OPINION:
Democrats take the black vote for granted, and it’s more obvious than ever. Republicans have an opportunity now to regain the trust of black voters the party once had.
Michelle Obama entreated a black audience on Monday to get to the polling station and vote for anyone and everyone marked as a Democrat. “This isn’t about Barack,” she said. “It’s not about the person on the ballot. It’s about you. And for most of the people we’re talking to, the Democratic ticket is the clear ticket we should be voting on, regardless of who said what or did this. That shouldn’t even come into the equation. Voting is critical, no matter who is on the ballot.” So far, so OK with boilerplate rhetoric.
But she wasn’t through. “I give everyone full permission to eat some fried chicken after they vote — only after. … A good victory for Democrats on Tuesday should be rewarded with some fried chicken.”
Her message was clear: A vote for Democrats is a vote for freebies, including “an early-childhood education” and “well-child visits.” But what they won’t get are jobs. The black unemployment rate stands at 11 percent; for black teenagers, it’s 30.5 percent.
Republicans consistently won the black vote from just after the time of Abraham Lincoln into the 20th century, and lost it big time when Lyndon B. Johnson assumed the mantle of civil rights. Now blacks are upset over the way they’re often treated by police, and for good reason.
Many cops get away with treating “driving while black” as a likely crime, sometimes abetted by federally funded drunken-driving checkpoints in minority neighborhoods, enabling cops to stop and interrogate drivers who aren’t suspected of doing anything wrong. This is done without warrant or probable cause.
The U.S. Supreme Court declared such warrantless searches constitutional in 1990 in Michigan v. Sitz. The Michigan Supreme Court, however, declared the practice illegal under the Michigan state constitution. Idaho, Iowa, Minnesota, Oregon, Texas, Wisconsin and Wyoming reject the dubious practice on similar grounds. Republicans in Congress could stop this with a cutoff of federal roadblock funding.
Republicans must also curtail the shipments of military weapons to local police forces, and end federal programs that encourage police to be anything other than being there to “serve and protect.” The last thing John Law ought to be is a revenuer, but federal forfeiture policies are making policing profitable. Police can’t be allowed to seize cash from motorists and keep it merely by asserting the money “might” be related to a drug crime. Local governments should never be allowed to use eminent domain to force homeowners out of “blighted” (i.e., minority) neighborhoods for private development, no matter what the Supreme Court says they can do. The court has not said they should do it.
Republicans need not advocate legalizing marijuana and other drugs to understand how much havoc the war on drugs has damaged minority neighborhoods. Sending young black men to prison for decades for nonviolent, victimless crimes breeds resentment. Criminal justice reform would start to set things right.
Doing the right thing is not about winning votes, but it will do that. Republicans won’t go from 5 percent to 50 percent of the black vote at once, but without a new agenda they never will. Mrs. Obama will continue to talk down to blacks, urging them to vote for any Democrat, with or without the reward of a wing or a drumstick.
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