Over the last 40 years, Black Americans have consistently registered as Democrats and voted overwhelmingly for the Democrat presidential candidate.
Only 8% of African Americans consider themselves Republicans.
In 2016, Hilary Clinton won 88% of the Black vote. Donald Trump received 8% — that’s 2% more than Romney in 2012 and 7% more than a NBC News poll forecasted just weeks before the election.
The most votes any Republican candidate has received from Blacks since 1968 was Gerald Ford in 1976 (15%).
It wasn’t always like this. The website BlackDemographics.com recounts Black America’s political history: “After the Civil War, almost all Blacks considered themselves Republicans. It was the Republican Party that was started by abolitionists and of course the party of President Abraham Lincoln. Meanwhile Southern Democrats strongly opposed any rights to Blacks at the time and for almost a century thereafter. African-Americans were not even allowed to officially attend the Democrat convention until 1924. Things began to change during the “Great Depression” of the 1930s with Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal. The New Deal was a program that helped disadvantaged and minority communities find work. This persuaded 71% of African Americans to vote for a Democrat for president even though only 44% considered themselves to be members of the Democratic Party. In 1948 Democrat Harry Truman ordered the desegregation of the military in addition to an executive order affecting racial discrimination of federal employment securing much of the Black vote for the election later that year. During this time 56% of African-Americans were now Democrats. It was the association of civil rights legislation with John F Kennedy and Lyndon B Jonson that solidified Black loyalty to the Democratic Party for good. JFK proposed and LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which outlawed public discrimination. LBJ’s Republican opponent, Barry Goldwater, opposed it, garnering Johnson 94% of the black vote that year, which was a record until 2008. Johnson later signed the 1965 Voting Rights Act.”
But given Democrat leadership’s admitted exploitation of Black Americans, as chronicled in a 2011 Huffington Post article, we wonder how the Democrats have been able to retain such loyalty from the Black community.
In an earlier post, What The Hell Do You Have To Lose?, we documented the many problems Blacks have experienced under Democrat leadership and the numerous improvements experienced in less than two years of the Trump administration and Republican leadership.
Some in the Black community are beginning to see the light.
We were recently encouraged by two new developments that we would like to call to your attention …
The first new development is: BLEXIT – Blacks Leaving The Democrat Party. It is a movement led by entertainer Kanye West. As reported recently on Fox News, Kanye is urging Black voters in the U.S. to break away from the Democrat party. In Kanye’s words, “BLEXIT is intended to release Blacks from the political orthodoxy. It is a rebellion led by Americans wishing to disrupt the simulation of fear. BLEXIT is a renaissance. It is our formal declaration of independence. BLEXIT is fueled by individuals who are questioning political dogma and choosing freedom over tyranny.”
The second new development is: YBLS – Turning Point USA’s Young Black Leadership Summit. This conference, which took place at the White House last week, was arranged for conservative Blacks between the ages of 15 and 35 to hear from some of the nation’s most well-known Black conservative leaders and activists, receive first-class professional development and leadership training, and network with other attendees and similar organizations from all across the country. The summit was led by Candace Owens, who joined Turning Point USA in November 2017. Candace wants to help the black community discover freedom and self-empowerment, and to walk away from the victim mentality promulgated by the left. She is trying to convince Black voters that being politically independent forces both parties to compete for the African-American vote.
Perhaps change is coming, as evidenced by two Trump popularity polls taken in August 2018. The left-leaning NAACP poll indicated President Trump’s approval rating among black voters is close to 21 percent. Not bad for a guy who garnered 8 percent of African-American votes on Election Day 2016. A Rasmussen Reports poll showed African-American approval of Mr. Trump at 36 percent, more than double the 19% in that same poll one year before.
As the Washington Times has noted, “Even a small drop in African-American turnout or anything less than the usual 85 percent to 90 percent supermajority for a Democrat presidential candidate on Election Day can prove fatal.”
More importantly, however, is why Trump and the Republicans appear to be loosening up the Democrat’s stranglehold on Black voters — Republicans are enacting policies that directly benefit African-Americans:
- The African-American teenager unemployment rate has fallen to record low of 19.3 percent. It was 48.9 percent under the Obama administration. Overall black unemployment is currently at 5.9 percent, also close to a record low.
- GDP is growing at ~4 percent per year. It never got above 2% under the Obama administration. Robust growth with reduced illegal immigration and imported labor is empowering African-American and Hispanic job applicants.
- With more job openings than workers, wages are finally rising and minorities can afford to make better life decisions.
- Job training and apprenticeship programs are increasing minority worker skills, enabling them to compete for jobs in the new economy.
- Increased funding and access to Charter Schools is improving minority youth primary education, leading to secondary education, advance degrees and higher paying jobs.
Of course, Democrats will continue fooling a gullible flock by falsely labeling Republicans as racists, but courageous Black leaders like Kanye West and Candace Owens will lead independent thinking African-Americans to a brighter future.