Token black folks featured in GOP ads

I have long-since characterized Black History Month as outdated and insulting — African American journalists Cynthia Tucker and Rochelle Riley have offered similar sentiments — because it continues to support the idea of two Americas, rather than honoring the breadth of our nation’s upward climb toward civil rights and cultural solidarity.

Nonetheless, in the GOP’s latest move to try to shore up support among groups of people they have spent decades disparaging, the Republican National Committee has rolled out a series of Black History Month ads honoring blacks leaders of the party, like Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Allen West, Louis Sullivan etc.

Here is one of the ads:

CNN opinion writer Andra Gillespie makes a couple important points about how the GOP’s strategy to cater to the black vote lacks perspective and an understanding about why black and Latino voters tend to vote liberal:

Some Republicans rightfully point out that during the civil rights movement, Southern Democrats tried to block passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts. They forget, however, that in the past 50 years, white Southern Democrats (both racists and non-racists) have gradually shifted their party identification to the Republican Party. They don’t account for the fact that GOP has admitted to (and apologized for) purposely using racially coded language to win over racially resentful whites in the wake of the civil rights movement.

And they ignore data that confirm that while black political views have moderated in the past generation, blacks still tend to prefer a stronger federal state and greater governmental intervention, in large part because they perceive the federal government to have done a better job than state and local officials at protecting civil rights.

Take Scott’s statement in the video above, in which he tells us, in his best affluent white person voice, about some sage advice he received from an unnamed “individual that came along”

who taught me that you have to earn success. He taught me to think my way out of poverty. He taught me that in America all things are possible.

And the GOP wonders why they can’t get support from the black and Latino communities? Asinine statements like this should provide a clue. I wonder what would happen if Scott took his luxury vehicle down to the ghetto or barrio and told an 18-year-old kid on the street that he should just think his way out of poverty.

Personally, I don’t understand what people like Scott are doing. Really, I don’t understand how a black person comes to identify with a party that has done so little to bolster inner cities or make health care accessible for poor people. Historically, the conservative party in America has never really had black people’s best interests at heart, and the GOP only seems to feign interest when election time rolls around by adding a few token folks of color to their ranks or blowing out hot air about helping people help themselves. You know why more blacks and Latinos don’t support the GOP? Because they aren’t credulous enough to take the bait.

Agnosticism in America

Not too many surprises here:

agnosticism in america

Source: Gallup/The Atlantic

California, the Northwest and Northeast are the most irreligious parts of the nation, while the Southeast is the most religious. Of course, the correlation between poverty with religion is well-documented in the world, and with a few exceptions like parts of California, this trend holds at the state level inside the U.S. I would venture to say the same can be said for dichotomies like religion/academic performance and religion/social justice.

Europe’s immigration dilemma mirrors our own

France, under the directive of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s administration, began expelling hundreds of Roma this summer, claiming that they were in the country illegally, and today, thousands have come out in protest of the government’s new policies, the immigration issue being just one of them. Another contentious issue is Sarkozy’s plan to raise the retirement age from 60 to 62 and to cut spending.

Credit: Council of Europe via The Economist

According to this Reuters article,

Critics see expulsions of Roma gypsies as part of a drive by Sarkozy to revive his popularity before 2012 elections and divert attention from painful pension reforms and spending cuts. ((http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68316V20100904))

… As if to say to his fellow countrymen: “Sorry about the economic measures I’m taking. Here, let’s expel some immigrants to make up for them.” This tactic doesn’t seem to be working terribly well.

As it happens, although Romania experienced a period of economic growth between 2003-08, the economic recession did not miss that nation either, and beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008, economic activity decreased significantly. Here’s a summary from World Bank. ((http://www.worldbank.org.ro))

As their native country continues to struggle from economic stagnation, Roma are scattered throughout portions of Western and Eastern Europe, as the map to the right shows.

We can, I think, point to various similarities between the dilemma of Romanian emigration across Europe with that of Mexicans and others Latinos seeking to come to the U.S.

First, and perhaps most obvious, is the issue of discrimination and human rights. This article from The Economist addresses some of those concerns regarding Romania:

An ingrained underclass, Roma are the victims of prejudice, often violent, at home in eastern Europe. Thousands have migrated westward to seek a better life, particularly as the expansion of the European Union has allowed them to take advantage of freedom-of-movement rules. Yet although conditions may be better in the west, the reception has rarely been friendly and politicians like President Sarkozy have ruthlessly exploited hostility towards the newcomers. ((http://www.economist.com/blogs/easternapproaches/2010/08/frances_expulsion_roma?page=6))

This “exploitation” of newcomers we know all too well here in American. From the near 400-year struggle of blacks to integrate as free people in America, to the denigration, and in some cases, dehumanization of Irish immigrants in the 19th century, from the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 and the denial of citizenship to Chinese residents already living in America at the time, our history is rife with a near ubiquitous hostility toward newcomers.

Second, as an astute reader of The Daily Beast wrote, Roma exodus across Europe is most likely economically driven, not cultural, for it makes little sense to claim that Roma or Hispanics or any other immigrant would prefer another culture to their own. Immigration is almost always driven by a) economics or b) oppression or nearly unlivable conditions in the homeland. This applies to European immigrants as well as those who seek to come to America from Mexico or elsewhere.

Whipmawhopma had this to say in response to The Beast article on Roma immigration:

I am under the impression that generally speaking most (worldwide) are economic immigrants rather than cultural ones, and bring their own culture and keep it, while making some adaptations. Many only stay for a while and then once they have made enough of a fortune (relatively speaking) they then go home. Many like the hybrid cultural they live in and stay. Some adopt the local culture. Some hate the local culture – meaning how they are treated – so much that they set fire to cars and make much riot if they happen to be in France.

Last week’s The Economist had an article on this. President Nicolas Sarkozy is very unpopular and he’s playing the anti-immigrant card to make himself less unpopular, which isn’t really going to work since the real uproar is about the mild austerity program he’s attempting to put in place.

Third, and perhaps most profound, immigrants, by and large, will do whatever it takes to attempt to escape the economic trappings of their homelands, if it means a better life for their families and their progeny.

Here’s how The Economist article sums up the issue Roma dilemma:

Europeans would be swift to condemn the plight of the Roma were they in any other part of the world. However, eastern European governments are unlikely suddenly to tackle a problem that dates back centuries just because Brussels tells them to. Perhaps self-interest may prove a more powerful motivator. Roma families are far larger than those of the mainstream population: the pool of deprivation is only going to grow. In addition, a recent World Bank study estimates the annual cost of the failure to integrate Roma in Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia and the Czech Republic at €5.7 billion ($7.3 billion). As the report notes: “Bridging the education gap is the economically smart choice.” If humanitarian arguments fail to carry the day, perhaps economics and demographics might.