What is the main reason Black people aren't Republicans?

Question

A few are but the Majority of black people vote Democratic. Why?

The Republicans say they are the best for the country. If that's the case why are there such a thing as Democrats?

Answer 1

Large numbers used to be in the 19th century when the Republican party was the party of Lincoln. But, in the Civil Rights era, the Republicans used southern white discontent over the civil rights issue to secure their votes. Once this occurred, the Republican party no longer represented the needs of African-Americans so since then, they have tended to vote Democratic in large numbers.

Answer 2

The Republican Party is comprised of many top qualified Black leaders, but they don't get thrown onto the stage the way the Democrats tout them for show.

Unfortunately, the Democrats have many Americans believing that their party is "for the poor," and the Republicans are "for the rich." They convince Blacks that this is true by implimenting welfare programs which require much needed taxpayer money.

The Democrats ALWAYS raise taxes. This only "keeps" people poor, but Blacks don't see that because they take advantage of the welfare programs perpetuated by increased taxes.

The Republicans don't believe in Big Government, or "Tax and Spend" policies like the Democrats do.

Unfortunately, the majority of Blacks do not go to the polls to vote. Their votes are less than 1% of the population. This is one reason why Obama doesn't rely on the Black voters.

Answer 3

A lot of it has to do with the history of the parties. The democrats controlled some of the major political machines in cities around America: including Chicago, Kansas City, New Orleans, Atlanta, etc. The result was that everyone in these areas had to be a democrat in order to get your trash picked up. As a result of capital mobility, white Americans were able to move away from the cities and their political fiefdoms; other people were not able to actually escape and so not change their political identities.

There are other causes than this, of course (including Kennedy and Johnsons dedication to poor communities), but I do think it does have to do at least partially with the political machines that existed in the U.S. until the 1950s.

Answer 4

I don't understand why Dems continue to say that the Republicans are for the rich??? The rich are a minority group in this country and could never put a Republican in office just by their vote!
Soooo? That theory is off the table!
Seems to me that the Republican party is supported by the Working man! One who doesn't want his taxes giving to the Lazy!
Why do you say the Republican party doesn't support this group..what group? We are all Americans! That's being racist!
I have many Black friends. Most are Republicans! Very hard working Americans who think the majority black Americans are ignorant of what the Dems really offer!
You get someone like Clinton who went to Black churches and put on a good show...but in reality never did ANYTHING for the black community!
my answer would be ignorance and a handout!

Answer 5

I think most blacks are independents, that just happen to vote Democratic. Blacks, are given very good incentives to vote Democrat, it is the same round of crap that George W. and that brand Republican types spout out.

They are all part of the same brand, they are neo-cons. A blend of the two parties, have become one. Most dems and repubs are a part of the same machine, save Gravel, Dr. Paul, and maybe Kucinich.

I have met with a few politically inclined Blacks over the last few weeks. They are like the rest of America, tired of the same rhetoric. No politician answers questions anymore, they dance around issues, and if they give you an answer, they will just change it next week.

I like Dr. Ron Paul of the Republican Party. He is the only person, who wants to unite the country. He believes that if would stop looking at each other as groups, but as individuals, much of the intolerence would stop. We need a President to help bring all individuals together, not pander to all the individual groups to further divide us.

Check out Ron Paul:
http://www.ronpaul2008.com

Answer 6

Fear.

Fear of going it alone in life.

Just as the Iraqi's or the Russians have had trouble handling freedom and individual responsibility, so have some black Americans, and the latter see government as the "giant plantation" that still provides direction and security in their lives.

Not their fault, of course, because a couple of centuries of racism can drive anyone down. And many blacks have risen above this, however there are still enough that fear what's over the next horizon and therefore vote for the Democrats and all their promises of false benefits and false security.

But truly confident individuals have little need for government, and hence little need for the Democrats.

Answer 7

Because the Democrats promise them every thing under the sun for there vote! And they buy it hook line and sinker! Then once they get elected They never keep there promises and then try to blame Republicans .Truly pathetic. But a lot of them will read Clarence Thomas new book and I can't imagine any of them after reading that book would ever vote Democrat again!

Answer 8

Actually Republicans are making gains amoungst blacks in the midwest..Bush got 9% of the black vote in Ohio in 2000 and nearly 20% of the vote in 2004..The trends are the same in Indiana, Wisconson, and other states in the region..It could br argued the black vote is what put Bush over the top in 04.

Im a conservative but I wont go as far as to say im republican..at least yet.

Answer 9

The reason for that is due to the political positioning of the two major parties during the Civil Rights era of the 1960s. As far as the issue of civil rights was concerned, the issue didn't go down party lines, but regional lines. It was where legislators were from that determined their positions on civil rights issues. The Democratic party had a major base in the South, and many southern voters were pro-segregation/anti civil rights. However, there were many Northern liberals in the Democratic party, most notably Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota, who were pro civil rights, so a number of Southern Democrats begin to split from the Democratic Party, such as Strom Thurmond and George Wallace, began to run as third party "Dixiecrats". So the significant Democratic base in the South was slipping.

1960. The frontrunner for the Democratic nomination is Senator John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts. There is much support for civil rights in the North. Kennedy, to secure the South, must take a moderate stance of civil rights and likely pick a Southern running mate to balance the ticket and reassure Southern Democratic voters. He picks Senate Majority Leader Lyndon Johnson of Texas. This helps Kennedy win enough Southern states to win the election.

As the years went on, Kennedy and Johnson became more supportive of civil rights and they supported Civil Rights legislation, eventually the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Kennedy was killed in 1963, so when the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed, it was President Johnson, the Southern Democrat, who got the photo op signing the legislation, so that certainly helped Democrats with black voters. But Southern Democrats felt betrayed by Johnson, who was supposed to be their guy. In the 1964 election, Johnson won in a landslide, but his opponent, Senator Goldwater, won the states of the Deep South, not because he was a big segragationist, but because they were casting protest votes against Johnson. This is where you begin to the Democrats' power in the South eroding.

In 1968, the Republicans nominated Richard Nixon. And the Democrats nominated the very much pro Civil Rights Vice President Hubert Humphrey. Part of Nixon's "law and order" platform was to take a more moderate position on civil rights. While this helped him win in the South and throughout the country, it turned off many minority voters, not just blacks, and that is why most black voters tend to vote for Democrats.

Answer 10

Mostly because the Republican Party is hostile to their interests. Since Nixon inaugurated the 'Southern Strategy' to switch white Southerners unhappy with Civil Rights legislation to the Republican Party, the party has consistently acted against the aspirations of black Americans. It is currently quietly pushing laws to make it harder for blacks to vote in the interest of supposedly preventing voter fraud which there is no evidence actually exists. Republicans in Congress just upheld the veto of a bill which would deliver medical care to uninsured children, many of them black.

Republicans seem to do OK among blacks who make over $200,000 a year, who are also the only blacks with any plausible reasons for voting Republican. The real question to ask isn't why blacks vote strongly Democratic - given their income level and Republican policies, that voting is just sensible. The real question is why poor and middle class whites aren't voting Democratic by margins as large as poor and middle class blacks. It's true that the Republican Party isn't racist - it's against every poor and middle class person, regardless of skin color.