Sanders' appeal to Al Sharpton is just the latest chapter in a long history of Democrats taking black people for granted
By Crystal Wright Telegraph.co.uk |
Democrat presidential candidate Bernie Sanders is running such a white campaign that he rushed to New York City the day after his New Hampshire win to have breakfast with Al Sharpton to buy, I mean beg, for the black vote.
Fresh off the heels of walloping Hillary by 22 per cent margin, one would think Sanders would take a moment to celebrate or head to the next primary state South Carolina to campaign. But ironically for the Democrat Party that professes diversity, Sanders is the whitest candidate running. He represents Vermont, one of the whitest states in the US; he won the New Hampshire primary, one of the whitest primaries (with over 90 per cent white population).
And yet Sanders needs the minority vote to win the Democrat nomination. About 44 per cent of Democrat voters aren't white and Hillary's leading Sanders in the minority vote by 40 per cent and has 9 out of every 10 black voters supporting her. The majority of Sanders supporters are, by contrast – you guessed it – white!
Sanders’ solution to his black and brown problem is to break bread with Sharpton in Harlem. The good Reverend Al, who hasn’t given a sermon since I can recall, never met a racial riot or protest he didn't want to incite.
How insulting to black people that Sanders thinks all he has to do is meet with a buffoon like Sharpton to secure the black vote. As I wrote in my new book Con Job, Democrats “don't grant blacks permission to be free-thinking individuals". We're merely supposed to follow the orders of a profiteer like Sharpton.
Not that Sanders is any better than Clinton, who in 2008 spoke in a "black" accent at a campaign event at a black church in Charleston. Democrats in general take the black vote for granted and insult blacks as political dummies.
While both Sanders and Clinton promise to correct the mass incarceration of blacks in America with criminal justice reform, Clinton is literally lying to black voters. She claims too many black men are needlessly thrown in prison, but she supported her husband’s policies of incarcerating and executing blacks en masse while he was president. Bill may have been America's "first black president", as black writer Toni Morrison dubbed him, but he didn't show blacks a lot of love.
In fact, Bill locked up more prisoners in US history. When he left office in 2001, the US had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Bill was also the architect of the "3 strikes" program and disparity in sentencing guidelines of crack vs. cocaine, all which put more black men than ever behind bars. Hillary wasn’t just a First Lady standing by her man but deeply involved in every aspect of her husband’s presidency. She supported his 1994 $30 billion crime bill which “created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the expansion of police forces.”
In her support for her husband’s bill, Hillary said: "These are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”
I agree with Hillary’s assessment, but I’m not a Democrat coddling the black pathology of crime and out-of-wedlock births. The fact is Hillary will say and do anything to get elected and black votes matter to Hillary more than black lives ever will. It's outrageous for any black American to vote for Hillary. They'd be voting for their demise.
In 2012, according to the US Census, black voter turnout surpassed white voter turnout, 66.2 per cent to 64.1 per cent, for the first time in history. In South Carolina black Democrats outweigh white Democrats by 60 per cent and polls show Hillary leading Sanders with over 70 per cent of the black vote in the state primary. Knowing he’s in trouble in South Carolina and other heavily black states, Sanders went a begging to Sharpton for his endorsement. This is pathetic race pandering at best from Sanders.
What’s so sad is the black vote can be won or bought so easily with these optical illusions from Democrats like Hillary and Bernice. No other race in America but blacks votes solidly for one party and allows themselves to be politically manipulated like stuff animals. For the first time in half a century, perhaps both parties, Democrat and Republican, should try earning the black vote. And maybe black Americans should open their eyes and start voting more with their brains!
Crystal Wright is the author of Con Job: How Democrats Gave Us Crime, Sanctuary Cities, Abortion Profiteering and Racial Division. She tweets @GOPBlackChick
Fresh off the heels of walloping Hillary by 22 per cent margin, one would think Sanders would take a moment to celebrate or head to the next primary state South Carolina to campaign. But ironically for the Democrat Party that professes diversity, Sanders is the whitest candidate running. He represents Vermont, one of the whitest states in the US; he won the New Hampshire primary, one of the whitest primaries (with over 90 per cent white population).
And yet Sanders needs the minority vote to win the Democrat nomination. About 44 per cent of Democrat voters aren't white and Hillary's leading Sanders in the minority vote by 40 per cent and has 9 out of every 10 black voters supporting her. The majority of Sanders supporters are, by contrast – you guessed it – white!
Sanders’ solution to his black and brown problem is to break bread with Sharpton in Harlem. The good Reverend Al, who hasn’t given a sermon since I can recall, never met a racial riot or protest he didn't want to incite.
How insulting to black people that Sanders thinks all he has to do is meet with a buffoon like Sharpton to secure the black vote. As I wrote in my new book Con Job, Democrats “don't grant blacks permission to be free-thinking individuals". We're merely supposed to follow the orders of a profiteer like Sharpton.
Not that Sanders is any better than Clinton, who in 2008 spoke in a "black" accent at a campaign event at a black church in Charleston. Democrats in general take the black vote for granted and insult blacks as political dummies.
While both Sanders and Clinton promise to correct the mass incarceration of blacks in America with criminal justice reform, Clinton is literally lying to black voters. She claims too many black men are needlessly thrown in prison, but she supported her husband’s policies of incarcerating and executing blacks en masse while he was president. Bill may have been America's "first black president", as black writer Toni Morrison dubbed him, but he didn't show blacks a lot of love.
In fact, Bill locked up more prisoners in US history. When he left office in 2001, the US had the highest incarceration rate in the world. Bill was also the architect of the "3 strikes" program and disparity in sentencing guidelines of crack vs. cocaine, all which put more black men than ever behind bars. Hillary wasn’t just a First Lady standing by her man but deeply involved in every aspect of her husband’s presidency. She supported his 1994 $30 billion crime bill which “created dozens of new federal capital crimes, mandated life sentences for some three-time offenders, and authorized more than $16 billion for state prison grants and the expansion of police forces.”
In her support for her husband’s bill, Hillary said: "These are not just gangs of kids anymore. They are often the kinds of kids that are called ‘super-predators.’ No conscience, no empathy. We can talk about why they ended up that way, but first we have to bring them to heel.”
I agree with Hillary’s assessment, but I’m not a Democrat coddling the black pathology of crime and out-of-wedlock births. The fact is Hillary will say and do anything to get elected and black votes matter to Hillary more than black lives ever will. It's outrageous for any black American to vote for Hillary. They'd be voting for their demise.
In 2012, according to the US Census, black voter turnout surpassed white voter turnout, 66.2 per cent to 64.1 per cent, for the first time in history. In South Carolina black Democrats outweigh white Democrats by 60 per cent and polls show Hillary leading Sanders with over 70 per cent of the black vote in the state primary. Knowing he’s in trouble in South Carolina and other heavily black states, Sanders went a begging to Sharpton for his endorsement. This is pathetic race pandering at best from Sanders.
What’s so sad is the black vote can be won or bought so easily with these optical illusions from Democrats like Hillary and Bernice. No other race in America but blacks votes solidly for one party and allows themselves to be politically manipulated like stuff animals. For the first time in half a century, perhaps both parties, Democrat and Republican, should try earning the black vote. And maybe black Americans should open their eyes and start voting more with their brains!
Crystal Wright is the author of Con Job: How Democrats Gave Us Crime, Sanctuary Cities, Abortion Profiteering and Racial Division. She tweets @GOPBlackChick
No comments:
Post a Comment