Thomas Sowell explains political incentives when it comes to wooing black voters in this article titled “Black Votes Matter” (click here). Let’s read some excerpts from the article.
“Black votes matter to many politicians – more so than black lives. That is why such politicians must try to keep black voters fearful, angry and resentful. Racial harmony would be a political disaster for such politicians.”
“Racial polarization makes both the black population and the white population worse off, but it makes politicians who depend on black votes better off.”
“People who expected the election of President Barack Obama to lead to racial healing and a post-racial society failed to take account of the political reality that racial healing and a post-racial society would, at a minimum, reduce black voter turnout.”
“Hillary Clinton desperately needs black votes in this year’s close election. Promoting fear, anger and resentments among blacks – and , if possible, paranoia – serves her political interest. Barack Obama has mastered the art of keeping black voters aroused while keeping white voters soothed – thanks in part to the gullibility of much of the public, who mistake geniality and glib rhetoric for honesty and good will.”
“Obama has repeatedly put the weight and prestige of the presidency on the side of those who denounce the police before any facts are verified – and even after facts have come out, exposing the fraudulence of such claims as the claim that the “gentle giant’ Michael Brown said, “hands up, don’t shoot.”
“When a career race hustler like Al Sharpton, with a history of hoaxes, is a regular visitor and advisor to the White House, that is a reality that whites and blacks alike ignore at their peril.”
“Hillary Clinton plays the same political game of posing as a defender of blacks from enemies threatening them on all sides, as she tries to win an election that would amount to a third term of the Obama administration’s policies – most of which have left blacks worse off than before Obama took office.”
“The Ancient phrase, “By their fruits ye shall know them” has been replaced by the current notion that by their rhetoric you should judge them – and vote for them.”
“One of the key questions this election year is whether black lives matter more than black votes that can be won by racial charades that undermine and endanger those lives. The answer to that question will affect all Americans, because racial turmoil is to no one’s interest, except some politicians and race hustlers.”
Walter E. Williams: What Can Discrimination Explain?
In this related article, What Can Discrimination Explain? (click here), Walter E. Williams looks at racial discrimination to see how much blame it has for the plight of blacks. Here are some excerpts from the article:
“Racial discrimination is seen as the cause of many problems of black Americans. No one argues that racial discrimination does not exist or does not have effects. The relevant question, as far as policy and resource allocation are concerned, is: How much of what we see is caused by current racial discrimination?”
“Some argue that it is the “legacy of slavery” and societal racism that now explain the social pathology in many black neighborhoods…..When I was a youngster, during the 1940’s illegitimacy was around 15 percent. In the same period, about 80 percent of black children were born inside marriage……Today only a little over 30 percent of black children are raised in two-parent households. The importance of these and other statistics showing greater stability and less pathology among blacks in earlier periods is that they put a lie to today’s excuses. Namely, at a time when blacks were closer to slavery, faced far more discrimination, faced more poverty and had fewer opportunities, there was not the kind of social pathology and weak family structure we see today.”
“Intellectuals and political hustlers who blame the plight of so many blacks on poverty, racial discrimination and the “legacy of slavery” are complicit in the sodio-economic and moral decay. But one can earn money, prestige and power in the vistimhood game. As Booker T. Washington long ago observed, “there is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Having learned that they are able to make a living out of their troubles, they have grown into the settled habit of advertising their wrongs – partly because they want sympathy and partly because it pays. Some of these people do not want the Negro to lose his grievances, because they do not want to lose their jobs.”
Related Article – Thomas Sowell: The Economics And Politics Of Race, at austrianaddict.com.
Related Article – The ‘Disparate Impact’ Racket, by Thomas Sowell, at austrianaddict.com.
Related Article – Michelle Obama vs. Thomas Sowell On The Politics Of Race, at austrianaddict.com.
AUSTRIAN ECONOMICS ADDICT 