Do you actually believe this?
Well yeah, the Democrats protected and spread slavery for ~75 years before it was banned. If the Republicans did that would you give them a pass? But they ended slavery instead and the Democrats replaced it with another century of terrorism and Jim Crow. That wasn't bad enough though, they welcomed black people to their war on drugs. Its clear which party has done more harm to black folk.
Nixon was a Democrat and Nancy Reagan told us to "Just try it"
Democrats wrote the drug laws enforced by Nixon and they enjoyed large majorities in control of the House for decades before and after him. Yes, I know the Republicans support the drug war... If that makes them racist and unworthy of support, how did Democrats become a morally acceptable option?
I totally think there is a genuine argument that Democrats haven't done enough to end the drug war. Berz is not making that argument.
Haven't done enough? I wish I could make that argument, but they authored the drug war and they've spent decades enforcing it. Why do you think BLM went after the Clintons? Mass incarceration of black people thanks to the drug war.
Berz's argument is especially hollow given Sessions, current AG and Republican, has reversed DOJ and prosecutorial discretion vis a vis drugs in contradiction to Obama policy.
Why does Sessions exonerate Democrats for giving him the power to enforce their laws?
What kind of person invokes historical record from 150 years ago as being crucially more important than the current AG's own record? And what kind of person holds one party to an impossible political standard, while they fall short of but make some effort towards?
Just a person showing Democrats have a long track record of persecuting people, especially people of color... But I'm not arguing slavery was crucially more important (it wasn't?), the OP is primarily about the drug war. I'm not holding the party to any standard, my question is for the people who support the party. I'd also ask people why they remain supporters of the Catholic Church, but thats another matter. You're supporting an organization with a long history of evil, is that only relevant with groups you dont like? If the Republicans were the party of slavery would they get a pass?
I honestly want to see how Berz justifies him honing on the party trying to incrementally change the war against drugs while ignoring the party that wants to increase it. What compels a person to invoke a Lincoln as a crucial data point on the Republicans actions in the war on drugs?
If the victims of institutional racism were supporting the Republicans I'd be asking them to explain why. If Japanese Americans supported FDR, I'd be asking them why.
Good thing Jeff Sessions is reversing a number of Obama policies in regards to the drug war.
Who wrote the laws? Mostly Democrats...
I have yet to see any attempt by Berz to rectify Republicans' actions on issues such as drug laws and voting rights with what the modern Democratic party stands for and does. One party is so clearly superior to the other on issues of minority rights that I don't know that any of these screeds are tethered to anything we'd recognize as reality. I think Berz is just trying to virtue signal with these rants, I don't think these are issues he cares about at all.
I wouldn't have started the thread if I didn't care. Hell, if I was a racist I'd support the drug war. Why dont Democrats care?
Well, if we take the US as the context, the answer is obvious : because the alternative is the Republicans.
It isn't so obvious when the context is the drug war, both parties support it...
It's easy! The Republicans appealed to the racist elements in the 70's through the Southern Strategy and now the parties have essentially switched names.
Therefore it's actually quite easy to support the Democrats, at least through a lesser-of-two-evils situation.
Democrats were writing drug laws before and after the southern strategy, but it is noteworthy that even the Democrats imposing Jim Crow on people didn't target blacks like the Democrats did after Nixon. They got even worse... Does choosing the lesser of two evils create a moral high ground immune to criticism? I mean, when Democrats complain about racism while their party commits atrocities against people of color, their defense is to point a finger at someone else they've identified as more evil. Isn't that hypocrisy? I think so...
It's true.
A little known fact is that, after Thomas Jefferson [who wrote the Declaration of Independence] snf James Madison [architect of the U.S. Constitution] co-founded what is now the Democratic Party, they jumped into their time machine, went back to the year 1620, and began importing slaves.
The Pilgrims would like to have a word with you, can they borrow the car tonite?
When you say "gave"... You obviously don't mean that the Democratic party invented slavery as a concept... and you obviously don't mean that the Democratic party introduced slavery to the continent of North America... so are you just saying that the Democrats were the party of the Confederacy/ the party that supported slavery? Why not just say that?
I dont need to if its obvious... and I said it with less than half the letters.
I also would like to hear your top 5 reasons as I agree that it will provide a much better insight on your perspective. When everyone is saying the grass is green while one guy is saying its yellow, its more productive for the guy that sees the grass as yellow to explain why he thinks its yellow than for one of the people seeing green to try to explain why they think its green. Everyone gets that its green, it doesn't need to be explained, but obviously you don't/can't/won't get it or you wouldn't be saying its yellow. So it is more productive for you to explain your perspective. That being said ... I tried to think about a thoughtful, but simple, anecdotal way of answering this that you would immediately get. Now by "get it", please understand that I don't mean agree with, I just mean comprehend.
So why do I, a black dude, who grew a black neighborhood support the Democrats instead of the Republicans?
I didn't ask why people choose Democrats over Republicans, I asked how people could support the Democrats in spite of their track record of institutional racism. It'd be like the victims of pedophile priests supporting the Vatican or battered women defending their abusive husbands.
OK, simple... You, Berzerker are Republican/conservative voter/supporter right?
No... I oppose the drug war. Unfortunately I dont see any Democrats or Republicans I can vote for who share my position.
You support George Zimmerman right? That's it.
I supported his right to self defense and acquittal, you wanted him in prison for murder because you decided he was a racist. If he was black and Martin was white would your opinion change? Mine wouldn't...
That's as simple and straightforward as I can make it. The folks in your party/political side of the aisle tend to be more likely to support George Zimmerman, whereas Democrats tend more to support Trayvon. That's why I can't support Republicans. I can't support a party who's membership has a higher tendency to be supportive of Zimmerman. For you to support Zimmerman establishes that your perspective is just way too opposed to mine for me to be in that party. So as long as you (the royal you) support Zimmerman, I could never be comfortable as a Republican.
It was a Republican governor who threw Zimmerman under the bus, but I didn't ask why you dont support Republicans.
Again, I don't expect you to agree. You've already explain that hypothetical black Berzerker would still be team Zimmerman, and that position in and of itself is another reason I support the Democrats instead of the Republicans... the fact that you just don't get it. I can't be in that party, cause you guys don't get it. You don't understand the flaw in your statement about what you would do "if you were black". You don't understand the underlying disrespect, you just don't get it. That's why I can't be Republican. You guys don't get it. The fact that you can rail on about slavery, and Jim Crow, Clinton etc., and not get why black people are overwhelmingly Democrats just underscores how out of touch you (the royal you) are. In a sense, the fact that you don't get, can't get why black people are Democrats is why black people aren't Republicans... cause Republicans just don't get it, they don't want to... in fact, they say things like "Well if I were black I wouldn't feel any different" just demonstrating that they don't even care to see our perspective... so why would we want to be a part of that party?
I'm not a Republican and you made your decision long before George Zimmerman... Now here's what I do get. The Democrats have been rounding up blacks for decades and shipping them off into the prison system, so when Democrats complain about racism, they need a mirror and some light.
