Black male voters to Democrats: I AM A MAN

Progressives have a “black boy” problem. No, I’m not talking about juvenile crime or academic performance in some of our biggest cities. The left’s biggest problem with black males is largely political, and the “boys” in question are the black men Democrats can no longer control.

The black male voters the Biden campaign is pursuing need to send the president, his surrogates, and his party a clear message — one that reaches back to the past to set progressives straight today.

That message?

“I AM A MAN.”

Some of the most iconic images from the civil rights movement are the photos of black men holding signs with this message during the 1968 sanitation strike in Memphis. These signs were a straightforward assertion of human dignity meant to disrupt the social order of the South. Men of that generation, regardless of their age, were frequently referred to as “boy” by white people — whether adults or children. This was a demeaning rhetorical tactic meant to keep black men in their place.

Black men today face a similar challenge. The political party that gets well over 80% of the black male vote in most presidential elections treats its second-most loyal base like children. Several outlets have published content expressing the concern Democrats have about black men who are open to voting for Donald Trump in 2024.

One reason the left’s grip on black men is loosening is that modern race politics are the offspring of an interracial political marriage between radical black feminists and paternalistic white liberals.

These are not your daddy’s Democrats. Today’s party will brag about getting you higher wages one second and then fire you for “misgendering” someone at work the next.

The breakdown of the black family has had an impact on black political engagement that is rarely discussed. When families are intact, a husband and wife should vote in alignment with what is best for their household. They can discuss how certain policies will affect them as a family unit.

A wife who works outside the home may be sensitive to the needs of other working moms, but she certainly wouldn’t support a politician who promises to increase the number of women in construction if their inclusion means her husband will have a harder time getting a job and supporting their family. A wise woman wants what is best for her family and will follow her husband's lead when he sees trouble on the horizon. She submits to him because she knows he would die for her.

But when the family has been decimated, both cohesion and order go out the window. A woman who thinks her child’s father is a deadbeat has no interest in following his lead on anything. The party that promises to take care of her and her children — and extract more child support from him — seems far more reliable. But the relationship between politicians and voters is purely transactional, so a party that knows its most loyal supporters won’t stray is free to court new ones.

The left perfected this switch in the 1960s by expanding the government so that elected officials and unelected bureaucrats could play the role of husband and father for poor women and their children. Politicians and groups such as the National Welfare Rights Organization convinced many poor black women that Uncle Sam would be a faithful husband and dutiful provider for their children.

This was a lie from the beginning, but the strategy has been incredibly successful. In 1965, 25% of black children were born to unmarried parents. Today, about 70% black children are born to unmarried parents. About 45% of black children live with a single mother, a significantly higher rate than any other group in America. Even black women who are college-educated and economically stable are in an entanglement with the left. One study in 2016 found that 33% of black women with college degrees had their children out of wedlock.

For them, political patriarchy is less about food stamps and public housing and more about educational and economic opportunity. These are the women who brag that they voted for Joe Biden at a 90% clip and are quick to remind everyone that they “saved democracy.” President Biden, like a good political spouse, takes care of their needs and frequently takes to social media to highlight how much he has done for them.

Democrats dismiss the link between marriage, family structure, and positive social outcomes because promising more financial support to black single mothers and boss babes keeps politicians in office, government agencies in business, and the women who rely on both groups in the voting booth.

All of this brings us back to black men. Black feminists and their allies in politics and media treat “wayward” black men like little boys. They act as if black men are incapable of thinking for themselves when it comes to politics, often criticizing them for “voting against their own interests.” They prefer condescension and coercion to logic and persuasion.

After the 2020 election, Barack Obama said black men who voted for Trump did so because he epitomizes the flashy hip-hop lifestyle. Professor Brittney Cooper, a self-professed radical feminist, claimed black men voted for Trump because they wanted access to the power and privilege that white men have.

People who speak this way don’t care about black men. Contrast Cooper’s analysis with that of Dorothy Height, former president of the National Council of Negro Women. The Moynihan Report included a quote from her that still holds true in healthy homes today:

If the [black] woman has a major underlying concern, it is the status of the [black] man and his position in the community and his need for feeling himself an important person, free and able to make his contribution in the whole society in order that he may strengthen his home.

In the progressive political order, black women lead and black men follow. Unfortunately, rejecting the natural order does not change it. One of the iron laws of nature is that weakness is always met with aggression. This is one reason women do not respect men they can dominate. They resent weakness and indecision in men. They speak as if black men are useful only for voting and procreation.

They don’t see black men as husbands, fathers, coaches, business owners, community leaders, or men of faith. For as much as they talk about criminal justice reform, they don’t even see black men as the primary victims of inner-city violent crime.

To them, we’re little more than a ballot and reproductive material.

So here is my parting message for black men, especially those who typically vote for Democrats. You may not share my worldview, but you should at least ensure that the party you vote for shares yours. These are not your daddy’s Democrats. Today’s party will brag about getting you higher wages one second and then fire you for “misgendering” someone at work the next. They will come to black churches to encourage voter turnout but will call a black Christian with biblical views of sex and sexuality a bigot and a “white supremacist.”

A heterosexual black man with even quasi-traditional views should know that in the left’s ideological framework, the only difference between him and the straight, white, Christian male “oppressor” is a higher level of melanin. In the words of one black man at the Root, “straight black men are the white people of black people.”

Democrats are trying to figure out why some black men have become open to leaving the party. They have become comfortable treating and speaking to you like a boy. Your response to them should be equally clear.

“I AM A MAN.”