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Where Is the Black Silent Majority?
“Most black people know that George Floyd is no more representative of blacks than Derek Chauvin is of police officers. They know that the frequency of black encounters with law enforcement has far more to do with black crime rates than with racially biased policing. They know that young black men have far more to fear from their peers than from the cops. And they know that the rioters are opportunists, not revolutionaries.” — Jason Riley
In his WSJ article, Jason Riley referred to a quote from Daniel Patrick Moynihan where he wrote that there “is a silent black majority as well as a white one” and that “it shares most of the concerns of its white counterpart.”
Jason Riley is a man of wisdom, and he happens to be black. But his comment surprised me. Perhaps the majority of black people can see through the lies and distortion of information about law enforcement and the black community. But if that’s true, I continue to be puzzled by the loud voices of what Mr. Riley calls the black minority, and how they seem to be driving the agenda of black Americans.
I know that old habits are hard to break, such as the black community voting for Democrats. But many of us expect that more black people will begin to publically act like they share more values with the greater community than with the extreme. How much longer will they justify their support of Democrats? When will they have reached their limit in tolerating the black extremists? When will they finally act like they understand that the Democrats despise them and expect them to vote for them? When will they decide that they are alone at the ballot box and no one can stand over them and force them to vote against their own interests?
I think the time is now.
Published in Group Writing
They don’t want Joe Biden to tell them that they ain’t black.
Yeah. That really terrifies them. Keeps them up nights.
I’ve had a number of videos showing young black men vehemently sharing conservative views, directed at other black people. It’s inspiring! So some people are obviously getting it.
Every election cycle I hear ” blacks are going to abandon the Democrats because ( abortion, gay rights, crime rate, jobs, etc)”
And every election cycle they march lockstep to the polls and vote for the D.
I’m skeptical of any change in this until I actually see it happen.
I think your skepticism is justified, @kozak. My hope is that at some point, there must be a tipping point. What will it take? Black business owners wiped out by rioters? Credible blacks getting more media coverage about how the community is being ripped off by those practicing violence. I refuse to give up on them.
Robert Johnson (BET co-founder) said that Black folks are laughing at the white LARPers toppling statues. Sounds right.
How hard do Republicans work to win black votes in these districts that aren’t being well served? At local level are people being being reached? I don’t know how canvassing works in the US.
There is significant blowback. If for some reason you have a desire to see some good ol’ white-on-black racism, check out some of the abuse that is regularly heaped on Clarence Thomas, or Larry Elder, or Candace Owens. The only justification the abusers have is summed up quite nicely in Joe’s shocking moment of candor.
Far be it from me to presume or presuppose the ethos and motivations of the so-called “silent majority” (regardless of subdividing labels or people-groups), but I cannot help but wonder why we continue to refer to and expect so much from the “silent” majority, if that is indeed what they are.
We like to believe there is a largely quiet, but engaged group of active voters out there. And yet, I would postulate that some significant portion of the silent majority is in fact quiet disengaged, detached, or even disenfranchised from what happens in the public and political square. Could it be that they’ve simply turned-off and tuned-out, knowing that the difference between the parties is largely the coverings and trappings of the exterior?
Yes, you could say that this is a defeatist perspective – but if trust in our institutions is at an all-time low, is it any wonder that a silent majority might simply have already washed their hands of it (unless singular events motivate them otherwise)?
An axiom: the minority is always the most vocal. And the majority is rarely animated.
Everyone should have the ability to be silent about their political beliefs, for whatever reasons feel right to them. Mainly to counter the idea that your political beliefs are the most important thing about you. I keep harping on it, but this is what happens when you replace religion with politics.
Good question, @MarjorieReynolds. What I do know is that before this darn virus, blacks were getting jobs! Hopefully they will also be part of the recovery. And let’s make school choice happen! I’m so tired of the Dems doing everything in their power to hold blacks back.
The Democrats found a way to break their habit of voting Republican. Unfortunately, it was The Great Society and to paraphrase Joe Biden, “It put y’all back in chains.”
No kidding! I guess I just want them to “speak out” at the ballot box. That would work for me!
Many blacks still vote Democrat because even if they worked hard to get where they are, they have this idea, “I have to vote Democrat because other blacks aren’t as fortunate as I am.”
I wonder if the silent group is reluctant to come out against the radicals. Does anyone think they are afraid of being attacked by the other side?
That is insane, if true. The Democrats didn’t get them where they are, and it’s time they acknowledged that truth. If anything, the Dems made their lives harder, not easier. Wake up, folks!
The voting booth is private. Which is why leftists are pushing so hard for mail-in voting.
The radicals are powerful, especially when you add their force multipliers in the press and social media. One of the advantages of being an old man is being able to express myself without worrying about losing my job and reputation.
I think there’s a huge amount of tuning out. I was tuned out myself for long enough. It takes effort to go beyond the headlines.
Same for old women!
Tuning out may be typical. But these are frightening times. Nothing going on is typical. So maybe that will shake people out of their apathy.
I subscribe to this viewpoint. I see those who I know do not support any of the mayhem being visited on America at this time and they will vote for Trump come November but they are busy working now and trying to get ahead and provide the American opportunity for their growing families. They don’t have time for nonsense. They have elected state and local officials who should be handling this. This becomes decision time for the White House. Trump is being pushed to the limit by these Communists agitators. Let’s hope he will time his intervention properly.
How much of the Black vote is based on their dependence on Government? Not just welfare, but also job opportunities? If they mostly live in cities, their (immediate) best opportunities lie with government jobs. How can they admit not voting Democrat to their friends and families?
We hope they’ll see how silly it is to vote for Biden, when Trump has done more for their community than previous presidents. In addition, more information about Biden has come out on his “racist” past.
The silence of the black majority may be a similar phenomena to that which I have participated in: encouraging conservative critics of President Trump to hold their fire lest they support an alternative that is worse. Maybe the silent black majority sees voicing their concerns with the Jackson-Sharpton-et al race baiters as bringing in something worse. That needs to be addressed.
@bobthompson, I’m not saying they need to be organizing protests. But are they speaking to their friends? To their families? To their colleagues? Are they writing like you and I are writing? I’m not expecting all of them to speak up, but I sure hope some of them do.
If we pay attention to the press, aren’t almost all of the white voices saying the same things as most of the black voices that we are allowed to hear?
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Well, there must be a reason they are silent. Because, after all, if they were speaking up, they wouldn’t be. Which is always the problem.
Still, this: https://www.foxnews.com/media/chicago-black-lives-matter-gun-violence-cities
This may apply doubly to those residing in the inner cities where this vandalism is taking place. Remember, these people who may indeed recognize, as Jason Riley says, that that high crime rates within their communities result in numerous contacts with police may remain silent for that same reason i.e. criminals in their midst.
If there is a silent majority among Black Americans, maybe they’re thinking that the murder by racist problem is a very small, albeit very dramatic, issue, and solving that isn’t going to help them very much.
It seems the conservative response tends to be dismissive. Cops killing us? Hardly every happens, act right, what about Blacks killing each other. Too many of us incarcerated? Had it coming. Racism closes doors of opportunity? It’s illegal, what more do you want? Rarely do you hear, “Yeah, that’s really painful,” from our side.
Bill Clinton oozed a lot of things, but he oozed empathy and certainly made one feel like he cared, whether it was so or not. We can show we care using the Bill Clinton model, and really, anybody who works PR or in customer relations or in ministry would understand this. Acknowledge the pain, the fear, the concern. Empathize. Make the person you’re interacting with know you care. Fix the thing that’s hurting them now, then fix the system so it doesn’t happen again. Or adjust their expectations. But if you don’t start with empathy and validation, they’ll move on to somewhere else. There’s a bromide out there, “People don’t care how much you know until they know how much you care.”
Bill Clinton won the election when George Bush looked at his watch during their debate. It sent a message, valid or not, that he didn’t care. I think this was the same debate where the guy asked something like how will you take care of us.
We tend to do the opposite. We care, we have great ideas, but we’re horrible at creating a sense of empathy.
It will never happen.