Why don’t black people trust Reagan?
March 27th, 2009 by frederickiiHere is Shelby Steele writing in the WSJ about the conservative movement’s failure to appeal to blacks:
And here is conservatism’s great problem with minorities. In an era when even failed moral activism is redemptive — and thus a source of moral authority and power — conservatism stands flat-footed with only discipline to offer. It has only an invisible hand to compete with the activism of the left. So conservatism has no way to show itself redeemed of America’s bigoted past, no way like the Great Society to engineer a grand display of its innocence, and no way to show deference to minorities for the oppression they endured. Thus it seems to be in league with that oppression.
And here is Ross Douthat in broad agreement:
Treated as a view from 30,000 feet, I basically agree with this argument. You cannot expect the descendants of slaves and the heirs of segregation to embrace a conservative politics en masse until we’re much, much further out of those institutions’ shadow than we are today; by the same token, it would be bad for conservatism, and for America, if the Right were to seek black votes by jettisoning its core premises, and simply giving up (as the Bush Administration sometimes seemed eager to do) on its long-running critique of the diversity-and-dependency two-step that undergirds modern liberalism’s approach to racial issues. Given where the two groups are starting from, in other words, conservatives shouldn’t hope for more from African-Americans, and African-Americans more from conservatives, than either group is likely to deliver.
Baloney. The part of conservativism that’s unappealing to blacks isn’t the philosophical underpinnings - it’s the racists. To be clear: Douthat’s not a racist; Steele’s not a racist; McCain’s not a racist; most Republicans and most conservatives aren’t racists; but a large enough minority of Republicans are racist to stain the whole party in the eyes of blacks. (And others.)
If you would deny that there remains a racist element in the Republican party - well, then I don’t know what to say to you. Consider the following: Barrack the Magic Negro, watermelon ‘humor’, Strom Thurmond, the Southern strategy that was first Nixon’s and still the party’s. Remember Colin Powell’s speech at the Republican National Convention in 2000, when in a tone of chastisement or maybe desperation he urged his party to take race seriously:
The party must follow Governor Bush’s lead and reach out to minority communities and particularly the African-American community - and not just during an election year campaign. It must be a sustained effort. It must be every day. It must be for real.
The party must listen to and speak with all leaders of the black community, regardless of political affiliation or philosophy. We must understand the cynicism that exists in the black community. The kind of cynicism that is created when, for example, some in our party miss no opportunity to roundly and loudly condemn affirmative action that helped a few thousand Black kids get an education, but hardly a whimper is heard from them over affirmative action for lobbyists who load our federal tax codes with preferences for special interests.
Overcoming the cynicism and mistrust that exist and raising up that mantle of Lincoln is about more than just winning votes. It is about giving all minorities a competitive choice. We deserve one! It will be good for our party and it will be good for America.
A challenge to Steele, Douthat, and Republicans: get rid of the racist elements of your party. Ostracize them. Wait a few years. My guess is that the blacks will then start voting for your candidates without you having to “show deference to minorities for the oppression they endured.”
P.S. Akhbar: my internets are slow. Can you put up a clip of “I Know Black People”? The Reagan question is relevant to this post.
P.P.S. G W Bush was genuinely not a racist, a truly color blind man. He should be given credit for that.
