Why Don't Afro-Americans Vote Republican?

Last night at the Calvin Coolidge banquet I had the chance to hear Holyoke Police Chief Anthony Scott speak after receiving the public service award for being the best Republican public official and all around stud. I was almost ashamed to have never heard the man speak in the past and feel like we could all learn something from him.

During his award 'acceptance' speech, he said 'You think It's hard being a Republican in Massachusetts; you should try being a Republican and black in Massachusetts". I know it's not easy. One of my very best friends in college, a guy I very much admire and look up to is also an African American and Republican. He used to joke he was a 'walking contradiction'. He was black, Republican, and possibly the biggest hippie I had ever met in my life. Nothing about him made sense, but he was one of the few people I ever met whom I could seriously deem 'unique'.

I remember my friend being called a 'shoe shining, Uncle Tom N**ger' for being a Republican. I remember his listening to the phone messages people would leave at his house. Shockingly, these messages weren't left by white people. They were left by black people. They despised him because he was different. They despised him because he believed in self-accountability and was courageously outspoken on his feelings regarding affirmative action and other controversial issues.

I'm sure Chief Scott's dealt with this kind of stuff plenty of times himself. We all dealt with it a little, as someone decided to phone in a bomb threat to try and deter us from enjoying our function. "No one has done more for black people than conservatives" the Chief said almost with a tear in the eye. Chiefs don't cry though, but it made me seriously pause for a second and realize how thankful I am for good, honest people. It's folks like Chief Scott that restore faith in humanity. It was certainly a pleasure to hear him speak.

I walked away from the event thinking on the drive home about my friend and about people like Chief Scott. Why don't African Americans flock to folks like that in droves? Why do African Americans vote Democrat when it seems their core values couldn't be further from the Democratic Party's idealogical core?

I hate the concept of hyphenated Americans, and maybe I’ll do an article on that subject one of these days, but for the nonce I will accept the politically correct term in order to focus on more pressing issues. I cannot understand why the African-American community seems incapable of recognizing that the party they perpetually prop up is working at cross purposes to their own interests. Furthermore, given the nearly even split between the parties, it is unquestionable that African-American voters have the power to swing elections to the Republican side should they decide to do so. Let’s examine a few positions taken by the Democratic party that are in direct opposition to the best interests of the African-American community.

Gun Control:

The Democratic Party is the party of gun control. These feel-good policies might sound good, but the actual effect is to disarm law abiding citizens, or turn them into unwitting criminals, while doing absolutely nothing to stop gun violence and crime. Given the disproportionately high crime rates in the urban neighborhoods in which many African Americans live, the need to maintain the ability to defend oneself is self-evident. The police aren’t going to be there until long after the crime has been committed. Since the state has no affirmative duty to come to the defense of the citizenry, disarming average citizens seems to be an all cost and no benefit position. The inability to defend oneself, particularly in high crime neighborhoods, has been actively supported by the Democratic Party. This is contrary to the best interests of the African-American community.

School Choice:

The Democratic Party is beholden to the powerful National Education Association, the lobbying arm of the teacher’s unions. Any effort to reform the education system will have to come from somewhere other than the Democrats. Unfortunately, school choice (i.e. vouchers) is vehemently opposed by the Democratic Party. In fact, any serious effort at real education reform will be opposed. If a good education is the foundation for moving up and out of poverty, the Democrats haven’t delivered it in over two generations. This is hardly beneficial to the African-American community which has a disproportionate share of underperforming schools. The Democratic position is again contrary to the best interests of the African-American community.

Gay Marriage:

As one of the most deeply religious and church centered groups in the nation, the African-American community doesn’t support same-sex marriage. The uproar that occurs when the gay community tries to compare itself to the civil rights struggles of African-Americans and co-opt the moral high ground earned by them supports this conclusion. These two Democratic constituencies have very little common ground beyond the way they vote. Given the inordinately high illegitimacy rate in the African-American community, undermining the institution of marriage certainly isn’t in their interests. Getting back to a more traditional family model would be an enormous benefit to the African-American community, but not if it’s compromised in the way the Democrats seem determined to do.

Social Security Reform:

Given the shorter life expectancy in the African-American community, social security is a total rip-off for them. Nearly every dollar earned by African-Americans is subject to the FICA tax, and the wealth accumulated during a longer than average working life is forfeited when the earner dies. Having ownership of these savings would allow families to pass on this accumulated wealth to their children, supplying the seed money from which empires are built. Through their fear mongering, the Democrats have managed to gain support for the confiscation of this wealth from the very people from whom it is being expropriated. This is hardly in the interests of the African-American community.

Affirmative Action:

In what can only be the longest running inside joke in the history of mankind, the elites have peddled this monstrosity to the African-American community. On its face it seems like a good idea and a boon to the recipients of this largess. But it is really nothing more than a condescending willingness to concede that African-Americans cannot succeed without the help of their white superiors. It makes a mockery of the concept of equality and runs counter to the ideas of Frederick Douglas and Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. Every African-American success is tainted by this program, and the elites get to take credit for being so enlightened. Undermining the concept of merit and installing a sense of entitlement in its place isn’t in the true interests of the African-American community. The staunchest defenders of affirmative action, and its close cousin, diversity, are the Democrats.

Welfare Reform:

The hyperbolic predictions emanating from the Democratic Party on welfare reform never came to pass. The planets didn’t stop orbiting the sun. In fact, once its success was apparent, the first “Black President” jumped to the front of the parade and claimed credit for the success. This reform was only signed in the eleventh hour by a president whose concern for reelection overwhelmed the virulent protests of his party. That welfare reform disproportionately benefited the African-American community is indisputable; as is the Democrat’s opposition to the reform in the first place. Once again, the Democrats were working against the true best interests of the African-American community.

How can the African-American community continue to support the Democratic Party? It just doesn’t make sense to me. The “War on Poverty” hasn’t delivered on the promise in over forty years. We’ve spent enough money to give every poor person at its inception a nice three bedroom home and a college education to every child in those homes, and where are we at? Affirmative action gets candidates into colleges and jobs that are beyond their abilities, and the subsequent inevitable failures that follow are simply ignored. It’s insanity to keep doing the same things over and over again while expecting a different result every time. Isn’t it time for a change? With folks like Chief Scott laying the groundwork, perhaps one day we'll see it.