Do Black GOPers even care about their brand at this point?

[DrBanneker]

Ok, so I'm a bit of an oldhead 80s baby and am not party affiliated. Though I don't consider myself a Black conservative but I will admit I lean conservative on some things like gun control, raising kids, importance on entrepreneurship, etc. and I occasionally in the past voted for a couple of Republican candidates in local races if I knew them and thought they were better than the alternative. Never been a private or vocal GOPer though, too much of that party is so blatantly against Black folks interest, no more so than now.

There can be no denial though that the current Black conservatives/GOP are so overwhelmingly a clown car that I am almost embarrassed for them.

There was a time (mostly the 1990s) when Black conservatives actually tried to create a brand to appeal to some Black folks. Basically Republican values but also acknowledging their Blackness and the problems with White folks in society. Though there was a whole spectrum of how much they would acknowledge or deny WS, you had some people like Tony Brown, Glenn Loury (though he changes a lot over the years), Colin Powell, and even JC Watts who would hype the GOP but also not minimize Black folks historic and current struggles. It was more like, "we are being screwed but fixing our social and cooperative economic fabric is a better tool than the government".

Some even put their money where their mouth was. Tony Brown urged Black folks to get into IT so he opened his own ISP, Tony Brown Online (domain still exists as tbol.net) and he went on a national tour urging Black folks to learn to code, particularly COBOL since the Y2K bug was on the horizon. Indians took advantage of that instead and that is how the outsourcing and H1B got big....

Black conservatives (some) also stood up to the people such as when Glenn Loury, Robert Woodson, and Tony Brown went in on the right wing think tanks for Dinesh D'Souza's break out book The End of Racism and Charles Murray/Richard Hernstein's The Bell Curve trying to revive race realism (see Jet article here). Also, almost all of them had grown up in mostly segregated Black neighborhoods and married Black women. All the OG conservatives like Colin Powell, Thomas Sowell, Walter Williams, JC Watts, Glenn Loury, William Coleman (Transportation Sec under Nixon), JC Watts, etc. all had Black wives. Even Condi Rice (who briefly married a footballer in her youth), quiet as kept dated Black men (retired ballers ) on the low. One of the shocking things about Clarence Thomas was not just that he was GOP, he had a White wife (that's why Strom Thurmond's approval of him should have raised alarms).

-----

Flash forward to now and I don't even think they give a shyt about appealing to Black folks. They say stuff about a 'Democratic plantation' or whatever but every single talking point they given seems to be to demean Black folks as being inferior or pathological or excusing racism and history for our problems. The recent Larry Elder Breakfast Club interview is a case study in this.

They literally push back at almost NOTHING which is why I was shocked that a few Black GOPers actually stood up when this DeSantis "skills from slavery" shyt came out. They seem to exist just to speak to White folks strangely on behalf of a community they don't even rep like that. Also, I can't remember the last time I saw any prominent Black GOPer with a Black spouse. It's like they won't even marry each other

Let's not get into the decline in intellectualism either. Like them or not, people like Sowell were genuine intellectuals and smart people. To be replaced with Candace Owens and Coleman Hughes. Yeah McWhorter is out there but I literally can't think of anything new or groundbreaking he has even tried to do since his first book besides defend right wing talking points.

I think they have given up on any brand that remotely appeals to Black interests. It has just gotten so blatant it is laughable. Please point me to a Black Republican that Black people should even try to see as an inspiring leader since Colin Powell or Condi Rice (neocon politics aside). I have never seen a revered Black figure so thoroughly destroy his brand as Ben Carson did. How low is the bar? Do they care?

 

[Da King]

Most of the GOP politicians don’t believe a word out of their mouth, but the career as a politician is very lucrative. End of story

 

[Black Magisterialness]

That brand of conservatism in general is dead. It's full-blown populism with some facism sprinkled in.

That's a direct result of letting the Tea Party/Birther/Pizzagate people gain control of the party. In the late 2000's and early 2010's the fringe movements weren't stamped out by the GOP establishment because they saw it would win them elections. And up until 2020, they were correct. They had control of Congress, the courts, and the White House. The difference is now the die is cast, the playbook's been revealed and unless they revert to open revolution/genocide, there's nothing left for them to accomplish.

The modern GOP is a dog that's finally caught the car it was chasing. The north star of their platform (Roe) is gone now. There's no direction, but what they didn't expect was for White women to turn on them. The Roe ruling all but assured that they'll probably never win that demo again. Which means they'll never win again. White men will NEVER win an election on their own...which is why disenfranchising as many groups as possible is key for them. So now they must appeal to the "culture wars" once more and create boogeymen that scare old white people again. What the Black GOP seemed to forget is that THEY are the boogeymen again, THEIR history is the threat. It always was, but it was easy to bury your head in the sand about it in the 90's and post-9/11 eras.

The brand of conservatism based in "family values", "tradition" and "fiscal responsibility" is over. And it was over the moment Obama won the presidency.

 

[BigMan]

at this point being a black conservative is analogous to being a c00n or a white supremacist. The GOP/conservative movement has abandoned all sense and policy. GOP is a party of grievances. they do not offer any serious policy considerations.

 

[Luke Cage]

That brand of conservatism in general is dead. It's full-blown populism with some facism sprinkled in.

That's a direct result of letting the Tea Party/Birther/Pizzagate people gain control of the party. In the late 2000's and early 2010's the fringe movements weren't stamped out by the GOP establishment because they saw it would win them elections. And up until 2020, they were correct. They had control of Congress, the courts, and the White House. The difference is now the die is cast, the playbook's been revealed and unless they revert to open revolution/genocide, there's nothing left for them to accomplish.

The modern GOP is a dog that's finally caught the car it was chasing. The north star of their platform (Roe) is gone now. There's no direction, but what they didn't expect was for White women to turn on them. The Roe ruling all but assured that they'll probably never win that demo again. Which means they'll never win again. White men will NEVER win an election on their own...which is why disenfranchising as many groups as possible is key for them. So now they must appeal to the "culture wars" once more and create boogeymen that scare old white people again. What the Black GOP seemed to forget is that THEY are the boogeymen again, THEIR history is the threat. It always was, but it was easy to bury your head in the sand about it in the 90's and post-9/11 eras.

The brand of conservatism based in "family values", "tradition" and "fiscal responsibility" is over. And it was over the moment Obama won the presidency.

yep, the remaining black conservative politicians are either just self hating c00ns now or self serving c00ns milking that side for financial success at the expense of their own people.

 

[High Art]

at this point being a black conservative is analogous to being a c00n or a white supremacist. The GOP/conservative movement has abandoned all sense and policy. GOP is a party of grievances. they do not offer any serious policy considerations.

It honestly surprised me that the GOP hasn't been memed hard as the Grievances Only Party.

 

[OperationNumbNutts]

@DrBanneker

You are comparing applies to a block of cheese. There is a clear difference between black conservatives and black conservatism. As for conservatism as a whole, there are a lot of who don't recognize what it has become. As for Thomas Sowell....nah. People like him are a serious problem. They use their academic excellence and prestige to manufacture facts to cater to an audience.

 

[Rembrandt]

fukk Thomas Sowell always

 

[desjardins]

Naw you're right, though I'd argue alot of the old school black republicans like Sowell and Loury were on the same shyt they just are smarter and make better arguments and make better use of selective data. You actually had to think in order to refute their claims, these new guys like Elder are just ass.
Same can be said about the entire GOP though

 

[FishNGrits]

@DrBanneker

You are comparing applies to a block of cheese. There is a clear difference between black conservatives and black conservatism. As for conservatism as a whole, there are a lot of who don't recognize what it has become. As for Thomas Sowell....nah. People like him are a serious problem. They use their academic excellence and prestige to manufacture facts to cater to an audience.

Nah if you a black conservative you just a c00n. I’ve seen all I needed to see after trump and the Supreme Court. Can’t be in the trenches with candidates the grand wizard co signs

 

[DrBanneker]

@DrBanneker

You are comparing applies to a block of cheese. There is a clear difference between black conservatives and black conservatism. As for conservatism as a whole, there are a lot of who don't recognize what it has become. As for Thomas Sowell....nah. People like him are a serious problem. They use their academic excellence and prestige to manufacture facts to cater to an audience.

The idea of conservative Blacks vs. Black conservatives is a good one but these people I mentioned early were GOP affiliated Black conservatives.

There are huge holes in Sowell's cultural deterministic theses and I am not saying he is down or I agree with his cover fire for WS throughout history, but he is a genuinely smart dude getting a PhD in economics at UChicago in the 60s. I would never grant that to most of these latter day folks like Candace Owens.

 

[Software]

Nah if you a black conservative you just a c00n. I’ve seen all I needed to see after trump and the Supreme Court. Can’t be in the trenches with candidates the grand wizard co signs

 

[Lexington Steele]

PhD in economics at UChicago in the 60s

That is strong evidence that he is wrong about everything.

 

[get these nets]

@DrBanneker

The bar was lowered in society in general, and regarding intellectualism & political discussion between then and now. Call it the Morton Downey effect.

I believe at the time, the Blacks with conservative leanings were from a certain background and tailored their public comments towards other Black people from that background. Traditional values about family, education, gender roles.
Since a sizable segment of Black people held those views and values, the messaging was saying that "This party promotes those values, etc .Their legislation and stances are conducive to what you want to accomplish."

Much has changed in society since then. The messenger and message reflects that. Target audience seems to be younger disillusioned Black men.. Messaging appeals to their emotions, and insecurities. The message is to "sit out of politics. The Dems aren't going to do anything for you."

The backgrounds of the early generations of men mattered to the audience they were trying to recruit. Educated, married (to Black women), professionals.

It seems in modern era that anybody they put in front of a YTer camera who pushes the right buttons and says the right keywords will be followed by those want to hear why others are succeeding and not them.

 

[MajesticLion]

Who cannot hear must feel.