Under the Reagan administration, it was bad because nothing came down to the Black communities. But we must not just sit back and accept the crumbs, we must not only try to learn all we can about how these people are making money, but how we can use this knowledge to attain money to help our communities as well. One of the tragedies of the Reagan era, during the ‘80s, was that most Black Republicans didn’t use their positions and newfound wealth to help others, they got caught up in self-greed.
When we look at our Black communities, we see Black on Black violence in the streets and in the homes, fatherless homes, and far too many of our homes being ripped apart by drugs and alcohol. And as if this isn’t enough, our males are not only being snatched from our homes at an early age by the drugs and violence, but by the criminal justice system, which is purposely trying to attach everyone they can with a felony charge so that their vote, and any high paying job they seek, can be taken away from them, even after they’ve served their time in prison.
I know I’ve been very pro-Democrat and anti-Republican, but that’s because the Dems have opened their doors and arms to Blacks while the GOP hasn’t. But I still say we must not get locked into one party. If we have to create our own party for the benefit of Black people, then we must do just that. We are in very bad shape under the leadership of the Democrats; we have to understand that neither party really cares about the Black community, but only about how Blacks can help them. We must take that same attitude.
In all fairness, Blacks supported the Republicans when they were formed by the Abolitionist to abolish slavery in the South and prevent it from moving into the Western states during the 1800s. Blacks backed them when they fought for the rights of Blacks after slavery was finally abolished.
But when the Republican Party turned its backs on Blacks during the 1930s and ‘40s, during World War II, the Pittsburgh Courier publisher led a campaign for Blacks to “turn Abraham Lincoln’s picture to the wall” in support of Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Republicans had a second chance in the South during the Civil Rights era of the 1950s and ‘60s. The Democrats ruled the South and it’s Jim Crow system of slavery by another name. But, instead, after Presidents John Kennedy and Lyndon Johnson reluctantly backed Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights marches, the southern Whites turned their backs on the Democratic Party, and, today, the South is almost 100 percent Republican.
I say this to say, things aren’t looking good for us in 2016, but when has it? Maybe when Jimmy Carter defeated Gerald Ford and brought Blacks into the White House as something other than servants. Remember Andrew Young? Or when Bill Clinton beat the first George Bush. But, even then, we were so happy that we forgot neither party was there for us, and that we would only get what we demanded and worked for. Nothing was ever given.
So, with this new regime entering the White House, we all need to roll up our sleeves and get to work because the party is over, and Trump will be more than happy to turn off the lights to every beneficial program for the poor and Black communities, if we are silent or just wait until 2020. The Black community is in need now and we need to take what we can from each party.
(Ulish Carter is the managing editor of the New Pittsburgh Courier.)
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