Thread by @fawfulfan

What makes the claim by right-wing politicians that Black voters are like slaves on a Democratic "plantation" so insulting is that it erases the decades of political activism by the Black community that goes into *why* Black voters vote for Democrats in such large numbers.

It completely ignores that Black voters spent decades marching, getting beaten and jailed, to vote, and once they could, went to party meetings, debated the issues affecting their community, got elected to local office, and all of that is what CREATED the modern Democratic Party.

To listen to the Republican narrative, the Democratic Party is controlled by some tightly-knit group of white people who have somehow tricked hordes of low-info Black voters into following orders with promises of free stuff, without ever actually solving their real problems.

This is completely upside down. The truth is, the modern Democratic Party has been built by a generation of Black voters who, faced with poverty and segregation, got into local politics and worked their way up, so their communities could have a voice.

Furthermore, their attacks on "Democratic cities" get the causation backward.

The decisions that trapped Black Americans in cities, underfunded them, and let crime and social problems spread are complicated, and were made at every level of govt over decades. However...

...it's ridiculous to claim the contemporary election of Democratic mayors is what caused these problems.

Inner cities elect Democrats *as a response* to poverty and crime and segregation, because the Democratic Party centers those issues, whereas the GOP just exploits them.

It would be one thing if Republicans wanted to say, "Look, the color of your skin doesn't determine your beliefs, not every Black person agrees liberalism will save their communities, and Black conservatives should be part of the conversation."

That's perfectly fair!

But that's not what they're saying. They're saying Black conservatives like Vernon Jones and Candace Owens are the sole free thinkers who broke out of a community of mindless sheep.

In doing so, they completely devalue the last fifty years of Black political activism.

It's basically just an insidious way for the GOP to absolve itself of any responsibility for the concerns of Black voters.

If any Black voter who doesn't agree with the GOP platform has just been bought off by the "Democrat plantation," then they don't owe Black voters anything.

Now, speaking as someone who tries to be a white ally, I don't pretend to know the whole Black experience. But I can say I do have a responsibility to speak with and work with the Black community, and understand their motivations and desires.

The GOP has no interest in doing so.

If Republicans really wanted to court Black voters, they wouldn't go hunting for Black people who are willing to echo their infantilizing, anti-Black talking points. They'd go into Black communities, engage with activists and leaders and take their political concerns as they are.