Do African Americans support Obama regardless of policy and results, or do African Americans support atheism, socialism, and class benefits? It's a serious quesion, not a political assertion. by Mark Vogl
(conservative)
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
I have written about this before, and the further we go into the Obama Presidency, and the more radical it gets, one has to wonder if black America is united by color, or if it is unified by a common view of America, the role of government, the importance of material wealth, and the minimal importance of political rights?
The history of African Americans is different from that of the Anglos, Mexicans, Latino's, Native Americans, etc. Many, though not all, did come to America in bondage. They had lost their freedom and been forcibly taken from their home and people, usually by other Africans, and then sold to whites, shipped across the Atlantic Ocean and sold as a piece of property into slavery. While northerners like to pretend that this was a southern sin, the truth is it was a Euro - American sin. Racial prejudice was as much northern as southern when the nation was first settled. And regardless of the reason, when slavery left the north the north did not free their slaves, but instead SOLD THEM.
So when you consider how history affects a person or a group of persons, we must acknowledge that America was not seen as the Promised Land, a land of opportunity and adventure. Slaves had no rights, and in fact when you read "all men are created equal" and you realize that blacks had no rights, you come to understand that their very humanity was in question.
Then you have to look at religions and faiths. The Christian faith is based on the Bible, the word of God. Yet there is no condemnation of slavery in the Bible. Look at the Ten Commandments, slavery is not condemned. In fact, nowhere is slavery condemned. While this is not a specific condemnation of the African race, the fact is that it was the African race that were in bondage.
So from a historical perspective there is reason to understand black doubts concerning political rights, the Founding Fathers of America, and inherent goodness of America. And that doubt is reinforced as you travel through Amrican history, from slavery to Reconstruction, to American expansion to the west coast, and on and on. The history which molded todays backs didn't end in 1865, but continued through the Civil Rights movement to this day.
So there are powerful forces and history which have acted against a segment of the population defined by color and origin. And when political rights finally did come, economic and material equality did not arrive.
All of that together could explain a vision America substantially different from mine and most white folk. While large segments of both the white and lack populations share the same economic conditions the view of those conditions and the expectations and disappointments of capitalism and democracy are different for reasons which are personal and deeply held.
Today some blacks share in the wealth of America. If you are a professional athlete, and blacks hold many of those positions, individuals have risen from poverty. And there are other fields where African Americans have excelled, entertainment being one easily recognized. But all of those successes represent single digits of a segement of the population. There have been too many failures. And this together with past history could explain an "African American" view of what they want America to be.
Blacks amount to xx percent of the American population and vote above 90% for Democrats. They are an important element within the Democratic Party coalition, but certainly not the sole or controlling element of the liberal left. But, liberals are moving more and more to the left and President Obama seems to be in the lead going in that direction. The foundations of America are under constant political attack and seem to be eroding under decisions by the Supreme Court, and the effectiveness of liberal mass media upon public opinion. Chrstiainity is marginalized while the affects of globalism on America introduce a diverse array of religions not in anyway cooperative with the fouding faith.
The question for conservative sociologists and thinkers is, what can be done to assimilate African Americans into America, the other America, the one that rests on Bible, Constitution, and capitalism. There are for sure conservative blacks, and more and more they are rising in position of political leadership. But again they are a very small percentage of their race, and are attacked harshly as Uncle Tom's or traitors of their people. In fact, there may be no way to design a program to change black perspective, and it may be that only a broad based material success will eventually alter their views of America.
Globalism, the free movement of people, things and ideas, manifested and exaggerated by the influx of twenty million illegal immigrants and the loss of absolute control of American electronic media has significantly threatened the American national character and culture. Attacked on all fronts, culture, religion, economics, and politics and governance, the American people are like people caught in a rising and rushing river. The force of chance is so great and so constant, and increasing, and there appear to be few dry spots where one could escape the flow, and rest, and reform. The ongoing political fight is like the running fight of two cavalry units, where more and more of the liberal cavalry is entering the field.
On the other side is real life. Socialism - communism destroyed the Soviet Union. The People's Republic of China has abandoned the socialist model and is now building its economy in large part on capitalism. Europe is failing. The evidence of the failure of planned economies is evident, but Americans refuse to see it. And of those Americans, African Americans seem to be the most blind.
As we move towards November 2012 race will be a volatile factor. Blacks may not be able to accept Obama's defeat as the result of American rejection of his socialist policies. The economy is deteriorating, instead of reducing government demands on private sector money, Obama Care promises massive tax increases. It is unlikely that the economy will improve, and very likely that Obama will not survive the 2012 election. Violence could be the outcome.
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