Hey African-Americans! Did you realize you're conservative at heart?

[Fenris]

"I -- I have always believed -- always believed -- that the mainstream African-American person, the person who goes to work, gets up, doesn't live in the ghetto, lives in a, you know, in a working class neighborhood or an affluent neighborhood is conservative at heart. Their value system is church. A big church-going population among African-Americans, particularly female, if you look at the polls, they're against gay marriage; they're against far left political thought. You don't see a lot of African-Americans, you know, running around with Jane Fonda. You see a lot of African-Americans going into the military. And I think that there is a conservative bent among African-Americans mainstream now. And we're not talking gangster rappers, or Jesse Jacksons. We're talking mainstream."

http://mediamatters.org/items/200604040008

I especially relished the part equating the number of African-Americans in the military with some sort of conservative, nationalistic impulse.

[xultar]

1. I can't say I disagree. Blacks have taken a huge turn toward religion

with that comes conservatism.

[Kire]

4. wrong

just look at the Christian forums on DU

[xultar]

6. DU is totally unique. I love how you tell me I'm wrong. R U Black?

[Kire]

9. I was replying to the reference to religion in your post.

Not to the reference to "blacks".

The question you should be asking is "Was Martin Luther King, Jr. black?"

[xultar]

16. It was a different time back in those days. People now are rabbid

about their Christianity and oftern use Jesus as an excuse to hate gays...
Just the other day there was a black author and reverand discussing how black folk were taking the bible so literally and using it as an excuse to hate gays.

Believe what you want. I am telling you what I see and hear.

[ContraBass Black]

17. I disagree. I am black, and Christian.

My Christianity compels my liberalism. So too for many others I know.

[xultar]

19. But you are on DU. Just by that you are unique. DU is not like the

rest of the US. For god sake if it was would Bush not be enduring daily protests here @ home?

Come on. You know I'm not speaking for all Black folk but just by you being on DU you are different.

[ContraBass Black]

21. I'm not just talking about myself,

But others I know outside of DU as well.

[tjdee]

10. Confused how that is representative of blacks who are religious conservati

ves?

Most DUers are white, so....

Maybe I'm misunderstanding your post.

[Kire]

12. religious people are not necessarily conservative

I wasn't being racially exclusive.

[tjdee]

13. Ohhhh....gotcha.

I knew I was probably missing something!

:toast:

[Blue_Tires]

15. agreed

ever since '00 there has been a quiet unholy alliance between the GOP and the leadership of older, more established (i.e., conservative) Baptist and AME churches...The GOP has been able to exploit what was once a stronger dem base a number of ways:

1. "Faith-Based Initiatives", federal funding for churches, and other 'creative' accounting which helps the more lawless church leaders line their pockets.

2. The whole "Culture/Values War on Christmas/Easter/Christianity, etc" thing, along with their drive to put religious stuff in government places and prayer/bible study in schools (this has been wildly successful in countless black communities)

3. The war against the gays...The old-school black church pastor/congregation has long been a bastion of virulent homophobia, especially against gay men (I'm talking about damn near Fred Phelps rhetoric)...

I know because I have seen the effects of the propaganda on both my parents and uncles/aunts...I disagree with the premise that the average, professional church-going black male or female is right wing at heart, but a lot of pollsters and political analysts out there need to stop assuming they are automatic dem votes these days.

[xultar]

18. You said it the way it needed to be said. I was trying to say it but

I didn't have near the clarity and completeness of thought you had.

They don't believe us. I think that is what is so funny about progressives. You try to tell them what the deal is and they don't believe me and tell me that I am wrong espeicially on African-American issues. I will admit I'm not always right but I do have insight that they can't get because I'm not incognegro.

[Chovexani]

22. LOL!

Incognegro...I will have to steal that. :rofl:

[Blue_Tires]

23. I see you live in Atlanta (I used to live there)

ironically, suburban Atlanta was one of the communities I was thinking about when I started writing...I have relatives there that are cultured, educated, hard working, liberal, started-with-nothing-and-finally-got-something-to-be-proud-of -types that attend one of the megachurches out there (because as you know in affluent black Atlanta, your entire identity can be summed up by the church you attend :eyes: )...They are perfectly sane and used to be longtime Dem votes, but whenever they hear the word 'gay' or 'lesbian' said on TV, they start seething! I had the misfortune of telling them I had a different view of religion that they had, and they told me i was hellbound...we haven't spoken since...

I also used to live in MD, another place where the GOP has made serious inroads in the black communities...Sadly, for years the old Dem machine fell asleep at the wheel, allowing Ehrlich and his ilk to move right in--You won't believe how many black votes have been suckered into voting GOP because they A. Were tired of not being heard by Dem leadership and wanted to 'send a message' B. Fell for the false promise of lower taxes, and smaller government, and C. Wanted to vote their 'values'...Add in the sizable portion on the black community that can't be bothered to vote, and the takeover is complete...People need to wake up and try to earn these votes back

[lastliberalintexas]

39. Unfortunately that's too true

Especially about the gay rights issues, at least in my area of SE Texas. Far too many of the local Black churches pushed for votes in favor of our anti-same sex marriage bill, and often times those very same churches are very vocal in the anti-choice debate too. One area Black church has even taken up with the Promise Keeper nuts and the Purpose Driven Life folks. Crazy.

[BlooInBloo]

20. As long as it remains clear that only 2-ish percent of black folks....

... support bush...

It's a complete lie to suggest black folks are becoming republicans - not that anyone has. Republicanism is the province of white folks.

[xultar]

25. I didn't say Republican I said conservative. There is a difference.

[seabeyond]

26. i am conservative, live conservative and still.... vote dem

i think that brings in confusion for a lot of people. we live conservatively, we live traditionally, but we still do not hold to republican platform. so i dont necessarily agree this is a black position. if one works, saves money, lives a tradition life, they are conservative.... that is what happens as we age. we walk away from risk taking. so identifying conservative to repug, or religion to conservative isnt going ot necessarily hold true. i see your point. it is another conditioning the repugs are trying to do on people, like what they have done with religion. if you go to church, you MUST suppport repugs. repugs are the christians. god is a repug

[BlooInBloo]

38. I said "not that anyone has"

Wasn't that good enough?

[Neil Lisst]

29. ding ding, and that's why the "conservative" thing is a red herring

The thing in OP written by the advocate saying blacks are conservative is the kind of argument some white guy in the Republican party dreams up, and milks for everything it is worth.

If I may pretend to be inside this imaginary Limbaugh wannabe's head in the pub party, explaining like Bruno on Black & White his idea to his fellow pasty-faced RNC members ...

"You see, blacks go to church, and they don't believe in homosexuality like white libruls, so let's use that as a wedge issue. We'll tout the "conservative" aspects of the black community, and they'll come flocking to us over the homos in San Francisco getting married!"

[xultar]

33. DING DING DING...and when forced to choose between voting with

white libruls and GHOD you know which one they are going to pick.

They are using gays again.

[Neil Lisst]

34. but blacks aren't voting with the rightwing "god" squad

[xultar]

36. The black preachers in GA were telling their congregations how to

vote. I had more people tell me they were voting for values and against Kerry. That is a pretty big jump from what I heard in 2000. Then again maybe those with the big mouths didn't make it to the polls.

[Neil Lisst]

37. don't recall the numbers, but I don't think Bush got 10% of the black vote

in 2004

could of been 11%, but I don't think it got to 12

[bobbieinok]

40. blacks have been involved with religion for a LONG TIME

for example, much of the civil rights movement and actions were organized/planned in churches

the problem I (white 65+ woman) see is that many of the black churches are quite conservative socially and the RW is working hard to use that social conservatism to convince blacks to vote republican

a personal experience: several black adult students at a conservative Christian college voted republican in 2000 b/c of abortion.......one woman, who appeared to find her vote very traumatic, said that finally blacks were beginning to vote their religious convictions instead of for their economic good (!?!?!?!?!?!?).....another told me she voted democratic b/c she 'could not' vote republican, but that she had been under great pressure to vote republican and felt bad she'd 'voted for abortion'

[Kire]

2. Sounds like Rush LImbaugh

but it's really O'Reilly

[rpannier]

3. Yeah. They join the army as opposed

to being unemployed or starving.

[IsItJustMe]

5. They are just like anyone else. Conservative on some issues, liberal on

others. I think it is a disservice to classify a whole group of people as being anything. We are all unique within our own perspectives.

[xultar]

7. I agree but I do see a shift. Lots of the Black folk I know call

themselves preachers and they are very fundie like.

I'd have never thought they'd turned out that way. These are friends that I used to play with when we were kids.

[tjdee]

8. You see a lot of blacks going into the military because college is so fuck

ing expensive. They couldn't give a shit about militarism or conservatism.

:grr:

My parents wanted me to go into ROTC because "they'll pay for your college". I must have heard that fifty million times.

I would agree that a number of blacks are against gay marriage. But guess what, a number of whites are against it too! I'd say a lot of blacks are religious, and gee....a number or whites are too!

I'm so sure Bill O'Reilly is in touch with mainstream black America. :rofl:

[Fenris]

11. He's master of the generalization

First off, who are "mainstream blacks"? If they are anything like the "mainstream whites" he claims to represent, then yeah, they probably are conservative.

There are a lot of people who are against gay marriage, and a lot of people who are religious. But to say that one specific ethnic group is relatively identical in their outlook is asinine.

[BlooInBloo]

14. Wow. Not content with telling black folks what racism is/is not...

... now white folks tell em what party they belong to...

Great.

[goclark]

24. We have always been solidly religious people

that is nothing new.

JUST A FEW THOUGHTS....
I don't see the African Americans that I know,Born Again Today or Born Yesterday,thinking that the Republicans will bring them closer to God.

We are busy trying to feed our families. We work to keep our jobs, get a good education,go Church and enjoy our friends. For the most part, we are just ordinary people.

If we were so Conservative in our beliefs, why is it that as a voting block,we were with Kerry all the way?

Please remember that there were and are many little evil Diebolds and Blackwells in the mix against our voting!

In general,African Americans are very accepting of people that are gay!

The only reason our children join the military is to get a job and get an education. The recruiters know exactly what to say and promise them to hook them and trick them.

I have a cousin right now, headed for Iraq this summer, who was given a promise by the military that they would help him finish college if he reenlisted. His parents begged him and cried to him not to re up, but whatever they said to him, he believed it. We think they brain wash them with Lies.

We especially treasure people that "tell it like it is," not LIE and start WARS and punish us with Katrina!

An overriding trait in the Black Community is to stand tall against people that mean you no good, and the last time that I checked, that feeling leans to the Democratic Party.

[malaise]

27. So how many of those mainstream

African-American individuals who "go to work, get up, don't live in the ghetto, live in a, you know, in a working class neighborhood or an affluent neighborhood" have kids in the army?

I have third and fourth generation African-American relatives who are all active in the democratic party and whose values were influenced by Marcus Garvey, Malcolm X, MLK and Kennedy. Who in the large African-American Muslim community is considered conservative?

[RepublicanElephant]

28. well hopefully neal boortz has shaken some blacks folks back into...

reality.

the gop is not our friend.

[Brewman_Jax]

30. O'LiaReilly said that?

how'd he come to that conclusion? Does that mean that he actually spoke to black people and listened?

[salin]

31. Non-sequitor flashback ala Bob Dornan:

B1 Bomber Bob lost his congressional seat to Representative Sanchez - and ran one or two more times ... district has become more Hispanic - so he claims that he is the "real" hispanic, not the Latina Congresswoman who beat him... because his conservative family values was more like those of the Catholic church and hispanic voters.

He lost that race - by an even larger margin than before - never to run again.

[baby_mouse]

32. What?

???

:crazy:

[Norquist Nemesis]

35. Ah, yes. "Mainstream" as defined by Lindsay Graham

is anything you agree with; out of the mainstream is anything you don't.