August 18, 2016

"But what’s surprising about Trump’s strategy of racial provocation is that African-Americans have played a relatively small role in it."

Writes Kelefa Sanneh in "WHAT DO PEOPLE MEAN WHEN THEY SAY DONALD TRUMP IS RACIST?":
When people call Trump racist, they are often thinking primarily of incidents... in which he has singled out Latino immigrants and their descendants. They are often thinking, too, about Trump’s series of remarks about Muslims... Or, for that matter, his portrayal of China as a menacing threat... But these days a wide range of prejudices are commonly subsumed within the expansive term “racism”; you might call a politician “racist” without meaning (at least not exclusively, or even primarily) that he is anti-black....

In general, though, Trump has had relatively little to say about African-Americans during this campaign. In December, he criticized Justice Antonin Scalia, who had suggested, during a hearing, that affirmative action might harm some African-American students by steering them toward colleges that are “too fast for them” when they might be better off at “a less advanced school—a slower-track school.” Trump seemed genuinely offended. “I thought his remarks were very tough,” he said. “I don’t like what he said.”...

Was Trump’s criticism of Scalia part of a grand plan to win over African-American voters? Perhaps not. One of Trump’s greatest political strengths is that very little of what he says sounds like the product of political calculation. (Of course, this, too, is one of his greatest political weaknesses.)...
Sanneh ends by wondering why Trump nevertheless polls so badly with African-Americans and posits the obvious: the Democratic Party has a tight grip on this voting bloc and Trump "has acquired a reputation as a racist."
Does it make a difference to black voters that this reputation has mainly to do with things he has said about Muslims and Mexicans? Or that he finds ways to talk of African-Americans as part of a threatened “we,” and not part of a threatening “them”? 
Apparently not.

ADDED: In the NYT, there's Charles M. Blow with "Why Blacks Loathe Trump." The most interesting thing in the way Blow made a show of his knowledge of the connection between black people and Islam but then had to do a correction:
[Trump] has scandalously maligned Muslims, apparently not realizing that it’s estimated that approximately one-fourth of the 3.3 million Muslims in this country are African-American. Indeed, the Muslim faith has deep roots in the black community because many Africans brought to this country as slaves were Muslims. The signs are everywhere. For instance, I spent my earliest years in the rural community of Kiblah, Ark., an area homesteaded by former slaves following the Emancipation Proclamation. In Arabic, kiblah is the direction in which Muslims pray toward Mecca....

Correction: August 18, 2016

An earlier version of this article imprecisely referred to the word “kiblah.” It is the direction in which Muslims pray toward Mecca and not derived from the word “ka’aba.”

101 comments:

mockturtle said...

The dogs bark but the caravan moves on.

Drew said...

Why doesn't anyone just admit it and chalk it up to a successful media narrative bashing that is intense and continuous?

They have made up a caricature, stayed with it and push it hard every day.

Yet you still wonder why certain groups feel a certain way about him?

walter said...

Wow..so there are like..multiple races?
Yeah..he's been brutally racist about "ChYYYna!"
Calling them smart and stuff.

Jason said...

Liberals continue to identify 807,603 out of every five actual racists.

walter said...

Here's a largely untouched aspect of racism regarding the "black community" and political alliance.
Colin Powell, a military man of the Republican party voted for Obama and Condi was cagey on it.

eric said...

Suppose you're a black person living in the inner city. You just want to live your life. Donald Trump comes along and you think, wow, I like this guy!

But all the TV media and internet media you watch tells you, "This guy is a racist!" And all the polls tell you 90% of your friends and family and neighbors are voting for Hillary, the Democrat.

What sort of person does it take to overcome that feeling we would all have inside at this information?

And do the media and the polling groups know they have this affect?

Gusty Winds said...

Lately, accusations of racism are like farts. The one who smelt it, dealt it.

Ellen DeGeneres just had to beat back racist accusations because of a tweet showing her riding Usain Bolt's back. It was a joke. I'll be Usain Bolt found it funny. Trump is not a racist.

It's really a moral crime. And I truly believe that that white liberal elites have absolutely no interest if freeing the inner city African-American community from its current confinement in the Democrat Party. All they want are the votes, the power, and a public pat on the back.

The empty grandstanding even infected the likes of Joe Scarborough, Charlie Sykes, and other #nevertrump Republicans. None of them really care either.

traditionalguy said...

The weakness of blacks is many in their hearts are awaiting a pathway to get on top in Racial Dominance. The Dems promise them that, but never deliver. The GOP says equality is all you get. Trump therefore does have a ceiling with black voters, that is the number of the educated and civilized Christians, such as MLK and Rice.

Beloved Commenter AReasonableMan said...

Much the same could be said of Jews.

walter said...

From that '08 ALthouse link on Condi..worth reflecting on:

TMink said...

I am a white guy, and it is no big deal for me to have a minority president.

From what I have seen, people of color have a very different experience. If Dr. Rice voted for a man because of his racial significance, God bless her.

This is hugely important to a lot of the country. It is my hope that it is indeed part of healing.

Trey
12/28/08, 6:00 PM

Lyle Smith said...

I think people will be surprised come November about who votes for whom.

walter said...

Yes Lyle..
Secret Trump voters..and those who think:
It's high time. She wants it.

Brando said...

Most of what they're talking about is bigotry, not racism--there's no Mexican race or Muslim race. But there is anti-Hispanic and anti-Muslim bigotry.

Blacks are down on Trump more than Hispanics are (I think the last numbers I was looking at was he was getting 20% of the Hispanic vote, and around 2% of the black vote) and it may be due to a few factors--

1) Blacks historically recoil from Republicans. This isn't going to change in the course of a single campaign--the last time a Republican got even 17% of the black vote was 1976.

2) Trump has his own history with blacks--the allegations of racism at one of his casinos (replacing black dealers when a mobbed up bigot wanted to gamble), the fair housing issues in the '70s, and of course his "birther" nonsense. Justified or not (dumb as I thought the "birther" crap was, it wasn't necessarily because Obama was black), he already had a checkered past with them.

3) The more recent stuff (tweeting an incorrect stat that made it look like whites were more likely to be killed by blacks than other whites--while blacks disproportionately kill whites, it's not by that great a degree; the seeming cozying up to David Duke) may be simple missteps, but face it--the Dems every cycle get mileage saying the Republican nominee is racist or doesn't care about them. This just makes it easier for them.

4) A lot of blacks may see the anti-Muslim and anti-immigrant stuff as hitting too close to home.

All told, his problem isn't so much the black vote (which was already low last cycle--we're still looking at single digits) but with whites who buy into the "racist" branding. That's a larger group, and one that spans well into the conservative population.

Michael said...

Latinos are not a "race." Muslims are not a "race."

Science

hombre said...

Reminds me of the widely publicized lady in 2008 who thought Obama's ascension meant she no longer had to pay her mortgage.

With few exceptions, African-Americans live in a fantasy world derived from Democrat promises, multi-generational welfare and their criminal culture.

Unfortunately, the exceptions are dominated by race hustlers like Obama, Holder and Sharpton, including many celebrities.

One of the fantasies is that opposing Democrat lunacy is racist.

Anonymous said...

Maybe Trump has trouble getting the Black vote because of stumbles like this. Also, the fact that Trump is the favorite of white supremacy groups makes him guilty by association, maybe not fair. What does Trump stand for that resonates with these white supremacy groups?

Asked if he would publicly reject the support of former Ku Klux Klan grand wizard David Duke, Republican presidential front-runner Donald Trump said, “I just don’t know anything about him.” That’s nonsense:

Trump was again asked about Duke in a Feb. 28 interview on CNN’s “State of the Union” by anchor Jake Tapper.
Tapper, Feb. 28: I want to ask you about the Anti-Defamation League, which this week called on you to publicly condemn unequivocally the racism of former KKK grand wizard David Duke, who recently said that voting against you at this point would be treason to your heritage. Will you unequivocally condemn David Duke and say that you don’t want his vote or that of other white supremacists in this election?

Trump: Well, just so you understand, I don’t know anything about David Duke. OK? I don’t know anything about what you’re even talking about with white supremacy or white supremacists. So, I don’t know.

Trump went on to say that he did not want to condemn any groups until he knew something about them. He told Tapper to “give me a list of the groups” and he would review them. But Tapper returned to Duke.
Tapper: OK. I mean, I’m just talking about David Duke and the Ku Klux Klan here, but…

Trump: I don’t know any — honestly, I don’t know David Duke. I don’t believe I have ever met him. I’m pretty sure I didn’t meet him. And I just don’t know anything about him.

Trump should be well aware of Duke — especially since Trump once said he decided not to run for president in 2000 in part because of David Duke and his politics.


http://www.factcheck.org/2016/03/trumps-david-duke-amnesia/

walter said...

So how did Hil's use of affect in her "I aint no wayzz tyrred" bit resonate withe the black "community"?

I think Hil gets a pass both as a dem and as the spouse of the "first black president"

Anonymous said...

More reasons Trump isn't getting the black vote.

Tweets taken from racist websites speaking about the ( false) level of crimes committed by blacks against whites.

His history with the Central Park Five.

Hagar said...

Blacks historically recoil from Republicans.

For recent history and in the north, this is true, but it certainly was not so prior to the "Great Migration," or in the south prior to the 1960's.

Note Condoleezza Rice saying that her father became a Republican because the local Republican Party chairman would register him to vote and the Democratic Party chairman would not.

khesanh0802 said...

Perhaps the A-A community will begin to notice that Trump may have their interests in mind. If you read his Milwaukee speech in its entirety he commits a lot more attention to the real concerns of blacks than our black president does. As a small indication see Obama on charter schools in DC.

Anonymous said...

More reasons:

Trump going to a 99% white town to ask blacks for their vote, when he was 30 miles away from a city, Milwaukee whose black population Is more than 40%.

Bilwick said...

It helps to keep in mind that the word "racist" has come to mean: "whatever 'liberals' and other State-f*ckers disagree with." In the future, everyone will be racist for fifteen minutes (and "sexist," too, if Crazy Eye Killa gets elected president).

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Sanneh ends by wondering why Trump nevertheless polls so badly with African-Americans and posits the obvious: the Democratic Party has a tight grip on this voting bloc and Trump "has acquired a reputation as a racist."

Yeah, no shit; the Media labels Trump racist and declares that he is against black people, so even though there's no real evidence that he dislikes or holds a low opinion of blacks a large portion of America believes he's racist against black people. Total mystery how that happens--just like it's baffling how large #s of folks came to believe that Romney was anti-woman and anti-gay, or that GWBush didn't "care about black people," or that GBush Sr. was aloof and out of touch...etc. A total puzzle.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

You don't actually have to do or say anything racist to be called "ugly," right? It's not a label that can be easily gotten rid of.

GWBush and his Millennium Challenge Corp. & Pepfar have done more good in Africa than any other organization you can think of (certainly much more good than any Clinton foundation) as acknowledged by all sorts of folks...but nope, he's still a racist hillbilly and so are all members of his Party.

Hagar said...

The charge on Trump speaking in West Bend:
When was the venue in West Bend booked?
Were there suitable venues in Milwaukee available on short notice?
What was the reaction from the Secret Service to Trump going to Milwaukee?
What was the reaction from the Milwaukee police to the suggestion that Trump come there at this time?

Nonapod said...

Once this election is over and Hillary is our president, what will people in the media write about? Once Trump is gone, what can be discussed? Who will be left to blame for all the bad stuff? Who will there be to talk about?

Brando said...

"For recent history and in the north, this is true, but it certainly was not so prior to the "Great Migration," or in the south prior to the 1960's."

Or even in the north before that. I'd say the two big things moving blacks to the Democrats were the New Deal, after which the GOP never won a black majority in a presidential race (though came relatively close for a bit) and then the Goldwater nomination, which effectively made blacks vote overwhelmingly for Dems ever since.

"Perhaps the A-A community will begin to notice that Trump may have their interests in mind."

Well, good luck--every cycle the GOP keeps saying "if only blacks realized they'd do better under what we propose, with school choice, business development, lower crime rates, etc." and it never seems to make a dent. I don't know what it'd take to make that dent, but it'd have to be something beyond what they've been doing. At the very least though, convincing more whites that you're not racist pays better dividends. Whites fear being thought of as racist more than anything, and those votes are up for grabs at least.

Chuck said...

Trump's criticism of Scalia's questioning of counsel in the University if Texas case wasn't progressive, and it certainly wasn't racist.

It was Trump, parroting some garbage he learned from "watching the shows."

Anonymous said...

He was scheduled to have spoken in Milwaukee first. He would've gained some respect from the black community if he had shown some leadership and courage here. Instead, he chickened out.

http://www.jsonline.com/story/news/politics/elections/2016/08/15/trump-speaking-milwaukee-west-bend/88766680/

Donald Trump is making two stops on Tuesday in southeastern Wisconsin, where he has failed to gain traction even though it is one of the strongest Republican bases in the United States.

He will appear first at 6 p.m. at the Pabst Theater, 144 E. Wells St., in an event hosted by Fox News and conservative political commentator Sean Hannity. Doors open at 3 p.m.; seating is first come, first serve

Trump will then head to West Bend for a rally at 7:30 p.m. the Washington County Fair Park and Conference Center, 3000 Pleasant Valley Road.

Brando said...

"Trump's criticism of Scalia's questioning of counsel in the University if Texas case wasn't progressive, and it certainly wasn't racist."

What it reveals is more of a man who doesn't care to understand conservative arguments. The idea that this guy is going to appoint another Scalia is far fetched. Hillary is about as likely to do so by accident.

walter said...

"Obtuse" it is.

Luke Lea said...

Trump "has acquired a reputation as a racist."

Gee, I wonder how that happened? No wonder he wants to expand our libel laws with regard to the media.

Freder Frederson said...

I don't know what it'd take to make that dent, but it'd have to be something beyond what they've been doing.

Maybe it's because African Americans aren't as gullible as you wish them to be. They know bullshit when they hear it. Republicans simply aren't interested in improving the lives of the less fortunate. Just look at the comments by traditionalguy and hombre: Blacks are lazy, uneducated and uncivilized. Any problems they have are entirely their own fault.

Hagar said...

Once is an event, twice is coincidence, thrice is the result of enemy action.
So how is it that every metropolitan area in the U.S. with "racial troubles" is run by a Democratic Party machine?

walter said...

Hagar said...

The charge on Trump speaking in West Bend:
When was the venue in West Bend booked?
Were there suitable venues in Milwaukee available on short notice?
What was the reaction from the Secret Service to Trump going to Milwaukee?
What was the reaction from the Milwaukee police to the suggestion that
Trump come there at this time?
--
Yeah..none of that matters to "Obtuse". The Pabst was a Fox/Hannity event/show.
West Bend was a traditional rally.
But again, I don't remember Hil in some solidarity march there.

Fernandinande said...

City Kiblah
Population 0 residents

Levi Starks said...

I would say that he hasn't spent a sufficient amount of time pandering to that demographic. But I can certainly see that as the Democrats have seto such a high bar for pandering, the Trump campaign may simply not think it's worth it.

Brando said...

"Maybe it's because African Americans aren't as gullible as you wish them to be. They know bullshit when they hear it. Republicans simply aren't interested in improving the lives of the less fortunate."

Or maybe a lot of conservatives simply view blacks as part of the general population rather than a specific group to pander to, and genuinely believe that small-government individualism and law and order would do far more for everyone, blacks included.

That doesn't mean blacks buy the message--clearly they don't--but to make a sweeping generalization that conservatives are bigots or at best uncaring bastards is about as valid as the comments here about all blacks being lazy or stupid.

I know--it's not fun when the answers are more complicated than our simple worldviews allow. But that's life.

Ann Althouse said...

Stop the boring back-and-forth about pseudonyms. It's off topic and a distraction. I am deleting. Just ignore people you don't want to read or email me if someone is a problem for some reason. Consider the reading experience for others.

Dude1394 said...

The democrat party has the slaves solidly on the plantation. To be honest I see very little evidence that the black community really thinks about much of anything.

Anonymous said...

Precisely.

jg said...

Why would someone admit to being 'surprised' that a white man is not an anti-black racist?

walter said...

Right Levi,
As we see from "Obtuse", even if Trump says the right things..he wasn't in the hot zone so doesn't matter.
I have to say though..in terms of content, THAT was historic in terms of addressing so much that needed to be said..said ANYWHERE by a general election presidential candidate. If he can bring that content into the debates, maybe he will get another shot at disseminating it. I fear that well put together speech was overshadowed by the staff shakeup. Is the new team able to continue at that level?
But yeah..the bar is not only set high, but also crooked.
Romney thought he would be rewarded for pandering to women with the "binders" comment. Of course, he was supposed to have the binders but not mention them. Sexist, racist pandering should always be pleasantly wrapped.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget that Trump was also sued by the Justice Dept. in 1973 for racial discrimination in regard to renting apartments to black occupants.

Freder Frederson said...

but to make a sweeping generalization that conservatives are bigots or at best uncaring bastards

You forgot one generalization: that many conservatives are gullible and actually believe that the Republican Establishment or Donald Trump actually care about the concerns of the average person (beyond that which is necessary to maintain law and order).

And "small government individualism and law and order" is practically an oxymoron.

Anonymous said...

Maybe statements like this don't sit well with the black community.

“A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. I think sometimes a black may think they don’t have an advantage or this and that... I’ve said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage.’’

Donald Trump

walter said...

Might not sit well..but it's true.

Anonymous said...

Trump has a history...

According to a book written by former Trump Plaza Hotel & Casino president John R. O’Donnell, the real estate mogul once said in 1991 that “Laziness is a trait in blacks.” He was allegedly referring to a black accountant working for Trump Plaza, and added, ““Black guys counting my money! I hate it. The only kind of people I want counting my money are short guys that wear yarmulkes every day.” The kicker is that Trump, in a 1999 Playboy magazine interview, did not even deny saying those things. He admitted O’Donnell’s allegations were “probably true,” but insisted it didn’t matter because he was obviously a disgruntled employee.

walter said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
walter said...

The same is true for women in STEM fields.

Hagar said...

There is a very basic division between the political parties on the subject of "doing for."
Even the most radical "progressive" Republicans of the past agitated for individuals being enabled to "do for" themselves.
The "liberal" Democrats have always been for a top down, "we will do for you, and you vote for us."

Brando said...

"You forgot one generalization: that many conservatives are gullible and actually believe that the Republican Establishment or Donald Trump actually care about the concerns of the average person (beyond that which is necessary to maintain law and order)."

That's another matter--the Republican establishment has not lived up to its small government rhetoric, and Trump is not pushing small government anything. But that does not mean that previous attempts to sell conservatism (from the GOP or elsewhere) to black voters were not genuine.

"And "small government individualism and law and order" is practically an oxymoron."

Not really--an effective police force and criminal justice system does not require big government, nor does it require a lack of individual rights. Being "small government" does not mean "pure anarchy" any more than "big government leftism" means "totalitarian dictatorship and abolition of private property."

Anonymous said...

Walter,

As IF Trump, whose daddy gave him a fast million as seed money didn't have enough "advantage" already. This callous out of touch comment is exactly why blacks see him as someone who would not have their best interests at heart.

Brando said...

“A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market. I think sometimes a black may think they don’t have an advantage or this and that... I’ve said on one occasion, even about myself, if I were starting off today, I would love to be a well-educated black, because I believe they do have an actual advantage.’’

I can see how a statement like that could be taken as insensitive to disadvantages of typical black people, but there's nothing bigoted about opposing racial preferences and technically speaking, if Trump had all the advantages of being born into the Trump family but also was black, are you suggesting that would not give him an added advantage? At the very least it would qualify his businesses for race-based set asides. And I imagine a lot of leftists would be more gingerly about criticizing him if he were an outspoken and incompetent black Trump.

Brando said...

"As IF Trump, whose daddy gave him a fast million as seed money didn't have enough "advantage" already. This callous out of touch comment is exactly why blacks see him as someone who would not have their best interests at heart."

Yes, but it's likely he didn't mean he'd have been better off being born poor (or middle class) and black vs. born rich. I read that comment as he thinks all else equal, having black skin would have given him an advantage--and among the already wealthy, that's true. The negatives for being black in this country are more tied to economics than race.

walter said...

No..you're right. Trump had advantage himself. There are blacks that were born into advantage as well.
It doesn't make what he said untrue.
Dislike the messenger..the message is accurate.

Comanche Voter said...

So Charles Blow, who fills the vital role on the New York Times of "our favorite black buffoon"--"blows it" once again. Blow is a one note johnny.

walter said...

Of course, Harry Reid suggested being "light skinned with no negro dialect" can be helpful.
Sometimes I think of the unspoken discrimination against a frumpy looking white guy with a deep South accent trying to land a job in NYC.

Brando said...

"Sometimes I think of the unspoken discrimination against a frumpy looking white guy with a deep South accent trying to land a job in NYC."

Major factors in job discrimination include funny names, thick accents (regional as well as foreign), height, baldness, ugliness, weight, and skin quality. Most of these cannot be helped (maybe weight) but they are far more likely to keep you from getting a job than race.

Anonymous said...

“THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS RACISM ANYMORE. WE’VE HAD A BLACK PRESIDENT SO IT’S NOT A QUESTION ANYMORE. ARE THEY SAYING BLACK LIVES SHOULD MATTER MORE THAN WHITE LIVES OR ASIAN LIVES? IF BLACK LIVES MATTER, THEN GO BACK TO AFRICA? WE’LL SEE HOW MUCH THEY MATTER THERE.” Donald Trump in South Carolina.

All caps not done by me.

Hagar said...

A well-educated black has a tremendous advantage over a well-educated white in terms of the job market.

I would think Barack Obama's career is a great example of this statement.

Freder Frederson said...

Yeah, I am sure if there was an equally qualified Black man graduating from Wharton in 1968 he would have got the job with Trump's dad rather than Donald.

Freder Frederson said...

I would think Barack Obama's career is a great example of this statement.

And of course George W. Bush would have had had a much easier time getting into Yale if he were black and not a Legacy.

walter said...

Well..you can conflate nepotism with race if you want. But it really doesn't make Trump's statement untrue.
The "Yeah but.." argument is weak.

Brando said...

"Yeah, I am sure if there was an equally qualified Black man graduating from Wharton in 1968 he would have got the job with Trump's dad rather than Donald."

If that equally qualified Black man was also Fred Trump's son, then perhaps.

The point isn't that legacies and wealth and inheritances aren't far more important than race. Actually, I think my whole point is that those things are more important than race. But to hear the racialist left, you'd think some white kid in Appalachia with a single parent and nothing to eat all day but government cheese has an advantage over Malia Obama because of his white privilege, and so of course Harvard should give Malia extra points for being black.

Brando said...

"And of course George W. Bush would have had had a much easier time getting into Yale if he were black and not a Legacy."

And if anyone suggests that they'd rather be black and poor vs. white and rich, I'd agree with you that that person is nuts.

walter said...

Or if you want to stick with that tack, do you really think there is no nepotism in successful black family businesses?

walter said...

"you'd think some white kid in Appalachia with a single parent and nothing to eat all day but government cheese has an advantage over Malia Obama because of his white privilege, and so of course Harvard should give Malia extra points for being black."

That's the level of sophisticated thinking involved in those elevated mindsets.

Freder Frederson said...

But to hear the racialist left, you'd think some white kid in Appalachia with a single parent and nothing to eat all day but government cheese has an advantage over Malia Obama because of his white privilege, and so of course Harvard should give Malia extra points for being black.

Can you point to anyone who believes this?

Hagar said...

And of course George W. Bush would have had had a much easier time getting into Yale if he were black and not a Legacy.

Non sequitur, Freddie. My comment was about his career after graduating from Columbia and Harvard, however he got there.

Hagar said...

Which, BTW, we would still like to know more about.

William said...

My understanding is that the Muslim tribes of Africa did not enslave fellow Muslms. They did enslave animists and Christians. I think the black Muslim population in America is a recent phenomenon and owes more to proselytization than to tradition.......It is interesting to note that Charles Blow feels no animus against those black ethnic groups who were slave traders. He certainly expresses more animus against whites who had nothing to do with the slave trade than with those blacks with centuries of slave dealing in their family background such as the recent Somali immigrants.......Kenyatta, the current president of Kenya, has instigated several massacres against the Luo tribe. Many of this tribe are refugees and live in camps where the women are repeatedly raped by the security forces. Don't hold your breath waiting for Blow to speak out against the atrocities committed against the people who look like Obama's grandmother. What's really sinful is the suspicious way Obama's other grandma looks on blacks at bus stops in America.

walter said...

Hagar,
I still remember a so-called biography of Obama I saw back in '08. The phrase that stuck went something like "And then he arrived at Harvard".
Like you just pick the appropriate bus and that's that.

Unknown said...

Always dangerous to think that one can shed light on an issue, but here goes:

If you think of Scott Adams' "persuaders" Trump is the typical old, white man that blacks see as "racist" without further information. Then the folks who they count on to inform them begin to scream "Racist!" Confirmation bias and all that. Since he is a Republican, case closed.
But what if they smell a rat (God knows the atmosphere reeks with media bias) and begin to pay attention to the campaign. So they go to yahoo to see the interview between the CNN (journalist?) and a Trump spokesperson.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/donald-trump-aide-on-awkward-exchange-with-cnn-anchor-i-think-i-unraveled-her-233522443.html
I should tell you that this clip was first shown from the beginning of the interview in which the Trump spokesperson accused the show of biased reporting (pointing to the banner below the clip calling the change in campaign staff a "shakeup") and verbally pointing out the bias in their coverage. That portion of the interview has been deleted. You can, however, still watch a portion of the interview. Then, yahoo, thinking that folks could still get too favorable an opinion of the Trump spokesperson next show this:
https://www.yahoo.com/movies/says-donald-trump-lawyer-cnn-interview-goes-viral-013649619.html
On this one they finally get it "right". Now one can only draw the "correct" conclusion about the interview. Democratic media bias in action. What if most black people only get the final version?

YoungHegelian said...

Indeed, the Muslim faith has deep roots in the black community because many Africans brought to this country as slaves were Muslims.

Absolute historical bullshit.

The areas of Africa where most of the slaves shipped to the Americas came from were animists, not Muslim.

With all the slaves brought to the US, if a large fraction were Muslim, don't you think some sort of Muslim traditions would have survived, because the animist traditions sure did (e.g. the just-married couple jumping over a broom at the wedding)?

No, this is just made-up Afro-centric bullshit history made up by the nation of Islam or its fellow travelers to try & bring more blacks into the fold. I'd say I expect better of Blow, but I don't.

Bad Lieutenant said...

Unknown said...
“THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS RACISM ANYMORE. WE’VE HAD A BLACK PRESIDENT SO IT’S NOT A QUESTION ANYMORE. ARE THEY SAYING BLACK LIVES SHOULD MATTER MORE THAN WHITE LIVES OR ASIAN LIVES? IF BLACK LIVES MATTER, THEN GO BACK TO AFRICA? WE’LL SEE HOW MUCH THEY MATTER THERE.” Donald Trump in South Carolina.

All caps not done by me.

8/18/16, 2:51 PM

As far as I can see the whole "quote" was done by you.

Hagar said...

There are at leat two people who claim they know for a fact that Bill Ayers' parents paid for Obama at Columbia, which would indicate that Trump is not the only one who thinks an educated Black man would be an easier sale than an uneducated one.
If Obama had any notable accomplishments prior to running for office other than having graduated from Harvard, we have not been told about them.

Brando said...

"Can you point to anyone who believes this?"

I'll start with Sonia "Race Matters" Sotomayor, who defends race based affirmative action. The entire theory behind it is that a person regardless of their circumstances is shackled by the race they were born to.

mockturtle said...

'Indeed, the Muslim faith has deep roots in the black community because many Africans brought to this country as slaves were Muslims.'

Absolute historical bullshit.


Right you are, YH! It was, in fact, Arab Muslims who captured and sold black Africans into slavery.

mockturtle said...

Just ignore people you don't want to read

I just ignore anything by an 'Unknown' poster.

walter said...

" shackled by the race they were born to. "
Or endowed with desirable qualities by it..eg. "wise latina"

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

"And I truly believe that that white liberal elites have absolutely no interest if freeing the inner city African-American community from its current confinement in the Democrat Party."

Without a doubt. A permanent majority requires a permanent underclass. And there are no shortage of eager Toms like Blow to ensure that Black folks stay down.

Mike (MJB Wolf) said...

But to hear the racialist left, you'd think some white kid in Appalachia with a single parent and nothing to eat all day but government cheese has an advantage over Malia Obama because of his white privilege, and so of course Harvard should give Malia extra points for being black.

Can you point to anyone who believes this?

Find anyone who believes that critical race theory crap and point at them. This includes most commentators on MSNBC, the BLM movement, that lovely Dr. Gates fellow from Harvard, Van Jones, the Nation of Islam, and a lot of mushy headed white folk educated by the worst our country has to offer.

John henry said...

Blogger Brando said...


1) Blacks historically recoil from Republicans. This isn't going to change in


True, of course but I have never understood why. Do you have any thoughts on why, Brando? Or perhaps why blacks embrace the historic party of the KKK, racism, lynchings, segregation and so on? What, specifically, have Republicans done that would cause black to flee to this treacherous embrace?

I posted this in another thread the other night:



Speaking of Demmies, I cannot for the life of me understand why any black person would support a party that:

Elected a former KKK Grand Kleagle (title?) as Senate Majority Leader for many years.

Still calls that former KKK leader "The Conscience of the Senate"

Held the floor of the Senate for 2-1/2 months in a speaking filibuster trying to prevent passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. (Republicans were key in eventually breaking the filibuster)

Consistently blocked ALL civil rights legislation including anti-lynching laws for 100 years.

Elected governors like George "Segregation today, segregation forever" Wallace and gave him party positions.

Supported folks who murdered civil rights workers like Chaney et al.

Had an slew of truly odious, virulent, racists in the House and Senate as late as the 80s. (Russell, Eastland, Byrd, Bird, many others)

Whose National Committeeman, Bull Connor, sicced dogs and firehoses on peaceful demonstrators.

Added:

Whose president Wilson removed protections that blacks had in civil service jobs and fired or demoted those already occupying "white" positions.

And of course the entire issue of shithole cities run since forever by Democrats. (Including Madison WI)

John Henry

retail lawyer said...

If Mitt Romney "was going ta put you all back in chains", imagine the horrors Trump would visit upon Blacks.

Anonymous said...

What an odd correction, by the way, from the Times. They note that they had referred to the word Kiblah as derived from the word kaa'ba, when it is instead "the direction in which Muslims pray toward Mecca." But while the word (more commonly transliterated as Qiblah, btw) is not etymologically directly tied to the word Kaa'ba, it is intimately connected in meaning. Muslims orient themselves at prayer time so that their bodies are pointed toward the Kaa'ba, which is located in the heart of the city of Mecca. Why the need to nitpick with such a correction? The significance is the same.

John henry said...

Blogger Michael said...

Latinos are not a "race."

Not even an ethnic group.

The only thing, culturally, that Latinos have in common is that they speak Spanish. More or less. The same way USAins and Brits speak English. Same language but just barely sometimes.

Argentines, for example, speak Spanish with an inflection that makes it sound more like Italian than Spanish. Until about WWII there were as many people who spoke Italian as a first language in Argentina as there were who spoke Spanish as their first. And perhaps the majority of the population spoke neither as their first language.

Brazilians don't even have language in common yet are considered, by US Govt, to be "Hispanics" for EEO purposes.

People from Spain are not Latino/Hispanic

So tell me, what does a Peruvian have in common with a Puerto Rican? Or a Colombian with a Cuban?

The whole Latino/hispanic thing is 100% pure, smelly, bullshit.

John Henry


Brando said...

John Henry--my best guess is that as blacks on average are poorer than whites, even the more relatively well off blacks have a friend or relative that hit on hard times or had trouble with the law, and have been socialized over hundreds of years since slavery to see themselves as outside and separate from whites. Plus, historically they saw federal action as doing something about poverty and preventing local abuses (e.g., a state law enforcing a race code) so to them big government programs are more positive while local law enforcement are more an occupying force than helpful. We can argue that a decent police force is better for the poor (who are more likely victims of crime) and that big government orograms can make poverty worse, but those sentiments were ingrained since the FDR and LBJ days. It's reinforced by the left continuing to stress racial difference and emphasize victim hood, but those feelings go back a long way and are hard to unlearn.

Plus, over the years it just didn't make sense for the GOP to invest long term in turning the black vote, because the costs outweighed the likely number of votes that might turn. Meanwhile the Dems are there, for decades, handing out services and approving license applications, and registering voters, and consoling families in black neighborhoods--maintaining the pattern. It benefits the Dems more to invest there, and try to increase black turnout. So even more moderate or conservative blacks still stick with the more moderate elements of their party (hence picking Hillary over Bernie).

My two cents, anyway. I'd like to hear additional theories.

mockturtle said...

Great speech by Trump in NC!

320Busdriver said...

I must say The Donald is showing signs of a pivot while speaking in Charlotte NC tonight

A serious play for guys like Charlie Blow. Who'd a thunk it?

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Brando,

Major factors in job discrimination include funny names, thick accents (regional as well as foreign), height, baldness, ugliness, weight, and skin quality. Most of these cannot be helped (maybe weight) but they are far more likely to keep you from getting a job than race.

Agreed. Not quite sure about the funny names (Reince Priebus, anyone?), but you can't help but notice that even the Southerners in our broadcast TV network have only the smallest soupcon of a Southern accent. Would anyone even know that Cokie Roberts was from Louisiana if she didn't constantly mention it herself? Biden faking it ("They're gonna put y'all back in chains!") sounds more authentically Southern, and while Delaware is technically below the Mason-Dixon Line, he's not a Southerner; just plays one on TV.

As for height, weight, baldness, ugliness, and skin quality ... you can't comment on any of these, because they aren't things we have fixes for yet. May I suggest a burqa with a 6' standard height? It could be propped up from behind with wires or coat hangers or the like, and needn't display anything of a politician but his/her voice. Except that that, also, might not be congenial. Vocoders?

narciso said...

ah charles blow, removes all doubt again, of course who were among the first slavers on the africa coast, that would be the arabs, they even had a word for their quarry, zanj, they colonized certainly the east and the interior

Jupiter said...

Brando said...

"All told, his problem isn't so much the black vote (which was already low last cycle--we're still looking at single digits) but with whites who buy into the "racist" branding. That's a larger group, and one that spans well into the conservative population."

That's the problem, all right. But BLM and the SJWs are working hard to turn it around.

Lou Gots said...

Someone who thinks that I owe him something when I do not concur, is, at least, my opponent in litigation, and, if it should come to it, my enemy in war.

If someone imagines that I am obligated to him for things which happened in the United Stated before my grandparents were born in Italy and Poland, let him come and take what he thinks he is owed.

Jupiter said...

Since the end of WWII, the traditional Democratic base of blue-collar workers who see blacks as competition for jobs and neighborhoods has been shrinking, while the ranks of college-educated whites have been increasing. Most of these whites have little or no contact with the kind of blacks who fill the prisons, nor can blacks compete with them for jobs or housing. Since they have no important interests that are threatened by blacks, they can afford to make themselves feel virtuous by calling people who are threatened by blacks "racists". The Democrats have discovered that they can pander shamelessly to blacks without endangering the votes of white liberals. Republican politicians have been playing along, doing their own virtue signaling and selling out their voters.

Trump's astonishing success is an indication that the victims are beginning to see how the con works, and we are not amused. Trump may not win this election, but Trump is not really the ideal candidate to represent us either.

Jupiter said...

Unknown said...

"Trump going to a 99% white town to ask blacks for their vote, when he was 30 miles away from a city, Milwaukee whose black population Is more than 40%."

Trump is not trying to convince blacks to vote for him. He is trying to convince white people that black people don't want a fair shake, they want special treatment. The blacks in Milwaukee know that already.

Quaestor said...

To Charles Blow:

Ethnographic studies of West Africans taken to the New World as slaves have shown that the majority were animist and not Muslim. There are in fact traces of their religious beliefs in the Caribbean (Haiti), South America (Brazil), and in the American South, chiefly Louisiana. Voodoo and Santería are just two of the dozens of syncretic regions practiced by the descendants of slaves in Western Hemisphere. Contrastingly the influence Islam is conspicuous by its absence.

The half-baked notion that Islam is the cultural foundation of African Americans is just another example of Afrocentric mythologizing, much like the thoroughly discredited claims made on the culture of pharaonic Egypt by certain black studies academics in the 1980's.

narciso said...

he had a townhall with david clarke in milwaukee proper, before he gave the speech, fwiw,

Michael The Magnificent said...

Google results for "THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS RACISM ANYMORE. WE’VE HAD A BLACK PRESIDENT SO IT’S NOT A QUESTION ANYMORE. ARE THEY SAYING BLACK LIVES SHOULD MATTER MORE THAN WHITE LIVES OR ASIAN LIVES? IF BLACK LIVES MATTER, THEN GO BACK TO AFRICA? WE’LL SEE HOW MUCH THEY MATTER THERE."



Your search - "THERE’S NO SUCH THING AS RACISM ANYMORE. WE’VE HAD A BLACK PRESIDENT SO ... - did not match any documents.

Suggestions:

Make sure all words are spelled correctly.
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Michael The Magnificent said...

In other words, Unknown, you are a liar spreading hate and propaganda.

Bad Lieutenant said...

I thought I already said that about Unknown Goebbels.