Blacks and the Democratic Party; It Just Doesn't Make sense!!

There are many reasons Blacks support the Democratic Party. The number one reason is because of Democratic Party's Civil Rights record at the state and local level. In 1960 President John F. Kennedy promised an executive order barring racial discrimination in federal housing programs "with a stroke of my pen." 2) Made a phone call to Coretta Scott King after Dr. King's Oct. 1960 arrest in Atlanta Sit-In. The Segregationist Response was to use Congressional and State Power to Block Civil Rights Reforms. After the Alabama Governor Refused to Act and Accused Black Riders of Fomenting Violence, John and Robert Kennedy were forced to Use Federal Marshals and Troops to Protect Riders. The Freedom Riders were eventually attacked and their bus burned in Anniston, AL. During Summer '61, 300 Riders Sentenced to MS's Parchman Prison. The Kennedys Negotiated the Mississippi Deal. The Governor Guaranteed No Mob Attacks, but Arrested the Riders for Using Segregated Facilities in Jackson Bus Station. The Kennedy's eventually Convinced the Interstate Commerce Commission to Rule Segregated Facilities (Buses & Stations) Illegal. This is why up until today you can go into many Black households and see pictures of President John F. Kennedy, Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther King hanging on their living room walls. Now let's move to present day politics. Since 1981, the Republican Party has adopted a strategy of suppressing the black vote in closely contested states in order to win elected office. The political calculus is simple: For the past forty years, blacks have voted overwhelmingly for Democrats in statewide and presidential elections, and Democrats have required high black turnout to win closely contested elections, particularly in the South. One way to ensure Republican victories in closely contested states, then, is to suppress the black vote. Thus, for the past twenty-five years, Republican Party functionaries and Republican Departments of Justice have administered "vote integrity" and "vote security" initiatives aimed at purging blacks from the rolls and intimidating those that come to the polls. More recently, the Bush 2000 and 2004 campaigns have worked with Republican Secretaries of State - Florida 2000 and Ohio 2004 are the most noteworthy examples - to create voting system crises where large numbers of newly registered blacks are anticipated at the polls. The results have been a lack of voting machines in high turnout precincts resulting in long lines that act as a disincentive to vote, understaffed election helplines that lead to busy signals for voters and election workers, arbitrary election administration rulings that disqualify prospective black voters, and a number of other preventable problems that disproportionately effect new black voters. Once in office, the Bush Administration simply enlisted the Justice Department, Civil Rights Division in this ongoing campaign. Can you now see why Blacks may not be trustful of the Republican Party? It was not until the 1965 Voting Rights Act that blacks could vote in a truly democratic way. And that was not that long ago. Lastly I like to say that those who haven't walked in the shoes of a Black person shouldn't be so quick to attack their voting preferences. In the end, it's a private matter. I can't find any posts here at myLot asking why White people support a particular Party or Candidate. Let us enjoy our Democratic right to vote for the person or party of our choice without just like any other American. Lloyd

if you want to know how blind blacks can be, come visit africa. america is a dream country for blacks. repub or democ, its a dream. here we have dictator leaders who rob the people and country and make the people believe its still the whities fault. we want to leave south africa asap.

Hello Sir Rodney, I share your confusion over this. How can anyone read the accompanying excerpts from the Democratic Party Platform, to the infamous rants of some of the Democrat party's most revered heroes and not recoil against the party as the hateful, elitist bigots that they have been, and continue to be. This bigotted, hateful racism is not just a thing of the DNC's past. It continues through today, including recently elected Senators and Presidential hopefuls. I cannot fathom how America's Black population has continued to demonize the Republican Party, yet overwhelmingly supports the Democrat Party. This is surely one of life's great mysteries. Thanks for sharing this article. It is a fairly decent summary of DNC racism, yet it leaves out some of the biggest offenders. For example: the greatest hero of the left, FDR ("The Butcher of Haiti) is only noted on this list as having appointed hateful bigots. Yet, none of his disparaging comments made about "dark-skinned Haitians", or "Jews" is included. So, it would seem that whoever compiled this list either didn't know about, or didn't want to include Franklin D. Roosevelt as one of the biggest offenders.

I have often wondered how any people could be so drawn to the very party who has consistently fought to keep them less than equal. When you look at some of those quotes, and several are recent.... you can't help but wonder why the blacks are so supportive of the party that is really their enemy. Yet the republicans are called racists when actually the reverse is true. The democrats are the racist party, and history has shown this to be true... as do these quotes.

Rodney.....I can't bring myself to finish reading the remaining 2/3 of your post. The tone hurts my head! Why do you talk like this.....why ?

this is so silly that I can't even believe i'm responding. do you really honestly believe this? you are getting this out of an opinion journal. it is an opinion....doesnt mean it is true.