Democrats
So a Facebook friend of mine, of a very conservative and pro-birth persuasion, introduced me to a black woman named Candace Owen. He posits Ms. Owen as a counter expert to many of the issues we argue about on Facebook, particularly race oriented ones generated from the essays I write here in Trump World.
To use his words: “She’s bright and articulate. She leads a group called Blexit (black exit from the Democrat (sic) Party.”
So before I go any farther, I am going to take a point of privilege here. I am a Democrat. My political party is the DEMOCRATIC PARTY, not the Democrat Party. We Democrats believe in the ideals of the Democratic Party. There is no “Democrat Party” just as there is no “Republic Party”. So let’s get past the petty “digs” before we move on.
Ms. Owen, by the way, and many of the Republic(an) members of the House do the same thing. It must have been a Republic(an) talking point somewhere, but it just makes them sound stupid. The Republic(an) thing makes me sound stupid too, so I’ll stop.
Our Shared History
Both Ms. Owen and my friend are fixated on the Democratic Party’s role in the Civil War and post-Civil War era. It’s nothing to be proud of: Democrats were definitely on the side of slavery, segregation, discrimination, and hate. By the way, so were many Republicans, though our history has been re-written to say that there was no such thing as discrimination and hate in the North. Winners get to write the story. But, common sense tells us that it’s not true: there are many things done in the past that shame members of both political parties.
But in more recent times, it has been the Democratic Party that has led the movement towards greater Civil Rights. It was Democratic Presidents, Truman with the desegregation of the military, and Kennedy and Johnson with the passage of the civil rights act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965, leading the way. In fact, the reason why the South has been a solidly Republican voting block since Richard Nixon and Ronald Reagan, is that many Democrats in the South switched parties when the Democratic Party pushed through desegregation and greater civil rights. Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, and Trent Lott in the past, and Senator John Kennedy of Louisiana today all started as Democrats, and ended up Republicans.
Racism Today
Ms. Owen, and my friend, both seem to think that racism and white nationalism in the United States aren’t really issues, but are merely “talking-points” for the Democratic Party. But on a national achievement test given to eighth graders, white students scored 26 points higher, on average, than black students. Those numbers aren’t much different north or south, Democrat or Republican.
In the United States the average white family makes $89,632, the average black family $58,985. Prior to our current COVID-19 disaster, white unemployment was 3%, black unemployment was almost twice that at 5.7%.
Racism isn’t just an economic phenomenon. 37% of the male population in US prisons is black, while they only represent 12% of the US population. And of course, there is the ongoing struggle of black people to be treated fairly by various institutions and government entities from education to justice to employment.
These aren’t Democratic or Republican problems; they are national problems. The difference in the political parties seems to be that the Democratic Party is interested in closing these gaps, while the Republican Party seems more interested in ignoring them, and focusing on creating greater profit for investors and businesses. The Republicans are fixated on the old Ronald Reagan trope: that economic growth at the top will “trickle down” to the bottom. It hasn’t worked in the thirty-two years since Mr. Reagan left office, but the Republicans are still trying.
Abortion
Oh, and because my pro-birth friend is so definitely fixed on that topic: yes, there is a much higher rate of abortions in states like New York and Illinois and California. These are states, controlled by Democrats, who believe women should have a choice about their own bodies. And yes there are fewer abortions in those states where access has been restricted and more intrusive tests and procedures are mandated.
In Missouri for example, there is only one clinic available where a woman can even access an abortion. Those states happen to be states controlled by Republicans. But to manipulate those “statistics” to claim that Democrats are racists by allowing abortion is just distorting the facts. The question isn’t about the woman’s race; it’s about the right of that woman to choose.
My friend and I have a fundamental disagreement on this issue, so much so that there is no room for discussion. And he, like many pro-birth Republicans, is willing to accept all of Donald Trump’s immorality and dereliction of duty, to get one more Supreme Court Justice to overturn Roe v Wade.
Ms. Owen
So yes, my friend, I really did listen to Ms. Owen’s testimony to Congress. I have tried to respond to what she asserted, rather than proved. I did not find her “facts” valid or persuasive. But I do want you to know, I listened, and while we will continue to disagree, I hope we can also continue to dialog. Rather than closing doors and hiding behind ideologies, Americans need to talk.
