Political Crossover: The Troubling Emergence of Black Reaganism

[daredtowork]

28. I've noticed this and I think this is part of the hostility to Bernie

The problem is not just that Bernie "subsumes" racism in economic issues but that in the name of pride and dignity there is a movement to disassociate African Americans from economic issues. Even though they aren't the majority on welfare, they are always dogwhistled as taking welfare and "Section 8" - and covert racism becomes the key to cutting those programs.

The Kochs fund the United Negro College Fund and I'm willing to bet they fund a whole lot of black ministers who preach marriage and strong fatherhood. Their classic conservative message is "values". The new anti-abortion message (and ironically for GOP cuts to welfare) and welfare cap message is Democrats are controlling the black population through "programs". And of course Democrats are subverting marriage through support of LGBT rights when there has been such an epic struggle to hold the black family together through mass incarceration, racist police shootings, poverty-related crime rate, and simply getting black men back on board as responsible fathers in this environment. Ministers were central to this effort. Democrats were oblivious to who was funding all that. I think many forgot MLK was a minister as well, and that being a minister is a job/livelihood in a declining field. The ministry is heavily red-mapped.

BTW, that's not limited to African Americans: this is true of rural ministers in general and explains a lot about the values of the South and their seeming inability to vote their interests.

Anyway, I would argue that one way out of this phenomenon is to stop associating welfare with African Americans. It's inaccurate. And the "racism cuts" that follow are devastating to poor people across the board. As we speak, Obama is toying with cutting Community Development Block Grants (yet again) - a major source of funding for local community agencies - in order to shift that money to his Free Community College plan. This is because education, like work, fits Reaganite bootstrap "values". I'm all for free Community College - but why not take that money from the Defense Department? Why do we need to cut money from the poor yet again? It's because those poor might be falsely branded as African Americans.

Both Democrats and the GOP need to start caring about poor white people. With the new turn to "The Social" detached from "The Economic", well-to-do African Americans are announcing they will no longer stick up for those in poverty even if there are African Americans there, too. They will be "sipping on white tears" instead.