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After reading a piece from Shaun King, I wrote the blog post titled “Do Democrats talk the talk while Republicans walk the walk.” It was meant to grab one’s attention with some inconvenient facts the Democratic Party Establishment needs to examine. SNL Michael Che coincidentally did a skit that amusingly illustrated the issue.
I posted the SNL skit on Facebook. I got the following comment from a reader.
False claim. If black voters had stood up for candidates working for the voters best interest, and it is the Democrats. Che is trying his best to take swipes at Democrats while not acknowledging how bad the Republicans are. This should not be about a grudge match being fostered by divisive forces and is not surprising. What surprises me is that when the Democrats finally get some wind at their backs in Republican-held areas, Che decides to spur in their face. Shame on him for doing so. Voting is a responsibility. Use it or lose it.
I found the response concerning and responded with, the following comment.
You are exhibit A my friend. Blacks make up 26% of the registered voters in Alabama. They’ve instituted voter ID which hampers many to vote. With all of that, blacks made up 30% of the voters in the Jones race. 98% of black women and I believe 93% of black men voted for Jones, the Democrat. 72% of whites voted for Moore, the pedophile. Your statement ” If black voters had stood up for candidates working for the voters best interest” seems misplaced not only in this election but in all elections since Nixon. Don’t you think? Blacks vote disproportionately for Democrats for the reason you state. I think if more whites would shame whites voting against their own interests instead of white Democrats shaming the few blacks who don’t we could make progress. Let’s always be fact-based in our criticisms.
The commenter then clarified his message with the following comment.
My comments are in response to Che and his attacks on the Democrats. There was no shortage of blacks in Alabama interviewed saying nothing will change. But it did because others turned out more than the had for Obama. The shame belongs on the pessimism expressed by Che and others on this conversation. I have plenty of criticism for those who vote against self interest, as well as those who sit home and blame everyone else for not voting. My criticism is fact-based and goes across the color spectrum. But neither Che nor anyone else is above being called out on BS.
I accept the clarification, but I think that he missed the gist of my comment. He may not have noticed his initial comment was quick to put a more significant burden on a sect when their sin is orders of magnitude less in voting against our interests. It is easy to discount but not so if you are a person of color. The sins of a few in the majority population but supported by that majority has harmed people of color in ways that seem trivial to many, and it is long-lasting. One cannot now ask them to be the carriers of said burden. My response had less to do with politics and more with the nature of how many think which implicitly creates the problem we see that permeates both parties. However because the Democratic Party has its glorious moral Democratic Party Platform, they do not try as hard to mitigate it’s social, justice, and racial failures. This act must be intentional for there to be change.
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