Why did the Conservative GOP lose the minority vote on election night?
It never ceases to amaze me… you know, how the blind refuses to see, even when what they are looking for is right there before their eyes. GOP representatives are still wondering how they lost the minority vote, as well as how President Obama got elected for a second term. Conservatives like Bill O’Reilly, who of course have a firm grasp on the pulse of the minority community [sarcasm should be noted], are pushing the idea that minorities (Blacks, Hispanic/Latin, gays, women, etc.) are looking for “stuff,” and free stuff at that, and they believe that is just what the President promised them. All this has humored me since the election. Not because we won, because we didn’t win anything. I’m humored because of the perception and spin put on the American people about American people.
What was a little shocking, even for me – one who is not naïve to the way people really are – is the hostility and outright racism/classism/sexism, etc., that followed. But, first things first. I would like to define a few words, in order to get a better understanding as to how and why the election turned out the way it did.
Liberal [from Dictionary.com]: adjective
1. Favorable to progress or reform, as in political or religious affairs.
2. Noting or pertaining to a political party advocating measures of progressive political reform.
3. Of, pertaining to, based on, or advocating liberalism.
4. Favorable to or in accord with concepts of maximum individual freedom possible, especially as guaranteed by law and secured by governmental protection of civil liberties.
5. Favoring or permitting freedom of action, especially with respect to matters of personal belief or expression: a liberal policy toward dissident artists and writers.
Conservative [from Dictionary.com]: adjective
1. Disposed to preserve existing conditions, institutions, etc., or to restore traditional ones, and to limit change.
2. Cautiously moderate or purposefully low: a conservative estimate.
3. Traditional in style or manner; avoiding novelty or showiness: conservative suit.
4. Of or pertaining to the Conservative party.
5. Of, pertaining to, or characteristic of Conservative Jews or Conservative Judaism.
Note: Before going further, I’d like to point out that being a Republican or Democrat doesn’t necessarily make your value system either conservative or liberal. To prove my point, one must remember that it was the Radical Republicans who ended slavery. These are not the Republicans of today who, by the way, love to take credit for what they did not do in regard to slavery. The Republican and Democratic parties switched affiliations and value systems during the Lyndon B. Johnson/Richard Nixon administrations, in light of Barry Goldwater’s influence over Southern politics [4].
The root words are important here. Liberal: to liberate, to free. Conservative: to conserve, to restore or hold on to tradition.
What I’m getting at here is that conservatives have this idea that America should return to the traditions and values of the good ole days of the mid 20th century. You know, when there was a distinct line drawn between the haves and have nots, between Black and White, when women knew their place, and when Hispanics/Latins didn’t exist within the United States Borders (because they were considered to be Black, which moved them to the Black side of the divide).
That was also a time when minorities were second (and third and fourth) class citizens. Living wages were not comparable to the work. Work conditions were bad. Civil rights, along with fair and equal housing and education, were designated solely for white Americans and the system of White Supremacy was pervasive throughout the country. You know, the good ole days.
Conservatives are trying to keep that tradition alive, but what they know but don’t bring up much, is that that system and tradition is still very much in place. It’s the conservative way – slow to change, hold on to tradition. And not much has changed since the mid 20th century. A large percentage of minorities still live in slums and are the ones most likely to live in poverty. Of course it has nothing to do with the fact that those who are in charge of public policy have made it that way. No, it’s because minorities don’t want to work or do anything to help themselves. They just want entitlements from the government…
Or is that just the nonsense conservatives push in order to justify their agenda? I think justification is closer to the truth, and those who believe that type of justification, merely just want to believe it. They don’t really want to look at the truth of the matter. For instance, everyone says that to get out of poverty, one must be educated. I must ask, then, to what degree? In order to escape poverty does every American need a masters degree or higher? Why would that necessary when everyone isn’t on the same academic level?
And conservatives must remember that America was built on the backs of low-skilled workers who worked hard and made living wages. Living wages meant that they were paid enough to comfortably support families and still have enough to put away for rainy days. That is the real the American dream, not striking it rich through entrepreneurship, running a company and/or being a big CEO. Some of us were meant to be workers bees… we can’t all be the queen bee.
Labor was the birth of the middle class and Americans were happy with that. America, again, was built on the backs of low-skilled workers. Ask any conservative. They’ll tell you it’s true, if they’re truly traditionalists. But when we look at America today, we find that the middle class has all but eroded along with all the industry jobs that provided living wages to low-skilled workers. Most of the job industry consists of service sector jobs, and who can support a family on those wages (without working two or three jobs a week, which may pay some of the bills, but will also take quality time from the family)?
Oh yeah, education… See the section about queen bees and workers bees. The same concept applies. Everyone can’t have higher education. It’s just not for everyone, nor should it be. Some people were meant to be doctors and attorneys. Some people were meant to be mechanics and laborers. Should they not have job opportunities because they want to be paid like everyone else? Is it their fault that there are no jobs because corporations are greedy and want as much profit as they can get so they finance their labor in sweatshops from a three party market which exploits poverty stricken, third world countries? Is it that minorities don’t want to work or is it that there’s no work for them to find because they’re all overseas? Just a question…
And by the way, those traditionalists? Their mommies and daddies lived in an era where they could get their hands dirty and still support the family comfortably. But they will tell you that industry has left America because corporations were paying high taxes that were too costly. Hmmm. Really? Greedy corporations don’t want/have to pay taxes, but they want you to… I’m trying to work that out in my head.
And free stuff? Oh, that meant Obamacare. Healthcare for people who can’t afford the outrageous medical fees. And why is medical care so expensive? Does it really need to be? Or is it that we are paying for prices set by the pharmaceutical industry? Is a doctor’s job more important than a construction worker who is building the infrastructure of our freeways? I guess it depends on when you may need them…
Having access to decent and affordable healthcare should be the right of every American. And why shouldn’t our taxes pay for it? They pay for every politician’s outrageous salary. They pay for so much waste that the government has sustained for so many decades. They pay for so many high-class vacations and high-end prostitutes and excesses that we are never told about (but it’s supposed to be public record right? Not when it’s a matter of national security – and everything is these days). So why not allow our taxes to help pay for sustaining the human condition?
But anyway, as I watched conservatives like O’Reilly, Rush Limbaugh, Michelle Bachman, Sarah Palin, John McCain (who along with O’Reilly agreed to being a part of the White Christian Male Power Structure), Paul Ryan, Scott Walker, and Mittens Romney, I kept wondering what they were going to do to help the human beings that live in this country, who unlike corporations, make the minority of the money, but the majority of the population. I couldn’t find the answer.
What I found was that they were constantly and consistently trying and successfully dividing the nation with their White Supremacy, dog whistle politics. Why did liberals take the vote? Because enough Americans had their eyes open and could clearly see what was in front of them. A group that may not get the job done anytime soon, but a group that at least let its citizen know that they were all apart of the struggle and that the only way we would ever be able to get there is not separately, but equally – together.