The Slow and Meticulous Rise of The Black Conservative Movement

If you were like Joe Chandler, the man who went for days not knowing who had won the presidential race between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton until it was recently revealed to him, you'd probably have a hard time dissecting the numbers and statistics surrounding the 2016 election as well. Between race, age, non-Hispanic whites, income, education, and the other precise categories the polling companies adhere to, there was one section that was at best marginally discussed. In Donald Trumps victory over Hillary Clinton, he won the office by going after the voters from the rust belt states and the rural votes, predominately white middle class constituents. Clinton's votes came from the urban areas and the ever consistent minority voter. But inside that voting sector came a surprise that neither she nor others in the Democratic wing foresaw or for that matter, the mainstream media has failed to acknowledge with any sustenance. It was a significant rise of black voters voting for Trump.

Let's look closely at that closely. In 2012 when Mitt Romney ran against Barack Obama, he received 6 percent of the black vote. In 2016, Donald Trump received 8 percent of the black vote. Basically, that is a 35% increase in voters that Donald Trump received. On the surface, it may seem insignificant to the average pollster but imagine if the candidate wasn't someone who was divisive as Donald Trump who was running for the highest office in the land. In that 8 percent, did they see Trump as the candidate, despite all of his bluster, as the genuine article? Did they look past the controversial statements, the grabbing her by the pussy remarks, and saw him as this businessman who moves forward despite the bankruptcies and failed business dealings and still wind up on top? For whatever reason, he struck a cord with this core group, this growing silent minority.

But what about the Democrats, shouldn't they be taking notice as well? Let's take a look back in history to see where and how this ll began. It started with Abraham Lincoln freeing the slaves in 1862. The freeing of slaves open up the passage into the political arena and many freed black men immediately associated themselves with the Republican party thanks to Lincoln. 

 The Southern Democrats at the time, opposed any rights to blacks of any kind. It was only until Franklin D. Roosevelt's term in office did things start to evolve when FDR entered into the New Deal era which saw some economic prosperity for blacks even though discrimination was still in full force. 77 percent of the black vote went to the Democratic party while only 44 percent described themselves as members of the Democratic Party. Those numbers would increase when Harry Truman came into office and ended desegregation in the military and the end to racial discrimination to federal employment.

John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson brought the black vote home for the Democratic party with the passage of the Civil Rights Act. This piece of legislation brought broad sweeping change to not just black Americans but to every citizen in the United States. The Democrats had the black vote locked in and could count on it for many years to come in hopes of garnering the necessary votes to carry a candidate or to sway a piece of legislation. But history is a lesson we usually forget and of late, memories have become short termed. The George W. Bush Administration is about as far back some would rather go. The Clintons would like that.

When Obama won in 2012, he had 93 percent of the black vote compared to Clinton who had only 88 percent. Some of the details to that were that she failed to energize enough black voters, there was apathy on their part, the issue of her being trustworthy still was in play, given these and perhaps a few more points to debate, the black vote was easily up for grabs and the election was not as solid as Clinton had imagined. All the polls showed her ahead but these polls were skewed.

They were skewed because the people who were responding to them weren't being truthful or honest. Supporters of Trump were being targeted just for merely backing him. And there has been a silent dissatisfaction with the way things have been going under the Obama Administration. The Affordable Care Act wasn't what it was promised. Premiums are going up and even those who were attempting to qualify for the program saw the cost of their premiums and couldn't afford to pay it. Over the course of Democratic promises for the minority community, the community has received lip service. Ever since the so called war on poverty touted during the Johnson Administration, the historically disenfranchised community remains the historically disenfranchised community. Unemployment for blacks still remains high, double the rate next to their white counterpart. The gap for education has gotten wider between blacks and whites with blacks being the ones at the disadvantage. Even with have a black president did the status quo remain the same. And let's not talk about crime and punishment and race relations are tenuous at best.

If there is a silent rise to the black conservative movement, why aren't we hearing more from them. Well, there is no face to put on it. Unlike the Democrats where you could toss a rock and hit one in a Hollywood gathering where it would ricochet off Whoopi Goldberg's head and hit twenty more, the same couldn't be said about a celebrity black conservative. Michael Steele is not the face or Ben Carson. It would be somebody who could withstand the verbal beat down Whoopi Goldberg would elicit on her talk show where she shouts down any semblance of a rationale discussion.  Anything or anyone that is diametrically opposite to Whoopi Goldberg's panel of Democratic values, they are treated like scourges and reprobates unworthy of being in the presence of the general populous.

If I was representative of the black male vote, my choices were Hillary Clinton or Donald Trump and I didn't care for either choice. I am neither Republican or Democrat. At one point, I could have been described as being a Democrat but as each presidential prospect emerged, I found my views were more and more conservative. As I told a colleague of mine, “If I had to choose, I'd rather vote for Donald than her.” Apparently that's what a lot of people did and a lot of black votes didn't show up for her as well. Hillary Clinton had been in politics for way too long and hadn't realized that her stint with the American people had reached it's expiration point. 

 She can blame FBI Director James Comy for her loss if she wants but there are a myriad of issues that she needs to confront and the first is to look in the mirror and find the cause. If she wanted to make this about gender politics, 54 percent of white women voted for Trump. It wasn't about that. The country is ready and has been ready for a woman to be president but not Clinton. I believe one of the labels that she put on herself was that she was a grandmother. Trump is a grandfather but he never made such a public declaration. Grandma is running for president, vote the geriatric ticket. It now becomes a generational issue just by the branding. Bernie Sanders had the youth vote and he's 75 years old. I wouldn't necessarily call it sexist when she referred to herself as that, more like a self inflicted wound. And you have to acknowledge that she's been a part of the American psyche since 1992 when Bill Clinton first ran for president. We're not counting the time he was governor of Arkansas.

Unlike the black Democrats who have squandered their votes on empty promises time in and time out because the Democratic National Committee has conferred a presumptive nominee on them and that candidate has issued a grocery list of promises that has failed to garner any traction, black conservative will be more measured with Trump because they see him as business like and he will attempt to run certain aspects of the government like a business. How much he will succeed is the $64,000 question.

Film Review of the Movie Loving

I want you to imagine for a few seconds that you had lived in the United States in the year of 1958. You just committed a crime in the State of Virginia. You have been sentenced to 25 years of banishment from the state or face two years in orison. What is your crime? It wasn't for smuggling illegal contraband, it wasn't for running a con against the elderly and it wasn't for any type of animal abuse. Your crime was for the heinous act of being in an interracial marriage. Thus begins the true story of the movie Loving that chronicled the lives of Richard (white American) and Mildred Loving (black and Native American).

Richard Loving, portrayed by Joel Edgerton, and Mildred Loving, portrayed by Ruth Negga, were just two everyday ordinary people who were thrust into becoming the pioneers of ending anti-miscegenation laws in the United States after the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional on June 12, 1967. You would have to look at that year again to fully understand the impact that ruling had on millions of interracial couples in the U/S/ The portrayals from Negga and Edgerton reflected the time in which they lived and experienced. Edgerton's role as Richard Loving had to be a little submissive because he perhaps knew that by marrying a black woman, he couldn't be demonstrative in a county that had clear racial divisions. Negga as Mildred Loving also played the role as a more submissive person and again in the times and geography in which they lived. It's a helluva thing to live life in a Virginia county where the police can merely walk through your front door and bust down your bedroom door and charge you with a crime of being in bed with your wife.

As you watched this film, you see that it was Mildred Loving who initiated the cause during the impetus of the Civil Rights marches conducted by Dr. Martin Luther King. She saw his efforts of bringing together thousands with the march on Washington. Taking her cue from that, she wrote a letter to the then U.S. Attorney General, Robert Kennedy. That letter subsequently landed at the desk of American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) attorney Benjamin Cohen played effectively by Nick Kroll.

In an era where every actress wants to play the “strong woman” or “strong black woman” role, a factor that has become nauseatingly tiresome and overworked and overused, Negga plays a real life woman who's strength is internal and subdued. I don't know if some female actors will have a problem with the Mildred Loving role? She doesn't reflect the strong woman role that many expect these days. You will not find her yelling or screaming against this antiquated law. You will not find her screaming or berating her husband. It is important that Negga not take any liberties with her portrayal because that is the beauty of this role.

Edgerton too must refrain from doing the same as Richard Loving shares the same dynamic as his wife. Richard Loving was a brick mason. He went to work and came home. He didn't seek any fame or notoriety unlike many today who find the need to be famous through social media.

As a filmmaker, this is the film I had wanted to do. I had seen some archival footage pf the Lovings and found the subject matter extremely interesting. A quick Google search showed me that a film, this film, was currently being filmed. Now that it has arrived, you have empathy for them. They have no understanding of the law and how long a case takes to go through the system. You have empathy for their children as they are considered bastard for being mixed race.

Loving v. Sate of Virginia became THE test case the made same sex marriages the law of the land. I don't think the gay community knows this as they owe the Lovings respect and thanks for being the reluctant pioneers for marriage equally. This is a film worthy of placing on your list to see over the holiday weekend not only for the beauty of it but for also the history lessons we tend to miss that history books often fail to record when it comes to race.  At the end of this film they tell you what happened to them following their victory ruling with the Supreme Court.  Richard Loving was killed by a drunk driver seven years after the victory.  Mildred died in 2008, never remarrying but still in love with her husband.  Grade A +.

Dave Chappelle Hits the Re-Start Button and We Are Pleased

Mark the date, November 11, 2016.  This was the day that Dave Chappelle reintroduced himself back to the world with 6.2 million people watching. As the host of Saturday Night Live, he reminded the viewing public what pure comedy was all about. It has been eleven years since Dave left the airwaves. He alluded to the fact that his return was a “comeback” but I don't see it that way. I see it more as a pause in play. I do not know if you could call what we witness that night as television history because what we saw was a reflection of something we hadn't seen in years and it's as if Dave has emerged from a chrysalis and morphed into this worldly comedian that speaks the truth. The public hadn't seen this type of comic that could hit on social issues since the heady days of Richard Pryor and George Carlin. In his opening monologue on Saturday Night Live, you watched as he slowly unfolded the controversy of the Donald Trump victory and addressed the conflict with the protesters to the Trump win.

He laid out his take that made you laugh but made you think about how foolish it was for the actions of the protesters given that this was a free election and right or wrong, Trump won. It wasn't angry humor or beating you up humor or Amy Schumer humor, is was more than that. Chappelle made those who were watching to hold a mirror up and look at what we have become. Sure, the historically disenfranchised still have a long way to go but as Dave said, he would give Donald Trump the chance to govern. Time will only tell if he has become the voice of the unrepresented but he did give a voice to what has been missing for eleven years.

We've had other comics who've entered the picture since he left but their humor left me humorless. I've sat through countless hours of comedy shows and my laugh meter ran low of many of these alleged celebrity comedians. You can't attack your own audience and force them to leave just because you don't agree with their politics. You can't shame an audience member when you bring him on stage and chastise him for his political choice. Your job is to entertain with humor and when you stray from that obligation, you've lost your audience and your appeal.

Dave Chappelle chose to walk away from a lucrative contract because the powers that be had an agenda to conduct. Dave would not be a party and contribute to those who would take his humor and manipulate it for their own means to an end.

On that glorious night, Dave became this old/new social media comedian. He didn't have the tools at his disposal eleven years ago but now the tools are literally at his fingertips. Seeing him perform all of those old characters became relevant again. We still have a crack/heroin problem. We still have racism that's more blatant than ever. We still have sexism. We still are violent and extreme with it. We still are at war with an enemy bent on destroying our way of life. We still are at war with each other. Maybe, just maybe Dave Chappelle can bring a spotlight to one of these issues and through his brand of humor, we can bring about a change? Richard Pryor and George Carlin are looking down and saying, “Well how about that, we've got our voice back.”

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