24 votes

I spent a week with Black Republicans

19 comments

  1. Eji1700
    Link
    I don't love the title, but I'm probably the only person who cares anymore. I get that these days conservative/republican/trump supporter are interchangeable terms, but I do think the distinction...

    I don't love the title, but I'm probably the only person who cares anymore. I get that these days conservative/republican/trump supporter are interchangeable terms, but I do think the distinction is actually valuable to the conversation.

    In general, most trump supporters don't have strong beliefs other than "i have been wronged, and trump will make it right.", so surprise, they're either grifters or people who don't really know their issues(and would probably flip to whatever party if told to). Watching him wipe the floor with someone who doesn't really know what they're talking about is not making a strong argument.

    Obviously that pastor is scum using shit arguments (Jim Crow was DEMOCRATS! as if that's in any way representative of the modern party), but this sorta ignores the issue that, yes, black people are much more conservative than the liberals like to admit, in part due to religion being a major part of their life.

    Just as an example gay marriage and abortion are issues that the black community is just coming around to being 50/50 on instead of staunchly against. Views on corporal punishment are also very heated, and again somewhat against what the liberal position is (and again acceptance has dropped substantially in the recent decades).

    To be fair to the video in question, I suppose they don't need to touch on all of that, and it's clearly not aiming to. More calling out the uneducated trying to justify their position, or the grifter trying to benefit from it. I just don't love that as handled it sorta lumps in a lot of people who probably never voted for trump, but find themselves aligning with traditional conservative values.

    21 votes
  2. [2]
    BeanBurrito
    Link

    Just a few (long) weeks ago, President Joe Biden was still running for re-election, grappling with persistently negative national polling. One major concern for Democrats—and a source of surprise and delight for Republicans—was the apparent shift of young Black male voters towards former President Donald Trump. This will-they-won’t-they question dominated the summer, culminating at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee at the end of July: Could Trump make significant inroads into a voting bloc that traditionally supported Democrats?

    That narrative shifted dramatically with the entry of Vice President Kamala Harris into the race. Suddenly, a much higher percentage of Black voters told pollsters of their intent to vote, a big increase from July when Biden was still on the ticket.

    When the Mother Jones team reported from the RNC last month, Video Correspondent ‪@GarrisonHayes‬ was on a mission to unravel these complex cross-currents of identity, policy, and political strategy. "I learned a lot about Black Republicans during these conversations—their motivations, their stories, their goals," Hayes says in a new, in depth video showcasing several substantive interviews with Black convention attendees. “I wanted to know what draws a black person to identify with this Republican party.”

    Hayes uncovered old-school appeals to rugged individualism (with elements of historical revisionism), traditional anti-abortion viewpoints, and a rejection of government interventions. Ultimately, Hayes concluded that—for a party that so openly courts racists and racism enablers—having more Black people in the ranks could be, surprisingly, beneficial. "The only way the Republican Party becomes this ideologically conservative but racially inclusive big tent party,” Garrison says, “is if there is a fundamental rejection of the people, policies, and practices they currently hold as sacred in their political vision.”

    11 votes
    1. heraplem
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Same old story, really. This probably describes the majority of Republican voters. We can say that they're voting against their own interests, but the Democrats over the past three decades have...

      Hayes uncovered old-school appeals to rugged individualism (with elements of historical revisionism), traditional anti-abortion viewpoints, and a rejection of government interventions.

      Same old story, really. This probably describes the majority of Republican voters.

      We can say that they're voting against their own interests, but the Democrats over the past three decades have failed to present a sufficiently compelling alternative: "vote for us and we won't make things worse" is the best they've been able to do. Part of that is down to Republican obstructionism, but part of it is just plain neoliberal myopia. The Biden administration has started to move things in the right direction, but has been frankly terrible at advertising that fact. (Biden even acknowledged it in his most recent interview: "The biggest mistake we made, we didn't put up signs saying, 'Joe did it'!") We can only hope that subsequent administrations will be emboldened to go further, and that we're not in a "too little, too late" scenario.

      25 votes
  3. BeanBurrito
    Link
    I liked a couple of things about this video. First, there was a two way exchange. I've seen similar news pieces interviewing Trump supporters before, but the reporter never addressed factual...

    I liked a couple of things about this video.

    First, there was a two way exchange. I've seen similar news pieces interviewing Trump supporters before, but the reporter never addressed factual errors. I liked that that is interviewer did, and in a non-hostile tone.

    Like the interviewer, I also found the last part of the video compelling ( he used the word "poetic" ). He went to the Republican convention only to discover that an African American event supporting Trump was not held in the same building. After hanging out with them a bit, he noticed excitement and anticipation at the event. Trump's car was coming their way. It just drove by on the way to something else. No quick stops, no acknowledgments, zero. A silent message, but the loudest message to the crowd that Trump had gotten what he wanted and had no regard for them. Like so many other groups before them.

    7 votes
  4. BeanBurrito
    Link
    Like everyone else, I rolled my eyes at that preacher. He kept going about how the republican party was good for African Americans, but only quoting examples from the Civil War era. I really...

    Like everyone else, I rolled my eyes at that preacher. He kept going about how the republican party was good for African Americans, but only quoting examples from the Civil War era. I really wanted the interviewer to ask him "but what has the republican party done for African Americans in the last 50 years?"

    6 votes
  5. [11]
    gowestyoungman
    Link
    Just the title makes me cringe hard. WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their skin color or their political leanings? It's just another way to foment division and god knows there's...

    Just the title makes me cringe hard. WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their skin color or their political leanings? It's just another way to foment division and god knows there's not enough of THAT to go around.

    Just be an American. Dont be a black American or a white American or a Republican or a Democrat, its enough to just be "American" and leave it at that.

    3 votes
    1. sparksbet
      Link Parent
      Black people in the US do not have the luxury of "just being American". They are treated differently because of their skin color, and their experiences can be wildly different from those of white...

      Black people in the US do not have the luxury of "just being American". They are treated differently because of their skin color, and their experiences can be wildly different from those of white Americans due to a variety of factors -- past and present discrimination along with the existence of a distinct African-American culture. Asking black Americans what they think and considering them as a group isn't "just another way to foment division", it's a way to understand how people with a specific common set of experiences see an issue (and looking at subgroups with different opinions, as this article does, is a good way to understand the diversity in opinions within that group). Insisting on being "colorblind" isn't unifying and it's not preventing "fomenting division" -- it's sticking your head in the sand to ignore inequality and discrimination.

      As for dividing people based on their political leanings, one party is trying to legislate me out of existence and the other isn't. It would be absolutely absurd not to take those political leanings into account even when it comes to my personal life and who I choose to interact with in what ways. It would be even more absurd not to consider political leanings when discussing their influence on an upcoming election.

      36 votes
    2. GenuinelyCrooked
      Link Parent
      It's not, though, because Democrats and Republicans are both groups of people that are acting on agendas. They're not just benign descriptors, they're groups with policy platforms that will...

      It's not, though, because Democrats and Republicans are both groups of people that are acting on agendas. They're not just benign descriptors, they're groups with policy platforms that will absolutely affect the lives of every American and many non-Americans. Being black or white should be benign descriptors, except that historically they have not been. Currently the policy agendas of Republicans are extremely harmful to all Americans, but especially so to black Americans. So being a black Republican is sort of a baffling choice, making them an interesting group to study.

      Having policies that are extremely harmful foments division. Acknowledging that they are doing that does not. Acknowledging that they disproportionately impact a certain population does not.

      17 votes
    3. BeanBurrito
      Link Parent
      Other people have already made the divisions for us, are actively deepening them, and actively exploiting them. Understanding why people made the choices they did given the circumstances is one...

      Other people have already made the divisions for us, are actively deepening them, and actively exploiting them. Understanding why people made the choices they did given the circumstances is one factor in moving beyond those divisions.

      17 votes
    4. DefinitelyNotAFae
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Leaving aside the valid points everyone else made. I don't expect you to respond to this but. "I spent a week with Americans" sounds like it's coming from a non-American. Which is probably why...

      Leaving aside the valid points everyone else made. I don't expect you to respond to this but.

      "I spent a week with Americans" sounds like it's coming from a non-American. Which is probably why it's a label you felt made sense, even though it's just as arbitrary as the ones you object to.

      "I spent a week with People" isn't the most useful of video descriptions and titles. I mean, same, right? But I'm not clicking on that.

      "I spent a week with a bunch of people planning to vote for a particular candidate for president who share a socially constructed grouping that's externally enforced by centuries of discrimination continuing in varying amounts to this day, which makes them statistical outliers in their voting preferences" feels a bit wordy.

      17 votes
    5. chocobean
      Link Parent
      Because in 2024 we are still seeing the effects (or after effects if you insist) of slavery, segregation, disenfranchisement of a particular group of people. This isn't a new round of monopoly...

      Because in 2024 we are still seeing the effects (or after effects if you insist) of slavery, segregation, disenfranchisement of a particular group of people. This isn't a new round of monopoly with the chess pieces moved back and the darts all been cleared off the board. Folks are sitting at the poker table where it's finally acknowledged all the other players've been rigging the game for hundred plus years. Then folks are told, okay we'll stop cheating, please continue to play with the chips remaining in your hand, and yes we'll keep all our chips, but please, go ahead.

      Yesterday, our family watched a shot PBS documentary, Human Footprint: How An Ancient Ocean Shapes US History (16:54)

      From ancient seas to fertile soils, evolutionary biologist Shane Campbell-Staton explores the remarkable journey that transformed the Cretaceous coastline into the fertile “Black Belt” region of the American South. He joins oceanographer Craig McClain, professor Sven Beckert, and geneticist Steven Micheletti to learn how millions of years of deposits shaped the events of Black American history.

      Spoiler alert: you can see from current voting patterns where ocean critters from 100+ millions of years ago deposited lime. Because slavery.

      16 votes
    6. canekicker
      (edited )
      Link Parent
      Lol what a weird, contextless take. In what world can someone simply be an American when sexism is ongoing in the work place, where we have a long history of anti-Latino discrimination, where...

      Lol what a weird, contextless take. In what world can someone simply be an American when sexism is ongoing in the work place, where we have a long history of anti-Latino discrimination, where being LGBTQ is targeted by the GOVERNMENT, where being AAPI during the pandemic is a threat to your well being, where being black is a negative concerning housing, where all things equal, appearing to be black is an employment obstacle.

      This whole "just be American" is completely laughable and completely detached from the current reality, especially consider one party is talking about punishing the childless. mass deportation of immigrants, make public education harder to get, enforce a form of Christian nationalism, and severely limit reproductive access.

      This whole thing reminds of that Andrew Yang's shit take during the height of anti-Asian hate. Asians weren't getting beaten up and harassed because they didn't appear American enough, they were getting beaten up for looking Asian. And what the hell is "American" and who defines it? We have a major party candidate who sees others as unAmerican. Should people be storming the capital to prove their American-ness?

      But yea, let me act more American. Surely they'll respect our differences then and we can live in a peaceful society where everyone holds hands and sings "Imagine" or "We Are the World"

      edit : adding a source to cover my bases because everyone is having a shit time right now, including men and boys.

      14 votes
    7. [4]
      Moonchild
      Link Parent
      WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their nationality? It's just another way to foment division and god knows there's not enough of THAT to go around. Just be a human. Dont be an...

      WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their nationality? It's just another way to foment division and god knows there's not enough of THAT to go around.

      Just be a human. Dont be an American human or a Canadian human or a European human, its enough to just be "human" and leave it at that

      13 votes
      1. GenuinelyCrooked
        Link Parent
        As a genuine proponent of open borders, this but unironically.

        As a genuine proponent of open borders, this but unironically.

        10 votes
      2. DefinitelyNotAFae
        Link Parent
        Human? WHY, in 2024, must we divide up mammals based on their species? It's just another way to foment division and the gods know there's not enough of THAT to go around. Just be a mammal. Don't...

        Human?

        WHY, in 2024, must we divide up mammals based on their species? It's just another way to foment division and the gods know there's not enough of THAT to go around.

        Just be a mammal. Don't be a human or a bear or a muskrat , its enough to just be "mammal" and leave it at that.

        11 votes
      3. canekicker
        Link Parent
        WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their corporeal existence? It's just another way to foment philosophical divisions and the laws of physics knows there's not enough of THAT to go...

        WHY, in 2024, must we divide up people based on their corporeal existence? It's just another way to foment philosophical divisions and the laws of physics knows there's not enough of THAT to go around.

        Just think and exist. Dont be physical or intangible, its enough to "exist" and leave it at that

        2 votes
  6. [2]
    jredd23
    Link
    Interesting video but appropriately in the misc section. Didn't learn anything from it, it was entertaining so if you have a few minutes watch it. As a comment, today all you need is a platform...

    Interesting video but appropriately in the misc section. Didn't learn anything from it, it was entertaining so if you have a few minutes watch it. As a comment, today all you need is a platform and label it "news" to make it relevant but a lot of content is just entertainment. I would have preferred to actually speak to a person that has relevance in today's African American society; Barack Obama, Coleman Hughes, Ta-Nehisi Coates to name a few.

    1. DefinitelyNotAFae
      Link Parent
      I'm pretty sure none of them are Republican so I don't know if it would have made sense in this context. Spending time with current Black Republican politicians is probably much more difficult....

      I'm pretty sure none of them are Republican so I don't know if it would have made sense in this context. Spending time with current Black Republican politicians is probably much more difficult. But if you have interviews with those folks to post, I'd enjoy them!

      5 votes