought his little red hats. Not to be trust, the Donald.
25
Robert, you've been paying selective attention.
Hillary has been the number one cheerleader for the TPP.
It is the Elites of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party who want these trade deals.
This election is better described as the Elites versus the Expendables.
Who is expendable? Anyone doing any sort of manual labor, obviously, and all of the kids we have to send off to war, for starters.
After all, Hillary wants to bring Democracy to the planet, just like she has in Libya. Hillary still insists that Libya is an example of, "Smart power at its best!" And the level of delusion doesn't bother you?
Maybe you don't know any kids, so it's all just an abstraction to you, but I'm raising a son, so this never-ending war concept just doesn't appeal to me one bit.
Sorry, Trump's preposterous domestic proposals won't get anywhere, but Hillary's foreign policies will be much easier to implement.
With Hillary out there blathering about "Smart Power" every time Libya is mentioned, she is just as removed from reality as Trump, but with the potential to do a lot more damage.
Hillary has been the number one cheerleader for the TPP.
It is the Elites of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party who want these trade deals.
This election is better described as the Elites versus the Expendables.
Who is expendable? Anyone doing any sort of manual labor, obviously, and all of the kids we have to send off to war, for starters.
After all, Hillary wants to bring Democracy to the planet, just like she has in Libya. Hillary still insists that Libya is an example of, "Smart power at its best!" And the level of delusion doesn't bother you?
Maybe you don't know any kids, so it's all just an abstraction to you, but I'm raising a son, so this never-ending war concept just doesn't appeal to me one bit.
Sorry, Trump's preposterous domestic proposals won't get anywhere, but Hillary's foreign policies will be much easier to implement.
With Hillary out there blathering about "Smart Power" every time Libya is mentioned, she is just as removed from reality as Trump, but with the potential to do a lot more damage.
1
I do hope you're right, Charles. I've had some troubling conversations with African Americans "of a certain age" in recent weeks, all of whom said they would vote for Trump. Why? Reasons were as varied as: 1) Trump has grandchildren and would never do anything to hurt the world they will live in; 2) Sometimes people will pleasantly surprise you once they get into office; 3) Surely a billionaire has the smarts needed to lead our country; and 4) Well, just to be contrary. These conversations and reasons for supporting Trump may well be complete anomalies, nevertheless I hope the Hillary campaign has clear messages to counter these beliefs.
15
The reasons you list just demonstrate the stupidity of his followers of any race.
4
The unfortunate truth in this election is that it will be extremely polarized. Case in point, imagine a Viewpoint, "Hillary's Troubles in the White Belt". The liberal fringe of our nation would be in turmoil. Journalists would rush in to predict educated white voters do support Hillary. Really? Where are they at? Yes, feminists and the LGBT are ardent enthusiasts. As is the metrosexual Anglo urban male. (Whatever that is.) But out in the general populace, Hillary is having difficulty gaining political traction with Anglos. And that includes married Anglo females. Admittedly, both candidates are flawed. Trump's deficiencies seem to, at present, be more publicized. But do not overlook the tremendous energy Trump has created within the Anglo community, and Hillary's glaring shortcomings. Only due to Trump are certain political issues even being addressed. And, as a result of that fact, it appears his supporters have greater loyalty. His voters WILL be at the polls. My belief, there is hidden Trump support which will shock the pollsters on November 8th. Greatest concern, where does the nation go after the election. The groups are so diametrically opposed, neither will stand down.
9
What in heaven's name is the "anglo community"? I'm certainly not a member of any such community, despite a heritage that derives almost entirely from the British Isles that would thus place me as "white" and English speaking. And there have been news stories on HC's troubles in the white belt, even if that term has not been used.
1
As of today. Hillary Clinton is leading among All White Voters. The pool of under-educated white males is shrinking from election to election. No surprise there.
Yes, Hillary is winning with the educated white female voters ...a new winning cohort for the Democrats.
Yes, Hillary is winning with the educated white female voters ...a new winning cohort for the Democrats.
2
amh: Since you are in a remote part of Canada, understandable. Keep in mind, we are discussing American (USA) politics. In areas with recent heavy concentration of Hispanic population, census demography has used White-Hispanic and White-Non-Hispanic. Anglo (usually the majority in the monolithic White Group) is used in a synonymous way with White-Non-Hispanic. Unusual, but we in the United States do not understand Indo-Canadian. A reference term used in Metro Toronto and Metro Vancouver. Yes, we got it, you are British. And most in Quebec are French. But who cares in the United States.
1
"And thank you very much, Chief Justice John Roberts, for your opinion in the disastrous Shelby County vs. Holder case. How did you put it: In the South, “Things have changed dramatically.” Yeah, right."
Amen to that! No sooner had reporters announced that ruling that strict and stricter voting laws were rolled out and making their way to state legislators for ratification (not I didn't say "vote." One by one they're being struck down, North Carolina being the most notable, and even some in Texas, but justice moves slowly and certainly to slowly for the speed that voter ID laws, motor vehicle agency closings, arbitrary poll rules centered around the habits of African Americans, all were launched as if to say, "See, Justice Roberts, things have changed dramatically--we put these new rules into effect in record time."
Record time meaning little or no time for challenges before November 2016.
Amen to that! No sooner had reporters announced that ruling that strict and stricter voting laws were rolled out and making their way to state legislators for ratification (not I didn't say "vote." One by one they're being struck down, North Carolina being the most notable, and even some in Texas, but justice moves slowly and certainly to slowly for the speed that voter ID laws, motor vehicle agency closings, arbitrary poll rules centered around the habits of African Americans, all were launched as if to say, "See, Justice Roberts, things have changed dramatically--we put these new rules into effect in record time."
Record time meaning little or no time for challenges before November 2016.
95
Perhaps Justice Roberts is not aware of his error. Could someone let him know? Maybe he could fix it in time for the election? Or maybe Justice Roberts and Scalia, and Thomas, and Alito, and Kennedy just want to had the election to "Conservative Trump"?
Whatever Hillary does in office, no matter how heroic, will be disparaged by every envious person seeking excuses for their own failures in life.
That's just the way it is for members of our population who have blamed their Mothers for all that has angered and disappointed them in their lives.
That's just the way it is for members of our population who have blamed their Mothers for all that has angered and disappointed them in their lives.
47
Kate: whatever the result in Nov, we need a sustained and vigorous campaign for the mid-term--either to support POTUS HRC or to undercut POTUS Trump. Nov 9 will see the start of GOP re-election campaigns: we should not be slow off the mark.
1
Interesting - maybe we need less disappointing mothers or less expectant children.
@ Kate, your reference to people's subconsciously linking their dislike for Hillary's policies to their relationship with their mothers indicates you have such a problem. I suggest you make a clean break with your mother if she's still alive and if not write a letter that you can psychologically mail to her. On the other hand relating this to politics is particularly off base.
The south is different, the west is different, the northeast and the Pacific coast are both different. Trump is likely to win the west and the south. He will lose in the northeast and on the Pacific. The country divides racially, politically, and pathetically. The story in Alabama is as sorry as we will ever see more than 150 years after The Civil War.
33
Alabama maybe disappointing but the real disappointment are the politicians who go to Philadelphia, Mississippi to start their campaigns (Reagan) or to bolster their campaigns (one of the Trump children). That's what they consider "morning in America" for some reason.
1
"Trump is likely to win the west"
California makes up the majority of "the West," and Trump has no chance there, or in Oregon, Washington, or Hawaii. He will probably not win New Mexico, Colorado, or Nevada. He may even not win Arizona. This is the consensus of forecasts, not my opinion.
You are misinformed about Trump's chances in the West.
California makes up the majority of "the West," and Trump has no chance there, or in Oregon, Washington, or Hawaii. He will probably not win New Mexico, Colorado, or Nevada. He may even not win Arizona. This is the consensus of forecasts, not my opinion.
You are misinformed about Trump's chances in the West.
1
Nope. He will lose the west: Colorado, NM, California, Oregon, and Washington. He will win the white,rural states. Idaho, Montana, Utah, Arizona. Nevada is surprisingly close, but will trend to Clinton.
This is a very important column not just because of its impact on the election but its reminder of how corrupt our voting system still is and how badly it needs to be fixed. Kudos to CMB. HIs work should spur the NYT to run a highly visible front page investigative report of the systemic persecution of and unconstitutional discrimination against African American voters in the southern states. Exposing the clear statistics of these bigoted GOP criminals in local public office who are using tax dollars to make it essentially impossible for many African Americans to vote legally and effectively in their home counties would send a nice message to voters all across America that a vote for a Republican candidate anywhere in this country (not just the South) is a vote for the shameless perpetuation and despicable institutionalization of racism.
173
Agreed, but what Charles doesn't mention and which is lost in the legal distraction is the old reliable Southern saw of ballot fraud. In fact, the id laws overlook ballot fraud, the most common way to "rig" an election. It takes one of several forms: malfunctioning machines left in precincts; improperly calibrated punches; insufficient ballot security (ballots improperly transported or stored), ballot bags suddenly found in car backseats and trunks are the more common forms.
Another is mass-voting handicapped populations! I've seen buses from residential centers arrive at polling places, all who vote the choice of its corporate holders. Who is going to protest the votes of the handicapped?
These are still common measures in the South and rarely mentioned in the news.
Another is mass-voting handicapped populations! I've seen buses from residential centers arrive at polling places, all who vote the choice of its corporate holders. Who is going to protest the votes of the handicapped?
These are still common measures in the South and rarely mentioned in the news.
16
The most blatant election fraud can be found in the inner city democrat political machines such as Chicago which openly says "vote early and often".
I grew up in Hudson County, NJ which was under the control of Boss Hague in Jersey City. Every election the inmates of the county mental institution voted 110% for the democrats. Even today there are stories of "homeless blacks" bussed from Camden, NJ to Philadelphia, PA so that they can vote in both elections.
In my experience, democrats are blatantly corrupt and actually proud of it.
I grew up in Hudson County, NJ which was under the control of Boss Hague in Jersey City. Every election the inmates of the county mental institution voted 110% for the democrats. Even today there are stories of "homeless blacks" bussed from Camden, NJ to Philadelphia, PA so that they can vote in both elections.
In my experience, democrats are blatantly corrupt and actually proud of it.
1
Yes. Would love to see this.
Makes me unreasonable angry at the disenfranchisement that is going on in Alabama. Jim Crow is still alive and well, I see, and thriving.
And here I thought it was 2016. Silly me.
Makes me unreasonable angry at the disenfranchisement that is going on in Alabama. Jim Crow is still alive and well, I see, and thriving.
And here I thought it was 2016. Silly me.
1
Yep, that identity politics that Hillary, the DNC, and Mr. Blow push is sure doing the trick to help the Black Belt population, isn't it?
Umm. No. And just like many people up here in NYC and surrounding, I'm sure there are a number of black people that see through the fake support that Mr. Blow supports, and see that Trump has a better answer for all Americans, but don't voice their support since they get attacked for doing so.
But come voting time, just like Brexit, Trump will prevail. Hillary is the status quo candidate of the establishment, doing nothing and promising everything and playing identity politics on steroids, except this time that strategy will fail.
Umm. No. And just like many people up here in NYC and surrounding, I'm sure there are a number of black people that see through the fake support that Mr. Blow supports, and see that Trump has a better answer for all Americans, but don't voice their support since they get attacked for doing so.
But come voting time, just like Brexit, Trump will prevail. Hillary is the status quo candidate of the establishment, doing nothing and promising everything and playing identity politics on steroids, except this time that strategy will fail.
14
I had always assumed that where you apparently have your head would be anatomically impossible. Might I suggest you amaze us all by doing something else that is anatomically impossible?
3
It is indeed comments and 'thinking' like this really make you wonder if universal voting is such a good idea. With over half the voting public being of below average intellect, there is always a chance that Stupid will win any election.
Perhaps if Ms. Z visited the Black Belt of the southern states she would see what White Racism has done to that part of the country. All the population there is suffering. Some as oppressed, some as oppressors.
Perhaps if Ms. Z visited the Black Belt of the southern states she would see what White Racism has done to that part of the country. All the population there is suffering. Some as oppressed, some as oppressors.
4
If African Americans are allowed to vote, that is...
How incongruous to have convoluted voter ID requirements but a plethora of electronic devices and software. More than 80% of American households have smart phones, cell phones or computers with internet access. You can sign in to your bank with a smart phone. You can do your taxes online and apply for social security benefits online. Voting should be as easy and accessible. You could be matched to your state vital records' birth certificate or your record of naturalization and then vote through a secure site. At the very least, getting a voter ID for those states requiring it, should be as easy as getting a US passport and totally free.
52
Except for the pesky problem of hacking the voting machines: http://thefreethoughtproject.com/50013-2/
Ahem, every American already has the same form of voter ID that the Founders did.
2
Better yet, issue it at birth! To become effective at age 18.
2
Dead and buried? Not so fast. The GOP is the walking dead and they don't know that either. The gerrymandering cemetery is just too fertile. Look for them to be digging out with more voter suppression, more anti-women, and anti-living laws.
37
Anther comment by Mr. Blow and another piece that reeks with racism. And I thought he he crossed the last week, with his other racial and sexism charged one.
With that said, Trump was a poor choice; a very poor choice. He is the GOP's McGovern. And each time he opens his mouth, his poll number drop. But, the race remain competitive. ABC may have 8 Clinton up by 8 points, but both have untrustworthy ratings of 62% and 59% respectively. In other words, while the Republicans ran another McGovern, the Democrats ran another Nixon.
As for Mr. Blow's "essay", Clinton chance to win the southern so called "Black Belt", is as good as Trump winning California. About zero. She will win the traditional northern areas with high black populations; period. That is if they choose to vote.
In western states, Gary Johnson has a shot at picking up a few states, without the "David Duke" factor. Also, he may pick up more states if Republican, and some Democrat, politicians continue to endorse him.
If President Obama could not turn southern states blue, as an African American, as a very popular president, had positive approval ratings and trustworthiness, there is no way Clinton will do it. Ms. Clinton could not hold a candle to Mr. Obama. So, much for a "essay" of an alternate reality that does not exist.
With that said, Trump was a poor choice; a very poor choice. He is the GOP's McGovern. And each time he opens his mouth, his poll number drop. But, the race remain competitive. ABC may have 8 Clinton up by 8 points, but both have untrustworthy ratings of 62% and 59% respectively. In other words, while the Republicans ran another McGovern, the Democrats ran another Nixon.
As for Mr. Blow's "essay", Clinton chance to win the southern so called "Black Belt", is as good as Trump winning California. About zero. She will win the traditional northern areas with high black populations; period. That is if they choose to vote.
In western states, Gary Johnson has a shot at picking up a few states, without the "David Duke" factor. Also, he may pick up more states if Republican, and some Democrat, politicians continue to endorse him.
If President Obama could not turn southern states blue, as an African American, as a very popular president, had positive approval ratings and trustworthiness, there is no way Clinton will do it. Ms. Clinton could not hold a candle to Mr. Obama. So, much for a "essay" of an alternate reality that does not exist.
17
"Reeks with racism"? No, Nick, talking about racism does not make one a racist. Claims like yours are just a lame attempt to silence those who call out Republicans for THEIR appeals to racists.
2
And me calling out hypocritical Democrats who hide behind their rhetoric of sexism and racism of their own.
2
Where's the racism in this piece? It's cute that you toss out a charge like that, but at least be man enough to support your assertions.
4
David Duke targets Jews exclusively. Evidently a significant number, 14percent, of Duke's African-American constituents concur.
18
One reason why blacks in the south would not even consider bernie as a candidate, never heard of him, does he even believe in Jesus?
3
Sean: "exclusively?" No, he does not--unless you went to a very modern school that has redefined "exclusively."
1
You're wrong. Duke doesn't target any one group with his hate speech exclusviely, and if he did, it wouldn't be Jews.
"14% of Duke's African-American constituents concur".
What are your sources?
"14% of Duke's African-American constituents concur".
What are your sources?
1
Snap!
1
The current republican party needs to die a full death and then come back as a sensible party that is willing to work for more than just the rich white man's wants and needs. If Trump is elected, it will happen for sure. When the adults in the room see just what a disaster his policies will lead to, I just hope they wise up and vote for Hillary. Then republicans can do their usual routine - the country is in bad shape because of a democrat in the white house. I dont really think they want the white house any longer, then they would have to shoulder the entire blame on the direction of our country.
12
That the deep South's political coma is finally responding to "the world is going to end as we know it unless I'm in charge" Trump mantra, but utter hate, fear and poorly concealed racist dog whistles is an irony not lost on voters, as the GOP allowed this rhetoric to fester and finally implode in it's ranks.
24
"....and minorities wrongly think that Republicans do not like them or want them in the country."
The Trump campaign has demonstrated that the minority perception of the Republican party certainly was not wrong. Replace "wrongly think" with "are aware that" for the 2016 Republican autopsy.
Glad I could help.
The Trump campaign has demonstrated that the minority perception of the Republican party certainly was not wrong. Replace "wrongly think" with "are aware that" for the 2016 Republican autopsy.
Glad I could help.
37
This is just wrong and not true. Republicans are just against illegal immigration and the polls show that most Democrats feel that way as well. It is the liberal wealthy elite that push for illegal immigration so that they may have cheap maids and daycare.
My spouse is from Spain. When he speaks Spanish with the mail lady, who's from Peru, he notices that some people here in this Midwestern retirement community, look at him & her with disapproval. Disgust?
We're both white but during our 49 years together his Spanish accent has marked him as problematic to many. He's got a Ph.D. But you can't tell that from his accent.
So I know what it is to feel a great affinity with my black brothers and sisters. They may not know, to look at me - a white-haired old white lady - but for me:
Black Folk are My Folk.
Muslims are My Folk.
Immigrants are My Folk.
Whites who look down on others, not my folk.
We're both white but during our 49 years together his Spanish accent has marked him as problematic to many. He's got a Ph.D. But you can't tell that from his accent.
So I know what it is to feel a great affinity with my black brothers and sisters. They may not know, to look at me - a white-haired old white lady - but for me:
Black Folk are My Folk.
Muslims are My Folk.
Immigrants are My Folk.
Whites who look down on others, not my folk.
4
Love this from Mr Blow: "If Trump loses in November and the black vote tips even one of the Deep South, Black Belt states blue, the Republicans won’t only need an autopsy, they’ll need a Ouija board — because they’ll be dead and buried."
Amen and alleluia! Now let's get going on the other major party snf thrit inrpt candidate, Clinton. She may have the Black Vote, but she doesn't have any answers of betterment.
It all comes down to how long the Black Vote will tolerate this patronizing, pap-less, condescending and demeaning dole and empty promises from the Democratic party.
Amen and alleluia! Now let's get going on the other major party snf thrit inrpt candidate, Clinton. She may have the Black Vote, but she doesn't have any answers of betterment.
It all comes down to how long the Black Vote will tolerate this patronizing, pap-less, condescending and demeaning dole and empty promises from the Democratic party.
18
I guess you don't know that the US has a gerrymandered house and the senate is controlled by on-termer Mitchie and his gang. It is amazing that anything has been accomplished for the country (black, white, yellow, red, brown and whatever citizens) by Obama and the democrats. Throw in the SCOTUS that gave you Citizens United and gutted some voting laws.
10
The black voters will tolerate a "patronizing, condescending" attitude from the Democratic party much more than they will tolerate the heretofore thinly disguised dog whistle attacks on their race and especially now that the dog whistle strategy isn't even utilized. Blatant racism from Trump's supporters at his rallies seems to be the norm and their champion, Mr. Trump, seems to encourage it. Example: A black protestor at an earlier rally was punched in the face after Trump said he would pay for any violent actor's legal defense. Later, the puncher said "next time we just may have to kill him." This puncher was in his late 60s or early 70s and had his hair in a pony tail. I'm sure those blacks looking at this were thinking of Hillary's "patronizing and condescending attitude. NOT.
7
You said it! Clinton is a fake and a fraud and is only pandering now to the black community for their votes. Once she's President, she'll toss them under the bus, as did most of her fellow Democrats.
3
Time for a major voter registration effort. Instead of a march to Selma, it's time for a march on the Alabama DMV.
207
While voter registration is helpful, critical issue is voter suppression, which prevents REGISTERED VOTERS from voting. Voter suppression is being conducted in surreptitious ways, thinly veiled in numerous disguises such as the closing of driver license offices, the sudden disappearance of registered voters from voter rolls, relocation or closing of polling places with no advance notice on election day and many others. Disenfranchisement of Americans by the very people who profess to being the saviors of this country- a blatant insult and disgrace to our Constitution and Bill of Rights. If only voter registration were the answer...
5
Trump's strategy assumes no black or latino support. If he had his way whites would have head of the line privileges at the grocery store! Our assumption that he "needs" minority support is based on past election data. However, if Trump can appeal to the racist and bigoted nature of white america, he might be able to boost white voter turn out enough to make the black and latino votes irrelevant.
10
In addition to the "Southern Strategy", Nixon started the "War on Drugs". It is no accident that blacks are incarcerated at much higher levels for marijuana. Many of these convicted felons never reclaim their right to vote. Yet another tool for the disenfranchisement of blacks in this country.
One other thing I gave to say really bugs me every time I see it, is the"party of Lincoln" moniker for the Republican Party. Before the "Southern Strategy", that was true. But since the 1960's, the two major parties effectively switched places. From that point, there has been no "party of Lincoln", regardless of how many times the name is invoked.
One other thing I gave to say really bugs me every time I see it, is the"party of Lincoln" moniker for the Republican Party. Before the "Southern Strategy", that was true. But since the 1960's, the two major parties effectively switched places. From that point, there has been no "party of Lincoln", regardless of how many times the name is invoked.
106
Now the Republican Party is just a union-busting scam.
2
Should now be called: The Party of Rage.
5
In 1968, Alabama Governor George Wallace won five Deep South states in the Presidential Election, a huge result for a 3rd Party candidate.
Wallace, whose political platform was perfectly articulated in his 1963 inaugural address, said "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth..I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Those five states were filled with whites outraged by the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the outlawing of Jim Crow laws that celebrated white supremacy as the Southern 'way of life'.
George Wallace's Dixiecrat/KKK base was swallowed whole by the modern Republican Party and Richard Nixon in 1972.
Ronald Reagan publicly saluted them when he kicked off his 1980 Presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair and shouted 'states' rights' in that proud cauldron of Mississippi white supremacy.
George Bush Sr. gave a shout to the South with his Willie Horton ad and George Bush Jr.'s campaign falsely accused his rival John McCain of having an out-of-wedlock 'black' child to stir up Southern white supremacy to win in 2000.
Now Donald Trump once again beckons KKK nation to the polls and tries to ride the proud GOP mantle of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" to electoral victory with his anti-Muslim-anti-Mexican and Misogynistic sensibilities.
Trump will lose in November, but his Neo-Confederate Republican voter base will remain as America's giant underbelly of human disgrace.
Wallace, whose political platform was perfectly articulated in his 1963 inaugural address, said "In the name of the greatest people that have ever trod this earth..I say segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever."
Those five states were filled with whites outraged by the Civil Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act and the outlawing of Jim Crow laws that celebrated white supremacy as the Southern 'way of life'.
George Wallace's Dixiecrat/KKK base was swallowed whole by the modern Republican Party and Richard Nixon in 1972.
Ronald Reagan publicly saluted them when he kicked off his 1980 Presidential campaign at the Neshoba County Fair and shouted 'states' rights' in that proud cauldron of Mississippi white supremacy.
George Bush Sr. gave a shout to the South with his Willie Horton ad and George Bush Jr.'s campaign falsely accused his rival John McCain of having an out-of-wedlock 'black' child to stir up Southern white supremacy to win in 2000.
Now Donald Trump once again beckons KKK nation to the polls and tries to ride the proud GOP mantle of "segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever" to electoral victory with his anti-Muslim-anti-Mexican and Misogynistic sensibilities.
Trump will lose in November, but his Neo-Confederate Republican voter base will remain as America's giant underbelly of human disgrace.
487
The first time Wallace ran for public office, he ran a racially clean Campaign. Wallace lost.
2
Also remember the South going for Goldwater in the '64 election. My sister got her Master's degree in '64 from Ole Miss and my parents went there for the ceremony. My Dad, a Southern Democrat who went along with LBJ and the Civil Rights act, commented on the plethora of Goldwater stickers on the cars down there in Oxford. Richard Nixon noticed this also.
4
Again with the 50 year old grievances and racebaiting baloney, your racial hatred diatribe rings as hollow as your head. If there's anyone with delusional hatred of your fellow human beings and citizens its you.You're a disgrace to the ideals of the real Socrates or MLK, they knew a hater when they encountered one. A human disgrace indeed.
2
14% of AA voters in LA support David Duke? I wonder if 14% of chickens would go with Colonel Sanders? Something ain't right about that place....
61
You are overlooking one very important point, namely, if there is not a black candidate for president, black voter turnout will be low. This has nothing to do with voter suppression but apathy on the part of voters (a black and white issue incidentally). On a different note, for the sake of accuracy in the future, please note that David Duke is in fact Dr. David Duke.
14
Dr.???? You can put lipstick on a pig, but that doesn't make it pretty!
26
It is not even lipstick; it is just more of the same stuff that pigs wallow in all the time. The University in Question (a Ukrainian institution noted to be one of the most persistent anti-Semitic institutions in Eastern Europe) had its accreditation stripped by a court order in 2006. Duke is no more of a doctor than then he is a humanitarian. I'm surprised the New York Times wouldn't pay a little more attention to anything putting the former head of the Klan in a positive light.
5
Doctor of what? And this topic has been asked and answered.
2
Duke's 14% is easy to explain; its example is rooted in history, in the way a racist social order is regulated. By racist, I don't mean a code of deference and courtesy or a short sighted worldview. Fundamentally, racism is a system of oppression; its purpose is not prejudice but power--the transfer of benefits to one racial group while severvely limiting the opportunities and advance of another. (How many immigrants took good paying, middle class jobs? Economics is a false flag for race and targeted economic oppression!)
Power requires a leadership structure, people who align their interests with the powerful. In the era after the Civil War, the formerly enslaved who remained on the plantations, who matched their interests with their former masters were called the "faithful." Their loyalty was not out of fear. They rejected their identity and worked openly against community interests, supported opression, spread division, lies and obfuscation, to receive the economic/social rewards provided by the powerful.
It happened in South Africa: several chiefs were "faithful" to the apartheid government and opposed the expansion of democratic rights and full participation for Africans. It happened in black communities where black police were more brutual than whites.
In college, we called them "Anthracites," after the slave-selling African king in Robert Hayden's poem. They are collaborators. They sell their souls. Immersed in greed and evil, they tell you that's the way it is.
Power requires a leadership structure, people who align their interests with the powerful. In the era after the Civil War, the formerly enslaved who remained on the plantations, who matched their interests with their former masters were called the "faithful." Their loyalty was not out of fear. They rejected their identity and worked openly against community interests, supported opression, spread division, lies and obfuscation, to receive the economic/social rewards provided by the powerful.
It happened in South Africa: several chiefs were "faithful" to the apartheid government and opposed the expansion of democratic rights and full participation for Africans. It happened in black communities where black police were more brutual than whites.
In college, we called them "Anthracites," after the slave-selling African king in Robert Hayden's poem. They are collaborators. They sell their souls. Immersed in greed and evil, they tell you that's the way it is.
44
Actually, it's global phenomena: it's the same as Muslim killing Muslims--or the greater williness of a large swarth of Americans eager to commit political suicide; each example is stunning in its display of a group willing to renounce its collective interests for a path of destruction; blacks are no different. Those who support Duke think they can escape the wrath by their support--a strategy also tried and failed.
Ever "faithful," in an environment in which Muslims blow up mosques during prayer and the president of the American Nazi party endorses Trump and sees "new opportunities," the "faithful" class (some of whom work for Trump!) sees itself as "smart" and blames or denies the victims their actions show they are willing--and committed--to harm.
Ever "faithful," in an environment in which Muslims blow up mosques during prayer and the president of the American Nazi party endorses Trump and sees "new opportunities," the "faithful" class (some of whom work for Trump!) sees itself as "smart" and blames or denies the victims their actions show they are willing--and committed--to harm.
12
Brazil was one of if not the leading recipient and proponent of African slaves. Maybe you should protest the 2016 Olympics.
3
Whites here do it, too.
Hence the support of Trump by people who have no idea what it is to be rich, but think if they align themselves with the rich and powerful, they, too, will be.
Whites have been voting against their own self interests for decades, even as they economic position and lifespan decline and drug use, teen pregnancy, and divorce increases.
How to do you get white people to reject healthcare? Point out that a black man brought it forth. How do you get white people to accept healthcare in their state? Name it something different.
Even in the face of him choosing rich white guys to be his economic team, they'll still vote for a crazy, neurotic, delusional, ignorant narcissistic "billionaire" white man to be president because he promises to keep brown people out of the country.
Hence the support of Trump by people who have no idea what it is to be rich, but think if they align themselves with the rich and powerful, they, too, will be.
Whites have been voting against their own self interests for decades, even as they economic position and lifespan decline and drug use, teen pregnancy, and divorce increases.
How to do you get white people to reject healthcare? Point out that a black man brought it forth. How do you get white people to accept healthcare in their state? Name it something different.
Even in the face of him choosing rich white guys to be his economic team, they'll still vote for a crazy, neurotic, delusional, ignorant narcissistic "billionaire" white man to be president because he promises to keep brown people out of the country.
5
Blacks built our country as slaves. They fought for our country as soldiers. Now, they may save our country as voters. One can only hope that we have a chance, and the will, to repay that debt.
887
Very well said. It's remarkable how many Bob Marley songs immediately came to mind when I read that, thanks J. Raven.
11
not "those debts"?
3
J. Raven wrote: "Blacks built our country as slaves."
No. Europeans built this country. Some had slaves.
No. Europeans built this country. Some had slaves.
2
Should be interesting if Black Ameticans vote for Ms
Clinton to the degree they did so for President Obama. I hope so!
Clinton to the degree they did so for President Obama. I hope so!
24
Nice to think that Black men, for all the stereotyping, don't suffer from the evident mother-issues that make White males' opposition to Clinton so reflexively virulent and irrational.
18
Most black men were raised by strong black women.
They know the value of a woman.
They know the value of a woman.
7
It is 2016 and most communication has to have a racial/racist element of some sort. Does that tell anyone anything?
4
Here's what it tells me:
1) If you are a black person in the united States, having your eyes open is a matter of life and death.
2) Black people have their eyes open, and they know what they are seeing in Donald Trump.
3) The fact that black voters are more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 than they were for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 tells me that they are not the folks who are injecting "a racial/racist element" into our political discourse.
OK?
1) If you are a black person in the united States, having your eyes open is a matter of life and death.
2) Black people have their eyes open, and they know what they are seeing in Donald Trump.
3) The fact that black voters are more likely to vote for Hillary Clinton in 2016 than they were for Barack Obama in 2008 and 2012 tells me that they are not the folks who are injecting "a racial/racist element" into our political discourse.
OK?
33
Yes, "Things have changed dramatically", In Your Mind, Roberts.
I've always been appalled at the twisted reasoning of the high court in this and many other cases. In this case, there's a very obvious and intentional disconnect between the result of previous right-to-vote laws (dramatic change) and the cause (those laws themselves). The laws caused the change -- not the other way around. That change couldn't stand apart from the laws. The very best evidence for this is that merely minutes after the voting rights laws were weakened, those historically offending states submitted bills to suppress voters. Ostensibly, to protect the integrity of the polling system, but we know (wink, wink) that its true intention was to exploit the open door given by Roberts. Roberts, I assume, is no fool. Therefore, his advocacy is ample proof of his evil motives.
I've always been appalled at the twisted reasoning of the high court in this and many other cases. In this case, there's a very obvious and intentional disconnect between the result of previous right-to-vote laws (dramatic change) and the cause (those laws themselves). The laws caused the change -- not the other way around. That change couldn't stand apart from the laws. The very best evidence for this is that merely minutes after the voting rights laws were weakened, those historically offending states submitted bills to suppress voters. Ostensibly, to protect the integrity of the polling system, but we know (wink, wink) that its true intention was to exploit the open door given by Roberts. Roberts, I assume, is no fool. Therefore, his advocacy is ample proof of his evil motives.
32
I just love seeing the Grand Old Pirates flop around in their death throws.
24
There should be massiive drive by Democrats to register African Americans to vote, and to urge them to vote Democratic.
31
Southerners know when they are disliked, disenfranchised, and dismissed. Latin, black, gay, and feminist voters stuck in the old Confederacy read, see, and hear clowns running their ships of state. They too can count the poverty, walk the ignored neighborhoods and educational opportunities. They smell the rotten "Southern Strategy", misogyny, and animus toward entire bodies of people that GOP feeds white males. And they know the gains that came with LBJ, Carter, Bill Clinton, and Obama despite rigid oppositions by the 1%ers, the secessionists, the Tea Partyers. All politics is local, and these people know firsthand what local whites do with the GOP and how people most like themselves are regarded. Martin Luther King, the Birmingham bus strikers, the Memphis garbage collectors were aided rarely by local GOPs. LGBTQ and women Southerners know who preaches against them, and it is not their Democrats in state legislatures. And those of Latin background recognize which party dangles a Wall at every local debate. They all know where the Gerrymander thrives, the "license to carry", the freedom to kill laws aim, and the billionaires don't invest. God bless them, the mistreated masses know where local law is owned, bought, sold, and delivered. And by whom -- they know which party is mad after Reagan and Nixon. And that state and local voter i.d. laws were designed as minority and senior exclusion laws. Go get 'em, I sez. Start with Trump and the Tea GOP.
45
Great piece. Perfectly thought out and articulated. Should become the centerpiece of talking points for Dem's voter recruitment across the USA!
1
Charles is right to fear the only real chance republicans have -voter suppression. The SCOTUS should have a mandatory reconciliation of it's decisions, such as Citizens United and Shelby vs. Holder, where they are required to publically assess the results of their decisions.
The scary part is that even in relatively "blue" NJ there is a hard core that would support Trump even if he was found to be a Satan worshiping, child molester. Amazingly those supporters are not just disenfranchised old working class white male but physicians and lawyers. (Hmmm.... maybe they're the same?)
The unpopularity of the Clintons cannot be overestimated.
The scary part is that even in relatively "blue" NJ there is a hard core that would support Trump even if he was found to be a Satan worshiping, child molester. Amazingly those supporters are not just disenfranchised old working class white male but physicians and lawyers. (Hmmm.... maybe they're the same?)
The unpopularity of the Clintons cannot be overestimated.
7
The sanity of those so obsessed is quite doubtful.
3
All votes, not just the black vote, will be crucial this year. The vote is not just for president, it is for the soul of America.
42
In his "heart of hearts" does Chief Justice Roberts really believe racism is over in America?
24
Paul,
Roberts doesn't care. He's got HIS place at the table of power.
Roberts doesn't care. He's got HIS place at the table of power.
17
We have a deluded Chief Justice. Come on down South, Mr. Chief Justice, and see what's real.
4
History will NOT be kind to the good Justice.
1
What exactly is the unemployment rate in the black community?
What is the black teen unemployment rate in the inner cities?
How is an under-educated black adult or teen supposed to get a job when the precious few that are available go to illegal immigrants or refugees who will take wages under-the-table for $3.00 an hour?
How is the average high school grad with no college going to get a job when all of the factories in the rust belt and the 'black belt' are closing down OR they require an advanced degree ?
How many blacks are being shot during the Obama watch and will it continue under the Clinton watch?
Yes, it certainly will.
The democratic party has sold out black America for their vote.
All of the black wealth that was accumulated under Bill Clinton and Bush has been wiped out by Obama (source: The US Chamber of Commerce).
Wake up black America! It is the Republican Party that was formed in 1850 to make black American full citizens and nothing has changed. We still are the party that best represents blacks in this country.
What is the black teen unemployment rate in the inner cities?
How is an under-educated black adult or teen supposed to get a job when the precious few that are available go to illegal immigrants or refugees who will take wages under-the-table for $3.00 an hour?
How is the average high school grad with no college going to get a job when all of the factories in the rust belt and the 'black belt' are closing down OR they require an advanced degree ?
How many blacks are being shot during the Obama watch and will it continue under the Clinton watch?
Yes, it certainly will.
The democratic party has sold out black America for their vote.
All of the black wealth that was accumulated under Bill Clinton and Bush has been wiped out by Obama (source: The US Chamber of Commerce).
Wake up black America! It is the Republican Party that was formed in 1850 to make black American full citizens and nothing has changed. We still are the party that best represents blacks in this country.
9
This is a joke, right?
39
It's really heartwarming to see the republicans expressing such genuine concern for the lack community now that there's an election coming up.
You can count on that happening every four years like clockwork.
You can count on that happening every four years like clockwork.
19
Must be a joke! Does not make sense any other way. not very funny though.
1
From your lips to God's sweet ear, Charles Blow - may there be a run on ouija boards among the shattered Republicans in November.
22
It is noted how much improved the lives of black Americans have become under several democratic administrations, including the present one.
Oh. My mistake.
Oh. My mistake.
8
It is also noted how much the lives of white Americans have improved under several Republican Administrations.
Oh, now that is my mistake.
Oh, now that is my mistake.
35
Willard,
It is not only 'black' lives that have improved over the last 7 1/2 years. It is all Americans who have improved their lot.
Under Bush, the last republican to hold the Presidency, caused Americans to loose 600,000 jobs a month when he slithered from office.
Of course, to you 'republicans', nothing President Obama does is 'fast' enough to fix the economy Bush burned to the ground.....
It is not only 'black' lives that have improved over the last 7 1/2 years. It is all Americans who have improved their lot.
Under Bush, the last republican to hold the Presidency, caused Americans to loose 600,000 jobs a month when he slithered from office.
Of course, to you 'republicans', nothing President Obama does is 'fast' enough to fix the economy Bush burned to the ground.....
20
Exactly! The elite who own this country, who own the major political parties and thereby their candidates, have worked non-stop to render popular voting completely superfluous to their plans. It matters not who is elected among their chosen lackeys, their agenda advances continuously to the detriment of the rest of us. Sobering and depressing, yes. Changing anytime soon? Not likely.
Regarding the statement that there are African Americans who might vote for David Duke. Is is possible that they are being bribed to say and do that?
6
When a large part of our city (Cincinnati)'s Black population still consisted of migrants from the Deep South, you would hear older people telling of the time they ran into George Wallace in a public building and, "He reached in his pocket and gave me a dollar!"
4
There is no doubt that the current Republican party's trajectory will soon render it irrelevant. That is good news. It is long past time when one of the two main governing parties of these United States shed the views of an ignorant history (not just the racism, homophobia, and misogyny but also the rejection of modern science)
As Thomas Friedman has stated, however, we need a center-right voice in national policy debates. Looking forward beyond the ashes of the current Republican party, the Democrats could divide along a center-right and a center-left axis to provide meaningful debate on issues of national importance. And most importantly after such debate be able to reach a consensus and actually govern.
One party rule is not the answer. Neither is the current Republican party.
.
As Thomas Friedman has stated, however, we need a center-right voice in national policy debates. Looking forward beyond the ashes of the current Republican party, the Democrats could divide along a center-right and a center-left axis to provide meaningful debate on issues of national importance. And most importantly after such debate be able to reach a consensus and actually govern.
One party rule is not the answer. Neither is the current Republican party.
.
9
Minority voters have a lot of power in this election. It is possible for them to stop Trump. If we have a large African American and Hispanic turnout, Trump will lose.
Now more than ever, the direction of our country is in play.
D to go forward. R to go backwards.
Please vote in November.
Now more than ever, the direction of our country is in play.
D to go forward. R to go backwards.
Please vote in November.
55
When has the GOP since Eisenhower seriously sought black votes?
19
Wouldn't it be smart of the DNC to organize volunteers in those 10 Alabama counties—and other places with similar discriminatory laws—who could drive folks to driver's license offices that were open and help get them their photo IDs? Maybe the DNC could even create a small fund to help prospective voters pay the fees if they couldn't swing it on their own. Such an action would likely create a pool of dedicated blue voters for life (a dedication they would likely pass on to their children).
51
And I hope the ACLU is preparing a lawsuit over such a blatant attempt to disenfranchise black voters.
Chief Justice Roberts and the rest of the majority in that opinion should be ashamed.
Chief Justice Roberts and the rest of the majority in that opinion should be ashamed.
5
It might be wise, but the question is whether it is cost effective. I know it sounds harsh, but it is true, and I am sure someone made a cost-benefit analysis on it.
I'm sure the Republican state governments would find way to make that illegal, especially if the organization was paying the fees related to the IDs.
It is not how people will vote but if will people be allowed to vote. Within minutes of the 4th District’s decision that the NC could not restrict peoples' voting rights the NC Republican dominated local board of election announced that they were proposing to cut in half early voting sites, completely eliminate Sunday voting and of course eliminate voting sites at NC A&T ( an historical black college). Since this is a Presidential/Governor’s race in NC early voting is imperative to allow all registered voters to vote and the NC Republicans are working overtime, defying the Court's orders to stop people from voting. Shelby County v Holder is a disaster decision and Justice Robert’s naiveté about the South, “Things have changed dramatically” has just embolden Republicans to stop people from voting.
48
Cold calculation, not naïveté.
11
We can only hope Dumb Donald sinks the republicans with him.
19
Women of all races represent 53% of voters. This is another important demographic that universally despises Trump. The uncharacteristic votes of white, Republican women for Hillary Clinton may help push some Southern states blue.
13
I think many women support Clinton, but he is not universally despised by us, more's the pity. Check out his rallies.
2
What I get from many of these comments is that there a still a significant number of white people who think racism is manufactured by Democrats and doesn't exist in reality. They claim they don't understand why Blacks vote for Democrats and point out ways the Democratic Party has failed them. Even if that's true, why would anyone Black vote for the GOP, which is the most anti-Black group in the country with the exception of the KKK? When your solution to Black problems is to "pull yourself up by the bootstraps" while you're redlining and voter suppressing, you're not going to get many converts to the other side of the aisle.
63
Racism is a preference to exercise across all races. We can argue that people don't prefer to be with "their own" until the end of time. But this social truth is apparent. Diversity is not a goal- that's the illusion created by the liberal post-modernists. It is a condition to be dealt with out of necessity. Diversity needs to be coordinated in a positive fashion- but racial diversity itself is not a goal.
The question is, will African-Americans get to the polls & vote?
15
not if GOP leaders can help it!
7
There is little doubt that Hillary Clinton will be our next president, only because the Republican candidate is Donald Trump. However, given the unpopularity of Clinton at this point, one can only imagine that after four years of watching and listening to her, very few would want her around for another four years. The Republican party may appear to be " dead and buried " in November but like Jesus Christ, they will certainly rise again.
3
So true. People said after the last two elections that the Republican national party was dead. See what damage the Republican Congress People have done.
Nothing.
Nothing.
It's certainly good for the Democratic party that they get such overwhelming support from the black community.
The question I would have, though, is how is this arrangement of only supporting one political party working out for the black community? Is their standard of living going up? Their quality of life? Their job and educational opportunities?
Blow makes no effort to address that. I wonder why?
The question I would have, though, is how is this arrangement of only supporting one political party working out for the black community? Is their standard of living going up? Their quality of life? Their job and educational opportunities?
Blow makes no effort to address that. I wonder why?
12
Yes!
When there are no consequences delivered to Democrats for failing to deliver prosperity in any fashion to your clients/voters, why would any Republican seriously consider trying to sway them as voters?
When there are no consequences delivered to Democrats for failing to deliver prosperity in any fashion to your clients/voters, why would any Republican seriously consider trying to sway them as voters?
1
It's a false argument to suggest that the standard of living hasn't gone up under Obama, for any group. We must not forget that the economy was deep in a ditch in 2008. If a republican was at the helm from then onward, we wouldn't be talking about a weak recovery -- we'd be talking about a deep depression and looming class warfare (dare I say, Civil War?).
Yes, the standard of living of the black community is going up, relative to the alternatives available in the past 8 years.
You can use this argument going forwards, too. Will the economy work miracles under Clinton? Probably not, but under Trump, we'll go back to that ditch and worse.
Yes, the standard of living of the black community is going up, relative to the alternatives available in the past 8 years.
You can use this argument going forwards, too. Will the economy work miracles under Clinton? Probably not, but under Trump, we'll go back to that ditch and worse.
9
Nate Silver stated an 8 pt. Hillary victory could mean 30 House Seats for the Democrats. 12 of those House Seats could come from the South. My question to Nate was: What if Hillary wins by 10 pts, 55-45? How many House Seats does that extrapolate to?
1
Dream on Ernest, Hillary is NEVER going to get a 10 point Victory. She will be really lucky with all her problems (and more emails are about to be released, probably in October) if she actually wins by .5 points.
3
It was just a question to Nate. Not a prediction. "More emails" VS Trumps taxes?
3
After the Trump defeat, the GOP will learn nothing, if history is any guide. It will say to itself that the reason Trump lost is because he wasn't "CONSERVATIVE" ENOUGH!
Bet the rent.
Bet the rent.
35
Neither party works very hard to recruit southern blacks because their numbers are too small to swing any Black Belt state from one party to the other. Obama's spending in the Black Belt was minimal, and Romney spent little more. Moreover effective spending is expensive because Black Belt blacks are split between the urban and the rural. As long as Southern blacks lack political leverage, they will continue to be on the outside, looking in.
3
Dead and buried? Indeed. And good riddance to bad trash I say. Because whatever that party is it is NOT the party of Lincoln, much less a party that evinces true conservative principles and sensibilities. But the surviving party shouldn't be too quick to giggle over this. Ours is a two-party system. We need both partners to be robust if the body politic of our country is to remain healthy. Right now we've a state where one party is healthy, though having it's own radical fringe issues, and the other party is a zombie. From where I sit this ain't a recipe for enlightened political action that will insure the common good. It's more an "every citizen save themselves" untenable situation that cannot last...
6
"The more black voters Clinton gets, the fewer white ones she needs."
Wow. What a divisive statement.
You forget to mention that the Clintons and democrats (including the first black president) have repeatedly betrayed the black community once they got into power and had the chance to significantly improve black lives.
It will take 50 years to recover from the Clinton Crime Bill which devastated the black community. And poor black women and children suffered a historic slap in the face with the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill, also a Clinton achievement. The current democratic presidential candidate was a strong supporter of both legislations.
The black establishment leaders, including Mr.Bow, have done a lousy job holding the democrats' feet to the fire and I have little doubt that that will continue under the first 'democratic' American oligarch, Hillary Clinton.
Why should African-Americans in the South vote democrat when their school are as segregated today as they were before Brown v. Board of Education.
How did Obama's Race to the Top education program work out for Mississippi ? They got 0, that's right, zero, and the rich Boston schools got millions. Obama's push for Charter Schools hasn't helped either.
I must have missed it when Mr.Obama changed the sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine, that disproportionately affect African-Americans or took a stand against the local jails/prisons in the South that routinely violate civil rights of black Americans.
SAD.
Wow. What a divisive statement.
You forget to mention that the Clintons and democrats (including the first black president) have repeatedly betrayed the black community once they got into power and had the chance to significantly improve black lives.
It will take 50 years to recover from the Clinton Crime Bill which devastated the black community. And poor black women and children suffered a historic slap in the face with the passage of the Welfare Reform Bill, also a Clinton achievement. The current democratic presidential candidate was a strong supporter of both legislations.
The black establishment leaders, including Mr.Bow, have done a lousy job holding the democrats' feet to the fire and I have little doubt that that will continue under the first 'democratic' American oligarch, Hillary Clinton.
Why should African-Americans in the South vote democrat when their school are as segregated today as they were before Brown v. Board of Education.
How did Obama's Race to the Top education program work out for Mississippi ? They got 0, that's right, zero, and the rich Boston schools got millions. Obama's push for Charter Schools hasn't helped either.
I must have missed it when Mr.Obama changed the sentencing guidelines for crack cocaine, that disproportionately affect African-Americans or took a stand against the local jails/prisons in the South that routinely violate civil rights of black Americans.
SAD.
24
And yet they will line up around the block to vote 95% for the Democratis party...
7
.....because the alternative is so bad.
5
Wow! a real Jesse Owens moment!
5
The reason that 14% of blacks vote for Duke is this. Duke purports, these days at least, to be a racial 'separatist'. Racial separatists, in theory if not in practise, don't explicitly support racial supremacy but rather the separation and separate development of the so-called 'races', the last a moot concept in itself.
A significant proportion of blacks in America have always supported the concept of separate development for blacks from whites because they genuinely believe that whites wil never give blacks a fair go.
I wonder why that is?
A significant proportion of blacks in America have always supported the concept of separate development for blacks from whites because they genuinely believe that whites wil never give blacks a fair go.
I wonder why that is?
8
Today Duke mostly targets Jews with his hateful rhetoric.
3
>>>>
This is just more cheap and false optimism.
The GOP controls the Senate, the House, most of the Governorships, State Assemblies and local gov't. They have nominated an insane person, and at least 40% will still vote for him.
"Those who indict a pessimist of either pathology or intellectual recalcitrance are only faking their competence to explain what cannot be explained: the mystery of why individuals are the way they are".
Ligotti
This is just more cheap and false optimism.
The GOP controls the Senate, the House, most of the Governorships, State Assemblies and local gov't. They have nominated an insane person, and at least 40% will still vote for him.
"Those who indict a pessimist of either pathology or intellectual recalcitrance are only faking their competence to explain what cannot be explained: the mystery of why individuals are the way they are".
Ligotti
5
Being a lifetime New Yorker (the state, not the City), except for a brief stint in Florida (much of which is actually an annex of the northeast), I've always been fearful of the deep south. But have tried to overcome that bias, i.e., it's not Jim Crow anymore, folks are more educated, there are beautiful places in the South with perfectly normal people and there's nothing to be afraid of. That racist and extremist politics are disappearing even from places like Alabama. Ha!
7
nothing to be afraid of except perhaps a conservative supreme court.
9
This weekend I read articles about South African blacks voting for other parties besides the ANC because of their frustration with corruption & governance. As a result the ANC lost several seats in major cities including some that were overwhelmingly black. It appears South African blacks want results over nostalgia. Makes sense you can't eat nostalgia.
I can't wait until American blacks vote on issues as opposed to race. We might finally have a true democracy, not one where race is the best predictor of how one votes.
I can't wait until American blacks vote on issues as opposed to race. We might finally have a true democracy, not one where race is the best predictor of how one votes.
6
Sounds good. Now just get your confederates to stop emailing pictures of watermelons growing outside the whitehouse and maybe it will happen.
5
Fingers crossed for that Ouija board!
21
“The colored people, despite the continued efforts of white frauds to make fools of them, generally keep their heads and retain their sense of humor.”
This sentence appears in the last newspaper column H.L. Mencken ever wrote. Written in 1948, it was a passionate and funny attack on efforts by Baltimore’s Park Board to prevent blacks and whites from playing tennis together in a public park.
Sixty-eight years later a white fraud by the name of Donald Trump is again attempting to make fools out of black people. It doesn’t appear that he is having any more success than the white frauds did in 1948.
This sentence appears in the last newspaper column H.L. Mencken ever wrote. Written in 1948, it was a passionate and funny attack on efforts by Baltimore’s Park Board to prevent blacks and whites from playing tennis together in a public park.
Sixty-eight years later a white fraud by the name of Donald Trump is again attempting to make fools out of black people. It doesn’t appear that he is having any more success than the white frauds did in 1948.
471
Let's hope all voters keep the potential power of the Supreme Court in mind.
Thanks Mr. Blow for reminding us of the Supreme Court's decisions regarding voter ID. And let us keep in mind how some states have tried to demolish the power of voting by changing voter ID laws and other discriminatory laws already. If the country would put Donald Trump at the helm, we fear for any sense of racial rights. His Supreme Court nominees, and there may be a number of them, would surely keep up the Republican momentum, discrimination. Look how far the Republicans in the states have already come in trying to demolish citizen rights - the very basic right - voting.
And no, Republicans, it has nothing to do with voter fraud.
Thanks Mr. Blow for reminding us of the Supreme Court's decisions regarding voter ID. And let us keep in mind how some states have tried to demolish the power of voting by changing voter ID laws and other discriminatory laws already. If the country would put Donald Trump at the helm, we fear for any sense of racial rights. His Supreme Court nominees, and there may be a number of them, would surely keep up the Republican momentum, discrimination. Look how far the Republicans in the states have already come in trying to demolish citizen rights - the very basic right - voting.
And no, Republicans, it has nothing to do with voter fraud.
447
Need an ID to cash a check, but that awesome civic responsibility that makes our Republic successful? No ID necessary...
4
Isn't it interesting then, ND, that Republicans are SO careful to restrict the types of ID that can be used to vote?
It isn't as simple as "an ID to cash a check" and if you were paying attention to anything other than Republican dog whistles, you would know this.
It isn't as simple as "an ID to cash a check" and if you were paying attention to anything other than Republican dog whistles, you would know this.
7
Sorry, MIMA, but it's not quite so simple. It's not the Supreme Court justices on the left who champion racial nondiscrimination. With the exception of Justice Kennedy (who had always voted against race discrimination in public university admissions and public contracting, yet recently switched sides on the issue in Fisher v. University of Texas), it is the so called conservatives on the Court who maintain that governmental institutions like public universities should adhere to the command of nondiscrimination against any person. It is Justices on the left like Ruth Bader Ginsburg who think it's wonderful when tenured academics behind closed doors at public universities engage in racial discrimination - so long as they discriminate against members of the correct races and ethnicities.
1
Its about time for Vice President Joe Biden to bring back his quote from 8/14/12,where he tells an African-American audience GOP ticket would put them "back in chains". As Roger Simon wrote,"The Democratic Party relies on the perceived reality of racism for the identity politics on which it feeds. Racism is the lifeline of the Democrats. Votes lie there."
6
Legislation to restrict access for African-Americans to vote ("with surgical precision", as in North Carolina) is not "perceived reality." It is reality. Racism in the good,ol' USA is reality.
24
You might find these two maps interesting.
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/10/opinion/20101210_Disunion_...
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/25/us/efforts-to-change-votin...
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/12/10/opinion/20101210_Disunion_...
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/07/25/us/efforts-to-change-votin...
2
denial of the vote - poverty - destruction of education & opportunity - sounds like chains to me!
7
To paraphrase from the editorial:
The Republican Party’s 2012 autopsy report said: “Public perception of the Party is at record lows...We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too...But it is not just tone that counts. Policy always matters.”
And there, folks, lies the proverbial fly in the proposed Republican ointment: "It's not just "tone" that counts. "Policy" always matters."
Whether they'll admit it or not, "compassion" and "empathy" are dirty words in refined Republican circles. When have we seen any Republican policy that benefits black and minority populations? We haven't. In fact, the Republican party has done quite the opposite. Their idea of a perfect America is one that takes laissez faire (aka "deregulation") and privatization to their practical extremes, often resulting in economic instability and chaos.
What does this bedrock of Republican policy mean for you and me? In practical terms, the answer is simple: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For starters, they would privatize Social Security and Medicare, arguing that private industry is best equipped to manage these programs.
The bottom line is that Republicans traditionally embrace a philosophical style that can best be described as a "survival of the fittest", or "every man for himself" type of mentality. In other words, folks, it's pure "Trumpism": A big, fat ZERO on the Empathy scale...Then there's the Voting Rights Act.
The Republican Party’s 2012 autopsy report said: “Public perception of the Party is at record lows...We need to campaign among Hispanic, black, Asian, and gay Americans and demonstrate we care about them, too...But it is not just tone that counts. Policy always matters.”
And there, folks, lies the proverbial fly in the proposed Republican ointment: "It's not just "tone" that counts. "Policy" always matters."
Whether they'll admit it or not, "compassion" and "empathy" are dirty words in refined Republican circles. When have we seen any Republican policy that benefits black and minority populations? We haven't. In fact, the Republican party has done quite the opposite. Their idea of a perfect America is one that takes laissez faire (aka "deregulation") and privatization to their practical extremes, often resulting in economic instability and chaos.
What does this bedrock of Republican policy mean for you and me? In practical terms, the answer is simple: The rich get richer and the poor get poorer. For starters, they would privatize Social Security and Medicare, arguing that private industry is best equipped to manage these programs.
The bottom line is that Republicans traditionally embrace a philosophical style that can best be described as a "survival of the fittest", or "every man for himself" type of mentality. In other words, folks, it's pure "Trumpism": A big, fat ZERO on the Empathy scale...Then there's the Voting Rights Act.
86
The data changes significantly if you make it black & Hispanic demographics and then you add several more states like Texas with 38% Hispanic and 11% black. Baseline Democratic white vote in these states turns everything blue when you get 80% minority vote including Asians. Thusly, with Trump hating all minority voters the chances are that the ole South will be the new Democrstic block and the GOP disappears completely. Just if you loose Georgia and Texas and take away 50 electoral college votes the GOP disasters is fatal.
12
Oh, to see all those Southern Red states turn Blue would be like seeing the long arc of justice moving toward its destination. I hope that every black American gets out there and claims her/his rightful place as a full citizen of this country. High time the KKK ate some humble pie. I can't think of anything that would pull those Southern states out of their status as last on the list (in poverty, education, life expectancy, etc) than getting them on board with the more progressive agendas. A shift of power would make the difference.
800
Yes, Cioffoletti, I totally agree with you. As a person of color I hope with all my being that people of color get to the polls in November. As far as the economic state of the South is concerned, it will take more than 25 years to right the "ship of the South."
3
Ever since the 15th Amendment was passed, the entire strategy of the White South has been to suppress the Black vote. Literacy tests, defining "Black crimes" to become felonies, White primaries, racial (pardon me, party) gerrymandering, straight-out voter suppression - these are the varying means used. And then by a 5-4 vote the Supreme Court decided that because the Voting Rights Act had been (temporarily) sufficient to overcome this, it simply had to go.
The message of the GOP is clear - it is the White People's Party. The message of the Democrats must be equally clear - it is the All People's Party.
The message of the GOP is clear - it is the White People's Party. The message of the Democrats must be equally clear - it is the All People's Party.
142
But....I saw Trump boast about "My Black" at an event....
Or was that just his pathetic attempt to pander to those who he views as second class?
Or was that just his pathetic attempt to pander to those who he views as second class?
14
Twenty five percent of Black males between the age of 18 and 25 are unemployed.
Black Lives Matter expresses the despair of the African-American community.
During President Obama's first term he always was the champion of the middle class---never the working class, nor the underclass.
During his first term the only significant civil rights moment was a Rose Garden beer with a white cop from Cambridge and the black Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates falsely profiled as a potential burglar. This outraged the Harvard Law School Graduate President--of the fortunate tenth, to use another Harvard Ph.D terminology, Mr. DuBois.
After 2012 reelection and the 2014 loss of the Senate to the GOP, Obama started to notice stuff like Ferguson, Flint, Income Inequality, excessive Black imprisonment, etc. Barack has the appearance of a brother--but is he really a Bro, or just successful pol, like Bubba Clinton (of Oxford,, U.K, not Miss.)---you know the husband of that feminist icon, Hillary.
Black Lives Matter expresses the despair of the African-American community.
During President Obama's first term he always was the champion of the middle class---never the working class, nor the underclass.
During his first term the only significant civil rights moment was a Rose Garden beer with a white cop from Cambridge and the black Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates falsely profiled as a potential burglar. This outraged the Harvard Law School Graduate President--of the fortunate tenth, to use another Harvard Ph.D terminology, Mr. DuBois.
After 2012 reelection and the 2014 loss of the Senate to the GOP, Obama started to notice stuff like Ferguson, Flint, Income Inequality, excessive Black imprisonment, etc. Barack has the appearance of a brother--but is he really a Bro, or just successful pol, like Bubba Clinton (of Oxford,, U.K, not Miss.)---you know the husband of that feminist icon, Hillary.
8
Ed, the economic plight of young Black males is well stated. But Black people are in a tough spot without a clear path forward for the working class or under class, and the Black middle class also has problems. While a group like Black Lives Matter (BLM) can gain necessary non-Black allies on issues like police shootings of Black people, when it comes to proposing economic aid specifically designed for Black people there is no wide spread support, given the economic problems affecting all Americans. While Trump is certainly not qualified to be President and many of his supporters are racists, they realize that Black people aren't the cause of their economic difficulties. They mostly blame immigrants and foreign nations like China and Japan. And Black groups like BLM don't really deal with those contentious issues and how they affect Black people. Blow's articles reflects the needs of the Black middle class which is to focus on politic turning out the vote for Democrats, and with Trump as a candidate that should be easy. But we need independent groups in the Black community not beholden to the Democratic Party, and these groups can hopefully do a true analysis of how African Americans are also affected by the changed political and economic status of America.
8
Ah, yes. John Roberts. Another gift from the Bushes that keeps on giving.
62
John Roberts is the only treason Obamacare still exists.
For that reason he is hated by republicans too.
Hated by both D's and R's? Sounds like a good judge to me.
For that reason he is hated by republicans too.
Hated by both D's and R's? Sounds like a good judge to me.
1
Mr. Blow,
Setting aside the question of whether Trump could be any worse for the residents of those counties than what Obama and the status quo has delivered over the last eight years - have you clicked on the embedded links in your own article?
For the heck of it, I did.
The eight satellite drivers license offices referenced were closed as part of a total of 31. Also closed were six National Guard armories and five state parks. All closed due to a reduced state budget. Do you really believe that the eight offices were nefariously targeted based on the demographics stated? Or do you think it's possible that they were part of a group of 31 closed because they make up less than 5% of drivers license transactions?
How is a reader supposed to recognize legitimate data and serious arguments when you mix in embellishments like this?
Setting aside the question of whether Trump could be any worse for the residents of those counties than what Obama and the status quo has delivered over the last eight years - have you clicked on the embedded links in your own article?
For the heck of it, I did.
The eight satellite drivers license offices referenced were closed as part of a total of 31. Also closed were six National Guard armories and five state parks. All closed due to a reduced state budget. Do you really believe that the eight offices were nefariously targeted based on the demographics stated? Or do you think it's possible that they were part of a group of 31 closed because they make up less than 5% of drivers license transactions?
How is a reader supposed to recognize legitimate data and serious arguments when you mix in embellishments like this?
14
The is soul-shattering that Trump can win any state at all.
46
The time has come for the Deep South to come out of its GOP white controlled slumber. The Republicans have had a stranglehold there ever since they took over for the "Dixiecrats" and like them, they did nothing to advance conditions for black people. Trump certainly is not their advocate and it is critical that every eligible black voter in these states pulls the lever for Hillary. It would send the message for Southern congressmen that black votes matter.
563
It is not just the blacks, for some strange reason, my "brown" highly educated relatives in the south, have all been voting Republican since the 1970s. For some reason being a Republican became equated with higher education? There's only one nephew in Texas among all these brown superlatives who has rebelled consistently and helped the DNC get out votes for the democrats.
6
Not only must they pull the lever for Hillary, but for every Democrat at the national, state, and local level. Hillary's effectiveness, without a working Congress, could result in the same as Obama's last eight years. So much more could be done with a Democratic Congress as well as Democratic governors and state legislatures.
5
They didn't do very much, if anything, to advance the condition of the majority of whites either, especially poor whites, the very ones who keep voting them into office. I wish every Black and Latino in this country registers and votes. That is the way you take the power out of the hands of chauvinistic whites, and the unbiased whites, like me, will be voting with you. VOTE!
3
Mr. Blow gives me hope for the outcome of a very important presidential election. No - not the one this year which ought to be a blowout (no pun intended). I worry about 2020 when President Clinton could be at risk, running against someone who doesn't carry the baggage of a crazed & craven Mr. Trump and wants to instill some combination of Republican policies including trickle down economics, pandering to the NRA, attacking Planned Parenthood, suppressing the vote, environmental irresponsibility, dog whistle racism, etc. etc.
2020 is a census year that will bring redistricting and the Democratic Party in the states will need to rectify the gerrymandering that has helped deliver the House of Representatives to the GOP in elections since 2010. Durable support not only from African Americans but from every corner of the electorate will be crucial. President Clinton at the top of the ticket may be helpful if she has been able to succeed in her first term, but we have seen terrible and intentional obstruction of President Obama's goals and I fear the worst for Clinton unless her coattails are exceedingly long this time around.
Hopefully President Clinton will earn a second term - not just inherit it but truly earn it - and we can continue to travel the tortured road of progress, not impeded by birthers and the NRA and voter suppression advocates and lobbyists for the super-wealthy still peddling trickle-down insanity.
2020 is a census year that will bring redistricting and the Democratic Party in the states will need to rectify the gerrymandering that has helped deliver the House of Representatives to the GOP in elections since 2010. Durable support not only from African Americans but from every corner of the electorate will be crucial. President Clinton at the top of the ticket may be helpful if she has been able to succeed in her first term, but we have seen terrible and intentional obstruction of President Obama's goals and I fear the worst for Clinton unless her coattails are exceedingly long this time around.
Hopefully President Clinton will earn a second term - not just inherit it but truly earn it - and we can continue to travel the tortured road of progress, not impeded by birthers and the NRA and voter suppression advocates and lobbyists for the super-wealthy still peddling trickle-down insanity.
415
A good point that the present election-year efforts to register voters in these areas needs to continue.
3
quick note:
the 2020 Census will result in a reapportion of the House of Representatives that will be elected in 2022 ...
you are absolutely correct in asserting that state legislatures and executives who are elected immediately before 2021-2 will have enormous influences on two Presidential elections as well as 5 Congressional elections.
well stated.
thank you.
3
We can still dream, can't we?
On Tuesday Trump will bring his dog and pony show to the University of North Carolina at Wilmington campus (where I have taught journalism and graduate studies), courtesy of the college Young Republicans. Rather than join the protestors, I have decided not to give Trump any of the attention he craves. But it will be interesting to see how many Blacks show up, other than the token Blacks likely to be part of his backdrop.
35
Thanks for mentioning disaster Roberts. The election of 2016 for me is about the American court system, which under GOP presidents has become a kangaroo court system, codifying bigotry.
A Democratic victory in 2016 will properly put the Roberts of the world in the dust bin of history.
Hurray!
A Democratic victory in 2016 will properly put the Roberts of the world in the dust bin of history.
Hurray!
101
The party of Lincoln has become the party of David Duke and Donald Trump. Sad, indeed.
LA GOP did object to Duke running as a Republican and said, "...the Party of Lincoln and Reagan is one that recognizes the inherent value of every human life, regardless of age, religion or race. David Duke's history of hate marks a dark stain on Louisiana's past and has no place in our current conversation. The Republican Party of Louisiana will play an active role inopposingg David Duke's candidacy."
It is always amusing when GOP protests too much. To put Reagan, who spun the Welfare Queen story, in a category with Lincoln, however, is not so amusing.
LA GOP did object to Duke running as a Republican and said, "...the Party of Lincoln and Reagan is one that recognizes the inherent value of every human life, regardless of age, religion or race. David Duke's history of hate marks a dark stain on Louisiana's past and has no place in our current conversation. The Republican Party of Louisiana will play an active role inopposingg David Duke's candidacy."
It is always amusing when GOP protests too much. To put Reagan, who spun the Welfare Queen story, in a category with Lincoln, however, is not so amusing.
117
Here in Central PA, in Middletown, we have a mayor who describes himself on a TShirt with the slogan "Democratic Mayor for Trump". He is a tall young handsome lawyer with a Harrisburg practice. On facebook he has posted himself posing with the Trump sons at a rally in Scranton and posted his signed red hat he got at a rally here on the West (white) shore of the Susquehanna River. This Mayor has just engineered some jerrymandering which will result in minority representation being reduced: the elimination of Ward One (See Middletown Press and Journal). Scrolling down I also see he recommends ID be shown by long time voters. This is not required in Pennsylvania and is often "code" for suppression of the minority vote.
199
The GOP can only win by engaging in the shenanigans you note. They can not win in a level playing field, and they know it.
Stay Strong.
VOTE.
Stay Strong.
VOTE.
30
I lived and taught in a GOP haven near Penn State decades ago and racism was preached in every bar. PA, someone said, is 2 cities separated by Alabama. But urban flight has enlarged the city-doughnuts of suffering, while revenues have fallen and safety nets gotten holed. Tea Party and racist-misogynist elements are elected by gun-worshipping, beer-drinking, bible-thumping white majorities in the hinterlands. 2 urban-suburban enclaves vs, GOP outlanders. Obama called it as it is. The Rebel flags are not only in the South. 30 miles from Penn State, they fly. PA's Democrats are uniting against Trump -- to give urbanites, suburbanites, and the rural people faith in a better future for all. As Dems once said in Philly, "Vote early, and often."
8
I assume that Middletown is in York County, PA. I grew up in an inner-ring suburb of the City of York, Spring Garden Township and went to Snob Hill. My Grandmother, may she rest in peace, always said York Countians would vote for the Devil, as long as he had an R behind his name. And I am reminded of what Shakespeare wrote: "The first thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers." And my father, may he rest in peace, was a Harrisburg lawyer! Oh, the tangled web we weave!
3
Rarely does our elective process come down to making the right choice as much as choosing the lesser of two evils. In our last two elections it was clear we took the opportunity and overwhelmingly chose the former
I want to think Ms Clinton is the right choice, but I am nagged by experience which tells me this election, although as clear as glass, is one in which, however obvious, we are again left with choosing the lesser of two evils.
Ms. Clinton certainly stands head and shoulders above Mr trump but she appears to be carrying a lot of baggage.
Louisiana's black voters? Maybe just scared out of their wits. Think I'd be if I lived down there.
I'll vote for her and keep my fingers crossed.
I want to think Ms Clinton is the right choice, but I am nagged by experience which tells me this election, although as clear as glass, is one in which, however obvious, we are again left with choosing the lesser of two evils.
Ms. Clinton certainly stands head and shoulders above Mr trump but she appears to be carrying a lot of baggage.
Louisiana's black voters? Maybe just scared out of their wits. Think I'd be if I lived down there.
I'll vote for her and keep my fingers crossed.
16
You show me one politician who does not have a lot of baggage, and you'll be showing me a rare, if not endangered species. In such a situation, the only chance you have is to select the candidate who is competent, well-versed in foreign and internal affairs, then hope for the best. The whole question of gerrymandering is disgusting, putting those voters at a disadvantage who are minority members who who happen to live in the "wrong" district.
Germans have a reputation for loving red tape. Two weeks before elections, we get a card notifying us of our polling area and the date, and, as to identification, all we need is that notification plus our I.D. card. None of us can understand why your polls demand so many forms.
Germans have a reputation for loving red tape. Two weeks before elections, we get a card notifying us of our polling area and the date, and, as to identification, all we need is that notification plus our I.D. card. None of us can understand why your polls demand so many forms.
20
Like every politician, Clinton has some things in her past that have been problematic. But it is NOTHING like the Republicans and the Bernie-or-Bust crowd would have you think. Clinton, because she is female (yes, that is the reason--read the history back to the 1970s), has been the target of a nasty right-wing agenda. It has been harped on so consistently that now, people don't trust her. And they don't read deeply to find out what's behind it all. Whitewater: no wrong doing. Lewinsky: not HRC's doing. Benghazi: no wrong doing. Iraq vote: she voted for UN inspections, diplomatic measures, and as a last result, force (by what many people say you'd think HRC waged that war all by herself). Emails: no wrong doing. According to the myth, Hillary's a liar. According to Politifact, Hillary's one of the most truthful politicians. May I invite you to read deeply about her in not just mainstream media, but everywhere, and you'll find, as I did, she has been dogged by this stuff for what reason? She's female, strong, chooses to work rather than stay home, speaks out, has a personal power respected around the world (and by not a few Republicans, but they conceal it). I want to start hearing from Dems not that she's only a lesser evil, but that she has a strong, excellent track record.
13
CMD: here in NY state we also receive such cards shortly before each election. We don't even need to show it or any ID at the polling place. We sign next to our official signature (from the registration process); the poll worker compares the signatures; then we vote.
I like it this way. Now we need to introduce early voting and weekend voting so that more working people and those with family responsibilities will find it easier to vote.
I like it this way. Now we need to introduce early voting and weekend voting so that more working people and those with family responsibilities will find it easier to vote.
8
Donald Trump's presence in this campaign makes it sui generis. Any attempt to use the 2016 campaign to make generalizations about the future of political parties is disingenuous. Georgia is an anomaly because of the cosmopolitan nature of Atlanta and its suburbs. Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, have no comparable urban area elites and gave their electoral votes to racist demagogues ,not the major party candidates, in 1948 and 1968. John Roberts insensitivity is not based on a racist mentality or raw homophobia like that of Anton Scalia, it's just oblivious , remember he worked in the Reagan administration where it was "morning again in America" if you were white.
16
I may be the whitest person in the US, but I remember the '80's as a horrible time. It wasn't any morning in America for most Americans. Just the greed is good crowd.
45
@Elizabeth Claiborne - The data puts the lie to your assertion. The Carter malaise and recession that lasted until early 83 was defeated by wise economic policy of the Reagan years. Look it up. By 84 we already had quarters with 7% GDP growth. Reagan won re-election with a 49 state landslide. We're the voters just stupid? I think not.
Pres Obama is likely to be the first modern President to not have even one quarter with 3% growth. Not one quarter. But hey the stock market is zooming so you know the Wall St 1%'ers are doing well.
Get it straight - Reagan had outstanding growth when his program finally took hold about 18 months after taking office, with a Democratic House of Representatives to contend with.
Pres Obama had large democratic majorities in the House AND Senate when he took office. Did he create high growth policies when he could do anything he wanted? NO He set out to pass all sorts of expensive Democratic Party wish list legislation.
As soon as they could, the voters rebuked Pres Obama by making Democrats a very small minority in the House. Then the same in the Senate.
Some people never learn...same as it ever was
Pres Obama is likely to be the first modern President to not have even one quarter with 3% growth. Not one quarter. But hey the stock market is zooming so you know the Wall St 1%'ers are doing well.
Get it straight - Reagan had outstanding growth when his program finally took hold about 18 months after taking office, with a Democratic House of Representatives to contend with.
Pres Obama had large democratic majorities in the House AND Senate when he took office. Did he create high growth policies when he could do anything he wanted? NO He set out to pass all sorts of expensive Democratic Party wish list legislation.
As soon as they could, the voters rebuked Pres Obama by making Democrats a very small minority in the House. Then the same in the Senate.
Some people never learn...same as it ever was
3
@ND The mythologizing of Ronald Reagan by Republican's is just nonsense. 1) He TRIPLED the national debt. 2) He raised taxes ELEVEN times, 3) His admitted violation of the Boland Amendment in the Iran Contra Scandal was a clearly impeachable offense 4) He opposed extension of the Voting Rights Act, making MLK's b-day a national holiday, sanctions against South Africa, and labeled Nelson Mandela a terrorist. 5) he had over 100 of his appointees INDICTED for crimes in office.6) even his friends admit he confused movie roles and REALITY!. Typical Republican distortion of the truth exemplifies their mythologizing of Ronnie Raygun
10
That may be true, but many of the Republican controlled states have worked hard to keep African-Americans from voting by passing restrictive poll tax like laws.
17
Voter restriction is already mentioned in the article.
3
What I don't understand is how blacks support the democratic party. Approximately 80% of the largest cities in the US are controlled by democrats
(Chicago, NY, LA, Baltimore, Detroit, Washington DC, Houston, Dallas, San francisco, etc). In some cases these cities have been controlled by democrats for generations. Why has nothing been done by the democratic leadership of these cities to help blacks in their cities? Democrats have done nothing to help - look at the black murder rate, crime rate, employment rate, poverty rate, jobless rate, and it goes on. It appears that the democrats in these cities are doing nothing to help blacks - why don't blacks open their eyes and see the truth. Your worst enemy is the democratic party.
(Chicago, NY, LA, Baltimore, Detroit, Washington DC, Houston, Dallas, San francisco, etc). In some cases these cities have been controlled by democrats for generations. Why has nothing been done by the democratic leadership of these cities to help blacks in their cities? Democrats have done nothing to help - look at the black murder rate, crime rate, employment rate, poverty rate, jobless rate, and it goes on. It appears that the democrats in these cities are doing nothing to help blacks - why don't blacks open their eyes and see the truth. Your worst enemy is the democratic party.
9
You should come visit New York and see for yourself. Things are not as bad as FOX news says.
20
Try to remember - the Democrats don't burn crosses on black folks lawns. Republicans war on the poor and women disproportionately affects the black population. And Democrats who aren't neoliberal are at least trying.
20
A lot of those problems are caused by educationally disadvantaging people in poor areas. Why don't you distribute funds for education evenly throughout the states, regardless of taxes paid in a given area of a state or a city? That would be a first step towards justice and equal opportunities. See to it that teachers in the poorest schools are as competent as those in schools which the children of the wealthiest attend, don't saddle the poor with the worst teachers.
19
more weirdness - the idea that D.Duke gleans 14 per cent of the black vote.
What black vote? Are they from an insane asylum? Did they know who Duke is? They need to be grilled, questioned, tested for sanity and for low information
issues. Surely this can't be real.
What black vote? Are they from an insane asylum? Did they know who Duke is? They need to be grilled, questioned, tested for sanity and for low information
issues. Surely this can't be real.
13
Every writer wants to land clean, resounding blows! One of the best writer/punchers is a Texas doctor, "Propane Jane," who puts her manuscripts on twitter and into storify. I love her work! Here's some of what she has to say (in 2 parts, w/ a link).
"We live in a country that fights tooth and nail to preserve the myth that only non-Whites benefit from govt services. Understand that every social program in America, be it schools, water regulation, or healthcare, has been hampered by racist selfishness. To pretend that we're going to magically overcome these racist hurdles to implement socialism far and wide in 2016 is preposterous."
"For the umpteenth time, systemic racism is the number one reason why we don't have socialism in America. It ain't the banks or the 1%ers. The conservatives who love Trump weren't hooked by his faux economic populism. They came for the bigotry and oppression like they always do."
"How we as liberals expect to counter that level of animosity by shying away from explicitly discussing and denouncing racism is beyond me. If you aren't starting from the basic premise that deep seated American distrust of government is rooted in racism, you're doing it wrong. I come from a place where White ppl make it no secret that they've hated the Fed ever since Lincoln freed the slaves. Why not believe them?They're also still mad about school integration and affirmative action, and they blame the Fed 100%." (Part two below.)
"We live in a country that fights tooth and nail to preserve the myth that only non-Whites benefit from govt services. Understand that every social program in America, be it schools, water regulation, or healthcare, has been hampered by racist selfishness. To pretend that we're going to magically overcome these racist hurdles to implement socialism far and wide in 2016 is preposterous."
"For the umpteenth time, systemic racism is the number one reason why we don't have socialism in America. It ain't the banks or the 1%ers. The conservatives who love Trump weren't hooked by his faux economic populism. They came for the bigotry and oppression like they always do."
"How we as liberals expect to counter that level of animosity by shying away from explicitly discussing and denouncing racism is beyond me. If you aren't starting from the basic premise that deep seated American distrust of government is rooted in racism, you're doing it wrong. I come from a place where White ppl make it no secret that they've hated the Fed ever since Lincoln freed the slaves. Why not believe them?They're also still mad about school integration and affirmative action, and they blame the Fed 100%." (Part two below.)
52
"They hate/distrust the government precisely bc it took drastic action to improve the lives of Black ppl relative to Whites. This belief system has been the entire basis of the conservative movement for 50 years now, but y'all wanna talk about Wall Street instead? I'm exhausted at the obfuscation. Some of these red states are damn near in 3rd world status because perpetuating Jim Crow is more important than having a functional govt. They couldn't care less about the big banks because they're already convinced that Blacks, Muslims, and Mexicans are their worst enemies. The Flint water crisis didn't happen because of unbridled greed on Wall Street, it happened because of unbridled racism on Main Street."
"You can't explain away *centuries* of race based socioeconomic inequality as merely a symptom of 30 yrs of GOP inspired fiscal policy. They're on the other side of the fence plotting a race war, and we're over here contemplating using our pitchforks on the banksters. This new fascination people have with replacing racist motivations with seemingly less toxic greedy ones is the denial stage of White guilt. It's ok to call the GOP brand of institutionalized racism what it is on its face. Trump proves they aren't hiding it."
"Who's gonna fight for basic human decency and kindness towards the "other" in this election? If you can't fathom why folk are more outraged by racism than capitalism, you haven't experienced racism. Start w/checking your privilege."
"You can't explain away *centuries* of race based socioeconomic inequality as merely a symptom of 30 yrs of GOP inspired fiscal policy. They're on the other side of the fence plotting a race war, and we're over here contemplating using our pitchforks on the banksters. This new fascination people have with replacing racist motivations with seemingly less toxic greedy ones is the denial stage of White guilt. It's ok to call the GOP brand of institutionalized racism what it is on its face. Trump proves they aren't hiding it."
"Who's gonna fight for basic human decency and kindness towards the "other" in this election? If you can't fathom why folk are more outraged by racism than capitalism, you haven't experienced racism. Start w/checking your privilege."
21
A link to reading the entire, unedited work: "Clear and Profound: On Race vs. Class," [https://blackhistory360.wordpress.com/2016/08/07/clear-and-profound-on-r... ]
(After clicking above, scroll down below the header, click the embedded code. It will pop up as a storify slide presentation.)
(After clicking above, scroll down below the header, click the embedded code. It will pop up as a storify slide presentation.)
8
Polls like those conducted by the Atlanta Journal-Constitution are well-timed to exploit Trump’s current self-inflicted difficulties plus the inevitable bounce from Mrs. Clinton’s convention. Trump was never going to attract a majority of black votes in America given the demographics he’s chosen to define as his base; but if he can shut his mouth and stop falling into transparent traps laid by the Clintons, such as Gold-star families condemning him in vicious tirades that summon volcanic eruptions in response, then he’d pull a ton more than 1%.
Those polls suggest otherwise because of their timing. Of course, Trump may NEVER moderate his mouth and his tendency to knee-jerk react to every attack made against him – in a political knife-fight, for heaven’s sake. If that happens, it won’t matter how blacks vote, one way or another, as he’ll be buried by WHITE votes.
If Trump can find enough within his growing campaign treasury to buy a few I.Q. points, he’ll focus his messages, as that 2012 Republican “autopsy report” counselled, on our minority communities, and argue that their salvation lies not in the increased and perpetual dependency that Mrs. Clinton evangelizes, but in the proud self-sufficiency that Republicans urge; and, oh, by the way, this is how he intends to jump-start REAL jobs that will help them get there. If he did this intelligently and persuasively, he’d garner his share of black and Hispanic votes, and tie up a ton of white votes, as well.
Those polls suggest otherwise because of their timing. Of course, Trump may NEVER moderate his mouth and his tendency to knee-jerk react to every attack made against him – in a political knife-fight, for heaven’s sake. If that happens, it won’t matter how blacks vote, one way or another, as he’ll be buried by WHITE votes.
If Trump can find enough within his growing campaign treasury to buy a few I.Q. points, he’ll focus his messages, as that 2012 Republican “autopsy report” counselled, on our minority communities, and argue that their salvation lies not in the increased and perpetual dependency that Mrs. Clinton evangelizes, but in the proud self-sufficiency that Republicans urge; and, oh, by the way, this is how he intends to jump-start REAL jobs that will help them get there. If he did this intelligently and persuasively, he’d garner his share of black and Hispanic votes, and tie up a ton of white votes, as well.
2
The next time you go to a restaurant, please tell the food server that he or she does not have a real job and is also not self-sufficient and dependent on the state.
29
Trump's bizarre, irrational behavior is all Hillary's fault?
18
Kevib:
The next time you go to a restaurant, be sure to tell the food server, provided he or she was born and grew up here, what you advise me to say, as it's clearly what you believe. But I hope whatever you order isn't TOO hot, as you're likely to be wearing it.
This response to a response isn't meant to disparage recently-arrived Guatemalans or Salvadorans, as the advice would be unnecessary -- clearly, they must realize that they AREN'T self-sufficient and ARE dependent on the state for their continued presence.
The next time you go to a restaurant, be sure to tell the food server, provided he or she was born and grew up here, what you advise me to say, as it's clearly what you believe. But I hope whatever you order isn't TOO hot, as you're likely to be wearing it.
This response to a response isn't meant to disparage recently-arrived Guatemalans or Salvadorans, as the advice would be unnecessary -- clearly, they must realize that they AREN'T self-sufficient and ARE dependent on the state for their continued presence.
I dunno, this line "Duke “gets support from 14 percent of black voters", baffles me beyond all measure. But if the African-American vote is what decisively destroys Trump's demented demagoguery, I will feel even more indebted to African-Americans for the rest of my life, and I will even strive to forgive those who support David "KKK" Duke.
55
Duke has name recognition throughout the state. Black voters who aren't recalling the Klan thing may be going with a name they recognize. We don't know how the poll was conducted so any number of things could happen - including whites spoofing the poll.
6
Trust me on this one. The UNOSRC poll should have stated 14 people of color, not 14%. Even that number is suspect.
6
Thanks for the explanations, and I think the number's pretty suspect too... although it's heartening to hear that there are black people in Louisiana who aren't concerned about the KKK. Really it is, not being sarcastic, if that's faded that much, that's terrific. I viscerally recall David Duke primarily as being KKK-related, from the year I graduated High School, when he won the house seat.
So yeah I'm curious to see the results rather than the polls of this Duke run, or rather this Duke crawling out from somewhere nasty to resurface. Here's hoping it's his last campaign.
So yeah I'm curious to see the results rather than the polls of this Duke run, or rather this Duke crawling out from somewhere nasty to resurface. Here's hoping it's his last campaign.
3
Maybe Clinton's gains in those states are not all about the Black vote. Even Whites who have racial attitudes that generally tip them toward the dog whistle party are capable of observing that Trump is not remotely equipped for the job. Even for racists, race isn't the only issue. One can have an animus toward Blacks and still realize global warming is real and an unbalanced President is dangerous.
41
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character."
58
If one couples these facts with a robust get out the vote machine, which the Dems have developed over the past 8 years, it is grim indeed for the Grand Old Race Baiting Party.
But I am disturbed. I do not like this trend. No citizen, left or right, should rejoice at seeing that our political system is tilting toward a black-white divide, or any such tribal divide at all.
We really need to stop this. We really need to not linger here. This way lies very bad national politics.
If I can quote one of the whitest shows on TV ever, The Andy Griffith Show, we need to all of us -- black and white -- be like Barney Fife, and nip this in the bud. We must strive to become better than this. Come on.
But I am disturbed. I do not like this trend. No citizen, left or right, should rejoice at seeing that our political system is tilting toward a black-white divide, or any such tribal divide at all.
We really need to stop this. We really need to not linger here. This way lies very bad national politics.
If I can quote one of the whitest shows on TV ever, The Andy Griffith Show, we need to all of us -- black and white -- be like Barney Fife, and nip this in the bud. We must strive to become better than this. Come on.
7
I agree with you that playing black against white is horrible. But if one party puts all of its chips on the race card - a.k.a. the "Southern Strategy", if one party actively tries to disenfranchise voters with dark skin, how can you expect race not to be an issue in the election?
I hope that Trump will finally kill the GOP so that the nation can move away from race-baiting, fundamentalist Christian policies.
I hope that Trump will finally kill the GOP so that the nation can move away from race-baiting, fundamentalist Christian policies.
37
Come on, Sally. It's not just one party. And, I think you know that.
3
It was the Democratic party that pioneered integrated union membership and state level offices.
1
All that flashy Repub money, and all they have to show for it is a T shirt that says, "I'm with Stupid." But watch out, they're going to have their way with the "down-ticket" votes, for which the t-shirt still says, "I'm with stupid."
27
Mr. Blow,
At some point you will have to become more universalist.
Just as what is good for the Caucasian community may not necessarily be best for the African-American community, so too the inverse.
It is time to start thinking what is best for America and have the citizens (all of them) benefit from fair policies.
If we put aside the race and religion issues to reach for everyone's dream, there is no limit to what can be accomplished.
At some point you will have to become more universalist.
Just as what is good for the Caucasian community may not necessarily be best for the African-American community, so too the inverse.
It is time to start thinking what is best for America and have the citizens (all of them) benefit from fair policies.
If we put aside the race and religion issues to reach for everyone's dream, there is no limit to what can be accomplished.
16
Dr. Sam Rosenblum:
Funny, thing, Doc., the vast majority of white folks have left all of this "universalist" talk oh, over two hundred years too late. The "freedom loving" slave holders who founded the nation thought that identity politics worked out just fine, i.e., whites get to own blacks, define them as only three fifths human, but count black bodies nonetheless for apportionment, that is aggrandizement, of legislative power.
But now that white power via the majority is literally slipping away, NOW all of you want to start "thinking about what's best for America."
Uh. Huh. Start praying that all of those folks of colour are a good deal more merciful, "tolerant," and open to "what's good for America" than you and your fellow whites ever were.
Funny, thing, Doc., the vast majority of white folks have left all of this "universalist" talk oh, over two hundred years too late. The "freedom loving" slave holders who founded the nation thought that identity politics worked out just fine, i.e., whites get to own blacks, define them as only three fifths human, but count black bodies nonetheless for apportionment, that is aggrandizement, of legislative power.
But now that white power via the majority is literally slipping away, NOW all of you want to start "thinking about what's best for America."
Uh. Huh. Start praying that all of those folks of colour are a good deal more merciful, "tolerant," and open to "what's good for America" than you and your fellow whites ever were.
273
African-American equality is not Caucasian suppression. This is not a zero sum game. African-Americans just want to be treated the same.
296
Oh really? Now you want a universal paradigm? After three centuries? No, in my cynical moments I, sometimes, hope that the pompadour wearing carnival barker wins. It would be poetic and karma.
27
The political health of this country requires a two-party system in which ethnicity or religious heritage does not determine whom a voter supports in an election. Issues that divide the electorate along racial or religious lines weaken national unity because disagreements of that kind preclude compromise. Black Americans could not bargain over proposed policies designed to deny them genuine equality of opportunity in the economy or education. Nor would one expect Muslims to identify with a party that sought to use government to harass them as threats to public safety.
The Democrats, of course, benefit politically from competition with a GOP that defines its electoral strategy in terms of an inherent conflict between its constituency of white Christians and the rest of society. But this approach, conceived in the Nixon and Reagan administrations, has contributed to the polarization of American society and thus to the current dysfunctional nature of our political system.
Nixon and Reagan, for all their touted political shrewdness, damaged our sense of community and created an electoral cul de sac for the GOP. As the party's white evangelical base continues to shrink as a percentage of the total electorate, Republican leaders must strip their conservative philosophy of its racial and sectarian overtones or risk consignment to the dust heap of history.
Trump, through the harshness of his ideas, has clarified the choices the party faces. Will Ryan et al see the light?
The Democrats, of course, benefit politically from competition with a GOP that defines its electoral strategy in terms of an inherent conflict between its constituency of white Christians and the rest of society. But this approach, conceived in the Nixon and Reagan administrations, has contributed to the polarization of American society and thus to the current dysfunctional nature of our political system.
Nixon and Reagan, for all their touted political shrewdness, damaged our sense of community and created an electoral cul de sac for the GOP. As the party's white evangelical base continues to shrink as a percentage of the total electorate, Republican leaders must strip their conservative philosophy of its racial and sectarian overtones or risk consignment to the dust heap of history.
Trump, through the harshness of his ideas, has clarified the choices the party faces. Will Ryan et al see the light?
51
Perfectly said: thanks.
James Lee:
Harshness of Trump's ideas? Ryan see the light? Good god y'all! Ryan's public persona is certainly less harsh than Trump's, but his ideas are more harsh. I hope that you and many others in this commentariat will soon stop viewing Ryan as the good Republican.
Harshness of Trump's ideas? Ryan see the light? Good god y'all! Ryan's public persona is certainly less harsh than Trump's, but his ideas are more harsh. I hope that you and many others in this commentariat will soon stop viewing Ryan as the good Republican.
33
"The political health of this country requires a two-party system in which ethnicity or religious heritage does not determine whom a voter supports in an election."
BRAVO!
Else we descend into tribalism.
BRAVO!
Else we descend into tribalism.
2
As long as voters are defined by race or gender, it does not matter who wins.
The UNITED States has lost.
The UNITED States has lost.
30
I have a dream. A dream to see Trump lose by 20% or more nationwide.
687
Mike Marks, if he doesn't lose by 40% or more, I fear that the next four years will make the past 7 years of congressional paralysis and hate-mongering look like a cakewalk.
2
Have faith in America and our values and make it 50% or more and work hard to make it happen, do not just dream.
Donate, register voters, and on election day drive people to the polls even in places where Hillary is ahead by 10% if you want to get to your 20% or even better to 50%.
Donate, register voters, and on election day drive people to the polls even in places where Hillary is ahead by 10% if you want to get to your 20% or even better to 50%.
7
Come on, live a little. 80% would be much better!
2
Re David Duke in Louisiana: polling results are not the same thing as support.
3
Who knows when the GOP will have any hopes with blacks or Hispanics again. If 2012 was a sign, 2016 is a megaphone on the ears of minorities to stay away.
31
I am sickened this morning by here that a Bush scion, the son of Jeb Bush and his Mexican wife, has decided to support Trump... is this true? I saw it trending on facebook just now.
9
That is correct, Boomer, George P. Bush (or "the little brown one(s)" as his grandfather affectionately referred to GPB and his siblings) has announced his endorsement of the Republican nominee.
I never dreamed I would admit to finding anything praiseworthy in Ted Cruz, but for this brief period in time I have more respect for Ted Cruz than for this Bush sprout.
I never dreamed I would admit to finding anything praiseworthy in Ted Cruz, but for this brief period in time I have more respect for Ted Cruz than for this Bush sprout.
4
I don't know what's in the Louisiana air but if this poll is accurate--that 14% of the African-American voters would pull a lever for Donald Duke--well, they would get the government or the representation in Washington that they deserve. Duke will win Louisiana anyway but a protest vote of "no" is, to me, more honorable than grovelling on the ground while getting flogged.
Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Deep South was a citadel of white privilege that no one with any sense ever thought would come under anything like a threat to its way of life. Nothing has changed in half a century unless it's the continuing crusade of the David Dukes in other states to suppress, limit or eliminate outright black people's voting franchise. What's changed?
In spite of President Obama's two terms in office, America is every bit as polarized racially as it was before Brown v. Topeka (1954). I'm not fooled by the thin veneer of civility that is distinctly American: the forced smile in your face that becomes the snarling sneer behind your back. Why so pessimistic one might ask? Well, take a look at the Times's video of respondents from Donald Trump's campaign trail that ran a week ago. It's still up if you want to look at it.
When the Supreme Court's chief justice declares that America is the land of racial harmony and checks and balances are foolish guards upon the civil rights of others, well, Trump is the weed that grows in such gardens.
He's proof that we have not come very far.
Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Deep South was a citadel of white privilege that no one with any sense ever thought would come under anything like a threat to its way of life. Nothing has changed in half a century unless it's the continuing crusade of the David Dukes in other states to suppress, limit or eliminate outright black people's voting franchise. What's changed?
In spite of President Obama's two terms in office, America is every bit as polarized racially as it was before Brown v. Topeka (1954). I'm not fooled by the thin veneer of civility that is distinctly American: the forced smile in your face that becomes the snarling sneer behind your back. Why so pessimistic one might ask? Well, take a look at the Times's video of respondents from Donald Trump's campaign trail that ran a week ago. It's still up if you want to look at it.
When the Supreme Court's chief justice declares that America is the land of racial harmony and checks and balances are foolish guards upon the civil rights of others, well, Trump is the weed that grows in such gardens.
He's proof that we have not come very far.
376
"Before the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the Deep South was a citadel of white privilege that no one with any sense ever thought would come under anything like a threat to its way of life. Nothing has changed in half a century ..."
~ NYT commenter "soxared040713" (IL)
"When people tell me nothing has changed, I say come walk in my shoes and I will show you change."
~ Rep. John Lewis (GA, and my congressman, by the way)
I often read and appreciate your NYT comments, sir: your full-throated support of President Obama always does me good. But your ill-advised response this morning to Blow's column dishonors all who worked, sweated, suffered, and died during the Civil Rights Era, to bring about the very real change that you here deny, merely for the sake of a rhetorical flourish.
Moving forward, you may wish to consider issuing a caveat of some sort — maybe, "I know comparatively little about the South, mind you, but ..." or "Not that I have much (any?) firsthand experience of the South, but ..." or "It's a weakness of mine to sound superior when it comes to the Deep South, so I hope you'll forgive me ..." — whenever you're making another pronouncement about a region of the country that's easy to caricature, harder to truly understand.
~ NYT commenter "soxared040713" (IL)
"When people tell me nothing has changed, I say come walk in my shoes and I will show you change."
~ Rep. John Lewis (GA, and my congressman, by the way)
I often read and appreciate your NYT comments, sir: your full-throated support of President Obama always does me good. But your ill-advised response this morning to Blow's column dishonors all who worked, sweated, suffered, and died during the Civil Rights Era, to bring about the very real change that you here deny, merely for the sake of a rhetorical flourish.
Moving forward, you may wish to consider issuing a caveat of some sort — maybe, "I know comparatively little about the South, mind you, but ..." or "Not that I have much (any?) firsthand experience of the South, but ..." or "It's a weakness of mine to sound superior when it comes to the Deep South, so I hope you'll forgive me ..." — whenever you're making another pronouncement about a region of the country that's easy to caricature, harder to truly understand.
13
Having lived twice in the South and in different decades, I can attest that Sox's comments are more accurate than not. And that whenever an individual of southern background or sympathy makes a comment like the congressman's, I always take that with a grain of salt. There are always the photo-op ready southern vignettes ready to go at a moment's notice and these are almost always thinly veneered and heavily arranged.
Why do you suppose it is that it is mostly the states of the deep south that are working vigorously to disenfranchise minority voters? Pointing to other examples (WI, KS) only avoids the question, it does not provide an answer as to why it is that we are again disgusted with the behavior of the southern tier.
Why do you suppose it is that it is mostly the states of the deep south that are working vigorously to disenfranchise minority voters? Pointing to other examples (WI, KS) only avoids the question, it does not provide an answer as to why it is that we are again disgusted with the behavior of the southern tier.
3
We can only hope, Mr. Blow. As an old white guy of Southern heritage who would never dream of living in any of the states on your list, my dream is that the KKKleptomaniacs, despite all their voter suppression tactics and the Putin hack the voting machine campaign, will get their comeuppance, and end in the swamp of history. We who view ourselves as progressive (many of us once moderate Republicans, to be honest), view demographic change as, ultimately, the great equalizer. But that requires that we prevent the Armageddon that putting Combover Littlehands in the White House would conjure.
Come November, we must do at the ballot box what we do in these comments and your editorials. We must vote. En masse. We must do all we can to get those of like mind to the polls. Cajole them, drive them, put stamps on their mail-in ballots. Whatever it takes. Because if we do not, WE will have been the architects of of our own doom.
Come November, we must do at the ballot box what we do in these comments and your editorials. We must vote. En masse. We must do all we can to get those of like mind to the polls. Cajole them, drive them, put stamps on their mail-in ballots. Whatever it takes. Because if we do not, WE will have been the architects of of our own doom.
616
The name-calling in politics generally makes me sick but your "Combover Littlehands" had me choking on my breakfast cereal. Brilliant!
23
Amen, Publius, and we have to do it up and down the line, not just in federal elections.
8
exactly - -
thank you for re-stating what is required to stop DJT.
HRC needs to engage the Senator Sanders supporters,
reignite the still-too-squishy dem voters,
and convince a majority of the non-affiliated that she is actually listening to them.
if the President Obama coalition can return in numbers in November,
there may be a House District or two in the Black Belt that will be reversed from red to blue.
2
This is true for the presidential elections, but the Republicans have ensured their control of the Congress through gerrymandering and consolidating as many black and minority voters in as fewer districts as possible.
133
Perhaps we as a nation are lurching toward a "more perfect union." With Supreme Court's "Shelby County vs Holder," Republican neo-Jim Crowism is exposed, and Donald Trump's lunatic hoards are self identifying as a cohort the ugly underside of the Republican's "southern strategy" for people of good will to see and abhor. Perhaps this election cycle will truly mark the turning point when a new Republican party will finally confront the painful truth that has attracted the least empathetic among us, the racists among us, the xenophobes among us, the willfully ignorant among us. It's taken over 40 years for the Republican party to finally, irrevocably, and wholly repudiate its Lincoln legacy, and perhaps now, in this election cycle, true reform, by necessity, will occur.
65
Trump has coalesced the force of ultra-right nationalists in America. By throwing a match on this dry tinder, Trump has started a fire and it will burn through its course. Trump may be defeated in November but his movement will not disappear. Instead of seeing GOP reforming, I see the splintering of GOP into two: a center-right conservative establishment party and an ultra-right nationalist party. Given the number of Trump's supporters, I will estimate this nationalist party to have about 30% of the population. While it can't win presidential elections, it will have negative influences on local and national politics for years to come. I hope that I am wrong but this is another likely future that liberal should be aware of and ready for.
19
Thank goodness the African American community sees Trump for exactly what he is - an unhinged racist con man. I believe no other ethnic or racial group is so consistently against Trump - though they should be!! I am also hopeful that he will alienate (and Ms Clinton will attract) enough principled conservative "soccer moms" who find him abhorrent to possibly carry a few southern states.
148
Mr. Blow makes perfect sense except for the one datum that he cannot explain: 14% of black Louisiana voters supporting David Duke. "Somebody drank all that magnolia wine" is not an explanation.
Voters are quirky and at times unpredictable. While Mr. Blow is perfectly logical, the question is whether the black voter will follow Mr Blow's logic.
Voters are quirky and at times unpredictable. While Mr. Blow is perfectly logical, the question is whether the black voter will follow Mr Blow's logic.
10
How could David Duke get support from 14% of the black voters ? Mind boggling.
58
Yeah, that's crazy
6
White people spoofing the poll would do it. Racist whites are feeling rebellious.
10
The same reason the majority of the votes went to the candidate who made $28 million in 2014, receives large political donations from corporations which harm the average American and is a neo-liberal who enthusiastically supports the status quo of misery for the South. Just like the Republican base, it is the lack of education, not Magnolia wine, which forces the status quo on the rest of us for the last 30 years.
1