Does America Need to Depolarize its Black Democrats?
Does America Need to Depolarize its Black Democrats?
By Pete Lorins
America has been the leader of the free World for a while now, and but for the struggles of its
Black Citizens particularly during the Civil Rights movement, truths about equality in life,
or concerning liberty and property ownership that are now held as self-evident, might have still
been even more elusive.
Today, most Black Americans vote for the Democractic/Liberal candidates. But does that give the Democratic Party a free pass, and an easy and default win of the Black vote, and if so, does it give them less of a reason to perform in office particulary in regards to issues that affect people of color and mostly Black Americans?
Another issue with the polarization of Blacks to the Democratic party is that it, unnecessarily,
creates an "US" against "them" mindset between the majority of Democratic Blacks and Conservative Whites, when often there are really no substantial differences between them and more often than not many of the existing differences are regarding form than substance.
The polarization of Blacks to the Democratic Party paint Blacks as a group of people who are
generally liberal (non-conservative), who will try anything and expect a hand-out and actually
do get a hand-out. Moreover, Blacks are painted as people that rely on the Democratic party to
do whatever it takes to maintain such hand-outs and be robbed of their dignity and pride to
strive for self-sufficiency and thrive for the American dream.
Well of course, this is a generalization, but the unemployment rate, education and pay gaps
between the Average Democratic Black person, and the average Republican Black/ White person are rather more perplexing and demand an objective analysis. As a long time Independent (politically), it begged my attention via the following question: Would depolarizing Blacks help America? Should more Indepedent Blacks like myself become even more conservative to truly bring Republicans to the middle?
Would depolarizing Blacks help America?
The laws of the universe are based on principles of EQUILIBRIUM/BALANCE. This even applies to the human body (which is made of eleven balanced organ systems), which can only remain homeostatically-balanced, a term called "homeosynthasis", by keeping a balanced internal environment despite an often chaotic external one. Essentially, Without balance, chaos persists and divide prevails. A case can be made that this is the case with Black Democrats at this time.
Indeed, without Blacks in the picture, we would not have had to think about terms like slavery, the Civil Rights movement, and of course we wouldn't have to think of the paradigm shifts that occurred between the two main parties over time either. Thus, to make this analysis more objective, I will focus on a more modern view of the roles of Blacks in American Politics (i.e., let us focus on the present.) America has always focused itself on having a system of Checks and Balances, a sort of Ying and Yang way of eliminating factions and corruption and to a large extent it has helped America become the leader of the free World. However, as America got bigger and stronger, it became more and more polarized, and eventually it created within itself two sub-Americas: namel a Black America and a White America.
In this American spectrum most of the Blacks tend to associate themselves with the Democratic
party which is viewed as a Black-friendly party and a great percentage of wealthy Whites
tend to associate themselves with the more conservative views of the Republican party. But of course we have the Independents (like yours truly) and the Tea Partiers etc. But the two main parties have become America's Ying and Yang. One party (namely the Democratic Party) is for liberal and progressive views and compassion, while the other party (the Republican one) is for keeping core principles and demand accountability and self-sufficiency, fiscal conservatism and lately even a bit of compassionate conservatism. But of course there are variants among the entire spectrum. Thus, let us focus on the core principles that most folks in these groups hold dear.
Essentially, we have a polarization of Blacks to one party. For analysis' sake, what usually happens when a minority group congregrate (think of the nerds in a cafeteria in grade schools)? Well, they usually get picked on. Accordingly, Blacks have become an easy target for most because by being polarized, Blacks have failed to sufficiently assimiliate and have missed out on many of the core fabrics of industrialism and moral standards that have made this country great.
Who We Know is Usually Worth a Lot More than What You know --
This polarization has induced many Black Americans to remain happy and even stagnant doing what they usualy do and since human beings are creatures of habit, the more things change the more they remain the same. And unbeknownst to them, the income and education gap persist and most importantly the connection gap. Without enough connection with powerful groups even the most creative ideas that are growing in young Black minds remain mostly uncatalyzed and thus unfruitful.
People are people, and when people realize that you have more in common with them ideologically, they automatically feel more comfortable with you. In tough economies, Black Americans and other minority groups then to suffer more because of their already existing income gaps and lack of assimilation both politically and socially.
There is a case to be made. If the Republican party's base is non-Black, then why should they
specifically support Blacks when they get into office when most Blacks did not even vote for
them?
Objective Proposal and Conclusion
A slow and strategic depolarization of Blacks from the Democratic Party to the Republican party
to about a 50/50 ratio, which would benefit America both in the short run and in the long run as it will not only give both parties a reason to support Black Americans, but also no matter which party is elected, Black Americans and other minorities would feel that they have nothing to fear as we are truly one American, One Natin, Under God with Liberty and Justic for All.
Until the latter happens, we will continue to have a divided and unequal America. Why? You cannot mathematically/statistically, financially and probabilistically divide two groups, yet expect them to perform similarly under the same conditions either professinally or academically. It is the case of human stupidity and until America fixes that problem it will remain divided. Both parties have a lot to offer. The Republican party provides quite a bit of tough love, and people
need that sometimes, while the Democratic party provides compassion and a bit of socialism and that is needed at times as well. We need both parties to maintain our American Ying-and-Yang, but if we don't depolarize Black Americans, it will only be to the detriment of America, but als more so signficantly so to the detriments of future Black generations.
Black Americans have to demand results from both parties and in order to do that they have to support both parties based on their personal and hopefully logical views and not based on the color of their skin. I am a Black person, yet I am moderately Independent and Conservative in most of my views, while being liberal in a few. Thus, I should feel comfortable to vote for either party. For instance, I don't believe in Abortion (except in cases of rape and incest), and believe it goes against the core of the soul and conscience of a human being. Thus, to someone like me, it is the act of ending either a current or future human life and is not morally right. But, at the same time, I undertand that to those that support abortion will find reasons to support it. Likewise, I posit that both sides should be able to vote based on their views and thus not based on the their party affiliation.
I believe that this is where being judged on the content of a man's or woman's character should start if we decide to look at this as objectively as we humanly can. Dr. MLK Jr. would agree that one cannot sit at the table of brotherhood if one's views are manufactured to sound different even when they are essentially the same, just to benefit one party over another. That my friends is called "brainswashing" and both parties are guility of it.
Thus, if you are a Black person, please do yourself a favor and vote based on your true and logical views and not based on what most Blacks choose or do. Balcks cannot change the sake of most Blacks if they do exactly what most Blacks do. Otherwise, the more things change, the more they will remain the same. Trust me!
Should ou have any concerns about this article, please feel free to contact Pete Lorins at
snirol.consultants@gmail.com or www.LorinsPOST.com or www.snirol.com
