Democrats & Minorities

I have often heard that Democrats have abandoned the minority community, that Dems take them for granted, that we have done nothing for them?

How is this true? I truly don't understand it, for a couple of reasons.

One: Dems don't control any branch of government; if minorities are getting screwed, it's the Republicans fault. (with the exception of the 2 years of Clinton and a Dem congress, Clinton fought up-hill battles with a VERY Repub congress for 6 years -- did he get much done for anyone?)

Two: I sort of feel like this is a statement started by a Republican and has gotten repeated so many times that Ds and minorities are starting to believe it.

Three: What have Republicans done lately that benefits minorities? I can't think of anything.


I'm interested in some civil discussion here -- I really am curious to know what have the Dems done that is so bad.

Republican, then vote Democrat."

That pretty much says it all.

Any programs that we have to help minorities were written and voted into law by the Democrats.

The Republicans look at Social Security Retirement as Welfare. Something we pay into all our lives. Then OxyContin Limbaugh sits on his fat, pilonidal cyst ass, and says that when we get Medicare it is really a gift from our government.

Well, I thought a gift was something that was given to you for no charge. Both my parents get Medicare taken out of their Social Security retirement checks monthly for a total of $126.00 per month for both of them. You continue to pay for Medicare even when you retire. They also had enough sense to have a retirement account as well. They also pay monthly for an insurance plan that their company they retired from allows retirees to participate and thank God for that, or all they would have would be Medicare.

The Republican Party, the Democratic Party, and any part of our Government does not give any of us anything. Our taxes pay for their salaries and raises every year. Our taxes pay for any programs that are put into place to help those that live under the poverty level.

If my parents only had their SSR to live on, they would be under the poverty level. However, they were smart enough to figure that one out.

I've always liked that saying, that and another one may congressman used to always say (before he was re-redistricted)

Everybody does better when everybody does better. :)

The repugs always try to oppress minorities, then echoe that dems take them for granted.

Their redistricting has weakened the black vote in N Carolina and many other states. It's a dirty game they play ...Then Columbus OH voter harrasment was repug tactic.... :argh:

I've never heard it said that Democrats have abandoned the minority community.

I hear it all the time! I just read it on DU in the "Anti-choicers will ALWAYS vote republican" thread (which is what prompted me to start this thread). A poster stated:

"We've already screwed many minorities and have begun losing them as dependable constituencies. I guess we can do it with women too and remain permanently as the minority party."


Maybe it's something we only hear in the South? But I hear it repeated often...

..many Dems on DU contended that Democrats were abandoning their base which, according to said DUers, is comprised of a number of different minority groups.

That's a big, big talking point with the GOP right now. They've been trying to convince black voters that the Dems have abandoned them and that the GOP is looking out for their best interests. George Bush has used this term. There are LTTEs in my local paper almost daily saying just this thing. I posted a link to one of last week's LTTEs in general discussion last week.

The GOP wants to take the black vote away from the Democratic party and if we don't fight back they will succeed.

Of course they are trying to convince minorities that dems are abandoning them. That's politics.

Are dems saying that the minority vote is no longer important to them? Are minorities saying they feel abandoned? That's what we need to listen to, not talking heads.

My intention was to point out that the OP stated it as if it were fact, as opposed to a talking point.

I have often heard that Democrats have abandoned the minority community, that Dems take them for granted, that we have done nothing for them?

I interpreted it to mean that he had heard those arguments and yes, I have also heard those arguments quite a bit lately in newspapers, etc. There's a rebuttal to one such LTTE in today's Durham, NC Herald-Sun. The original LTTE was titled "Social Security System unfair to women, blacks." There was another LTTE in the same paper that stated that the Democratic Party has abandoned black voters.

Yes, these are right wing talking points. But they are getting a lot of print lately and if we simply ignore them then we will ultimately lose. At one time the churches were on the side of progressive politics. They were behind such progressive movements as civil rights, child labor laws, women's suffrage, etc. Now they are firmly in the control of the GOP because the GOP doggedly worked on getting the message out that they were the party for Christians.

People can be influenced. That's the purpose of propaganda. If we stand back and let the GOP get this attempt to influence black voters entrenched in the media we will lose.

Tavis Smiley always repeats that stupid line. He's so naive, he doesn't realize he' screwing African Americans every time he says that. What a jackass :hurts:

Blacks ARE the Dem Party!!! They are encouraged and recruited to run for office....The repugs jsut try to buy some of them...makes me :puke:

:kick:

Many blacks have told me that they feel that way. Just because you may not wish it not to be so, does not mean that many blacks don't feel that way!!!!!!!!

in the US to other countries where they will fight wars or administrate corporations. Repukes do.

Nials Ferguson even suggested that the African Americans would be the new 'celts' of this imperial Empire...that is if they didn't want to be overrepresented in the armed forces.

Pretty!

He's a racist plain and simple....you tell me who takes who for granted @#$%^&*(

Here's the list:

so true. But there are hispanic and asian republicans.

There is J.C. Watts.

But, for whatever reason, he refuses to be a member of the Congressional Black Caucus. Why is that?

Heh, I've been giving them credit for that one for about two years longer than I should have, apparently.

So, there are no black Republicans holding elected office in the federal government... That says something.

Just what we need:eyes:

Minorities dont vote republican because they can see the party for what it really is, a catering service to the rich and elite. Democrats have always been for the working man, and many of our greatest working mena and women today are minorities. Repukes are now trying to change their image, but it wont work.

As an African-American, I am really disappointed in the Democratic Party, which is why I recently switched my party affiliation to Independent.

I do believe that Democrats have taken the African-American vote for granted.

All you have to do is look at how Democrats in the U.S. Senate (unfortunately, including Barack Obama) handled the debate over certifying Ohio's electors. I was extremely disappointed that only one Democratic Senator agreed to sign on to Rep. Tubbs-Jones ojection. That was disheartening for me.

Also, look at the DNC Voting Rights Institute. The DNC Voting Rights Institute was established right after the 2000 Florida debacle, supposedly to help educate voters on their rights and responsibilities at the voting booth, and to try to prevent another Florida.

Well, I honestly don't see what use the DNC VRI has been. They should have been all over the place before Nov. 2, 2004, taking legal action where necessary to ensure adequate numbers of voting machines in minority neighborhoods, etc.

Also, I think the Democratic Party should have talked more during the campaign about the fact that the African-American unemployment rate was twice that of the national average. There's a saying that goes "when White America catches a cold, Black America catches the flu." And that's certainly been the case under George Bush.

So, I guess my answer to your question would be that the Democratic Party just hasn't been raising many of these issues that are important to Black America. You are right that the Democrats haven't been in power. But ther's also a thing called being an opposition party. And they've failed to be that.

Sorry to be so long-winded.

You have taken the words right out of my mouth. Thank you my brother.

I'm glad to engage in this dialogue.

You know, the other thing I wanted to say was this:

During the campaign, there was a point when Bush basically said to the African-American community that we were being taken for granted by the Democrats.

I agree with him on that notion. But here's the problem: He never told us what HE could offer us. You don't just tell someone to come over to your team, without telling them what you have to offer them.

Of course, he couldn't answer that question for us, b/c he wasn't offering anything policy-wise, that would benefit us!

I know, life is unfair. But it is the Democrats who continue to support programs such as the Community Reinvestment Act and micro-loans to small businesses that have an actual impact in minority communities. Rethugs hate CRA and make continuous efforts to defang this important work.

A lot of this stuff doesn't generate pictures that look good on the local news or soundbites. I think the Dems need to find a way to show that their actions have an immediate effect on where people can buy homes, making big banks reinvest in their communities and so forth.

It is true that the Rethugs are trying to take away minority voeters from the Dems by emphasizing conservative social issues. But that doesn't mean that the Dems have abandoned their base.

He refused to meet with NAACP, etc.....

My understanding is that the Ohio cetification was orchestrated by the CBC and done exactly the way they wanted. I heard about unemployment rates for minorities repeatedly. The African American woman who headed the VRI was a dynamo. I think some of these things, like voting machines, are much more a local issue and even though we tried national efforts to fix it, it's going to take local change. That's where the Republicans are really winning, they're involved locally. We're going to have to fight them neighborhood by neighborhood. If anything, I would have liked to have seen more conversation about broken neighborhoods and communities and how to rebuild them.

Total voter oppression ...causes fewer congressional seats to be winnable for blacks and dems....

Repugs have IRS attacking NAACP and Black Churches...

yet they can campaign in evangelical churches ...talk about racism!!!! !@#$%^&*(

:argh:

Most of the problem the Democratic Party has is with shit started by the Republicans in the 80's that people now accept as fact, even most Democrats. If we could just get OUR OWN people to stop with some of this shit, that would be a huge step forward.

shopping around the GOP-lovin' ministers but I heard a story about one in L.A. who doesn't actually have a congregation, oops.

As a Hispanic I really do not feel that the Democrats have totally left minorities in the dark. After all, the Democratic party is still one that promotes affirmative action and raising the minimum wage two huge issues in the Hispanic community.

When you look at the Republican party one can't help but see people like Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, and Trent Lott and their bigoted actions in segregation, denying minority judges confirmation, and praising saying that all their state was proud to vote for Thurmond.

The way they have used religion has put many more minorities on their side however, issues such as education, civil rights, and affirmative action are solid issues for the Dems to win and keep winning the minority community.