More smart brothers.
I'm glad you all brought Barry Goldwater into the conversation because that's where I was heading.
There are two things that I think contributed to Blacks starting to vote en masse for Democrats in 1964:
1) Barry Goldwater didn't support the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which allowed the Democrats to successfully portray him as a racist. Moderate Republicans did not support Goldwater because of this, but they neglected to solicit the Black vote though they had been more in favor of civil rights legislation than the Democrats to this point. Big mistake.
The Democrats were able to paint Barry Goldwater/racist which meant Republicans/racist to Black people. In 1964, even if Barry Goldwater was racist, he was no more racist than many in the Democratic party. The Democrats of the time had been fighting against civil rights much harder than the Republican Party had. Yet, we bought the Republican - racist, Democrat - not racist lie hook, line and sinker. When in fact they were BOTH racist and still are as far as I'm concerned.
2) Great Society domestic programs. These domestic programs that Lyndon Baines Johnson supported (most of which are still around today) gave a lot of hope to the country, but especially to a people on the verge of escaping second-class citizenship. Many of the programs don't apply to this discussion, but the few that do played a huge role in keeping many of our people mired in second-class citizenship. From public housing to supposed aid to families with dependent child children that require(d) one to be in poverty to qualify for it or for a father to not be in the home ... the destruction they have caused to our community is not debatable. Yet, this "help" from the government - particularly the Democrats - seemed like a blessing at the time. So, we hitched ourselves to the Democrats. Many of us now wonder if it was a curse. And if it was intentionally done by those who knew that a self-reliant, independent people would be much more economically powerful and politically powerful than we are today.
Malcolm X was so right in that we needed to control our political power and economic power. Not be beholden to either party, but require them to deliver the goods to get our support. He was so right about so many other things as well. The importance of ensuring that we are educated. The importance of strong families. Moral rectitude. Manhood - the importance manhood.
We can agree to disagree, brothers. But, even in the darkest days of slavery, segregation and oppression, we have proven to ourselves and others that life is better when you control your own. Black Wall Street in Greenwood, Oklahoma. That's why it had to be burned down. Blacks getting too powerful. Too independent of the white man. Many other examples ... on and on. HBCUs. How many of our parents and grandparents would have never been educated if they had to depend on the man? Oprah could have stayed with a network, but life is better ... although she's struggling ... when you control your own.
Just my opinion.
