Why are AA communities mostly Democratic?

[Senator Spark]

And what has the Democratic Party done to help them other than government sponsored programs?

[RINO Tom]

Your recent spree of topics is very ... simple.

[Senator Spark]

Your recent spree of topics is very ... simple.

Please elaborate..

[Boston Bread]

And what has the Democratic Party done to help them other than government sponsored programs?

You can't just dismiss the role of government sponsored programs in the voting patterns of AAs. Further, this applies to any group of Americans.

[kcguy]

I like to argue by analogy, so I'll start with my own personal experiences.

As a 40-something gay man, I have a dog-whistle reaction to the word "family".  Most people probably see it as a pretty neutral word, but I associate with Dan Quayle's "family values" and anti-gay organizations like Focus on the Family.  It depends on the context, of course, but it's pretty easy for me to assume the word to be shorthand for "stick it to the gays".  And it's not just me, apparently.  The 1998 gay-themed movie The Opposite of Sex used the word family to mean just that and assumed its audience wouldn't need it explained.

I assume the Black community has a similar dog-whistle reaction to the language of the Republican Party, even when the rest of us don't hear it.

It hasn't always been that way, of course.  For at least a half century, Black Americans were true-blue Republicans.  When everyone else abandoned Hoover in 1932, they stuck with him.

It was Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal and racially progressive values that dislodged them.  (Well, "racially progressive" being a relative term.  He was certainly more progressive than any previous Democrat.)  From 1934 through the 1950's, the Black community was a Democratic-leaning constituency but probably no more so than any other constituency from a similar economic background.  It's hard to think of an era when economics determined voting patterns more than in the 1950's.

The shift started in 1964.  The Democrats nominated the man who had pushed through the Civil Rights Act, while the Republicans nominated one of its strongest opponents.  (Goldwater may have had principled reasons for opposing the act, but the fact remains that he still opposed it.)

In 1968, the Democrats nominated the author of the Democratic Party's 1948 civil rights plank; meanwhile, the Republican candidate campaigned on "law and order", a not-too-subtle swipe at the two youth-dominated anti-Establishment movements of the era, the civil rights movement of the South and the anti-war movement of the North.

To be honest, I can't begin to tell you the reasons for the drift to the Democrats since then, but it's pretty much a statistical fact that the Republicans get less of the Black vote in every election.  There seems to have been a reaction against Reagan's tone.  And there seems to have been an embrace of Bill Clinton to such a degree that an attack on him was regarded as an attack on them.  There were probably "dog whistles" in there which contributed to that, but they were outside my range of hearing, so I can't even begin to give chapter and verse.

Barack Obama's election was in some ways the culmination of a decades-long trend.  Not only has the Black community embraced the Democratic Party, but Obama's election represented an embrace by the Democratic Party of the Black community.

Support for the Democratic Party will recede somewhat once Obama has left the stage but it's hard to imagine that support falling much below 90% in most elections.  (Unless, of course, something happens to dislodge that loyalty.  Nothing can ever be ruled out.)

Of course, then again, it could all be about government largesse.  After all, some might assume that's the reason that I, a White suburban home-owning middle-aged Midwestern professional who works in the private sector, vote Democratic is because of all the money I get from government programs.  <sarcasm>

(Of course, as I'm finishing this, I'm realizing that I'm only assuming you're talking about the "African American" community and not the "Alcoholics Anonymous" community. 

Also, to forestall any comments, I'll mention right now that I generally prefer to use the term "Black" over "African American".  Since I don't work in academia, I tend to have an aversion to using 7-syllable phrases when one syllable says the same thing, although I'm open to other possibilities.)

[I Will Not Be Wrong]

Very good writeup KCguy.

[smoltchanov]

+100, kcguy!

[I spent the winter writing songs about getting better]

"Black" and "African-American" don't really mean the same thing. Basically all African-Americans are black, but not all blacks (even if just limited to the US) are not African-American. I live in in a city with one of the largest non-AA black populations in the country and a majority of people arrested for hate crimes against them have been African Americans.

Incidentally Barack Obama is not an African-American, although Michelle is.

[Padfoot]

"Black" and "African-American" don't really mean the same thing. Basically all African-Americans are black, but not all blacks (even if just limited to the US) are not African-American. I live in in a city with one of the largest non-AA black populations in the country and a majority of people arrested for hate crimes against them have been African Americans.

Incidentally Barack Obama is not an African-American, although Michelle is.

Correct me if I'm wrong but based on your state avatar I'm guessing these are hate crimes committed against Somali immigrants?  I live in Columbus which also has a very large Somali population and that is not a problem I've heard widely discussed (which doesn't necessarily mean it doesn't exist).

[Antonio the Sixth]

Now you're just trolling.

[hopper]

Basically Black People live in or around major cities so thats why they are so Dem.

[King of Kensington]

Then why does the rural Black Belt vote Dem?

[Redban]

Firstly:

Low-income groups tend to vote Democrat, and Blacks have high poverty rates, high unemployment rates, low educational achievement, and low median income. For these disadvantaged groups, the Republicans' "rugged individualism" has less appeal than the Democrats' "we're all in this together" message does.

Secondly:

75% of African-Americans are born out-of-wedlock, and a significant amount grow up under a single-mother. Whereas Democrats will extol the bravery of single-mothers, Republicans will frequently praise the traditional, two-parent household and publicize the well-documented effects of single-motherhood (i.e. more crime). Indeed, Black women vote Democrat by a significantly larger margin than Black men do.

Thirdly:

Republicans are less favorable towards affirmative action, criminal justice reform, the war on drugs, and public schools than the Democrats are; and Blacks care about those topics.

Fourthly:

There is a popular conception that many Republicans are racist, as provoked by the Republicans' support for law-enforcement ("Blue Lives Matter" over "Black Lives Matter") and their opposition to illegal immigration.

[hopper]

Firstly:

Low-income groups tend to vote Democrat, and Blacks have high poverty rates, high unemployment rates, low educational achievement, and low median income. For these disadvantaged groups, the Republicans' "rugged individualism" has less appeal than the Democrats' "we're all in this together" message does.

Secondly:

75% of African-Americans are born out-of-wedlock, and a significant amount grow up under a single-mother. Whereas Democrats will extol the bravery of single-mothers, Republicans will frequently praise the traditional, two-parent household and publicize the well-documented effects of single-motherhood (i.e. more crime). Indeed, Black women vote Democrat by a significantly larger margin than Black men do.

Thirdly:

Republicans are less favorable towards affirmative action, criminal justice reform, the war on drugs, and public schools than the Democrats are; and Blacks care about those topics.

Fourthly:

There is a popular conception that many Republicans are racist, as provoked by the Republicans' support for law-enforcement ("Blue Lives Matter" over "Black Lives Matter") and their opposition to illegal immigration.

Criminal Justice Reform-I think Republicans are coming around with Mike Lee and Rand Paul working with Cory Booker on that topic.

Illegal Immigration-I don't think anybody is in favor of illegal immigration. Its just too hard to deport 12 million people that are here illegally though.

75% of Black Children are born out of wedlock-I think that is tied to income. I mean a single mother trying to take care of a kid by herself is hard with only one person bringing a check home. About Black Men voting more Republican than Black Women White Men vote more R than White Women and Hispanic Men vote more R than Hispanic Women.

[hopper]

Then why does the rural Black Belt vote Dem?

I think that maybe is an isolated case. Alot of Black People live in and around cities like The Detroit Metro Area, Atlanta Metro Area, Milwaukee, Philadephia, Newark, NJ/ New York City, Cleveland, Chicago, New Orleans, Baltimore and Washington Metro Area.

[Redban]

About Black Men voting more Republican than Black Women White Men vote more R than White Women and Hispanic Men vote more R than Hispanic Women.

Exit polls in 2012 showed that Black men were nearly 4 times more likely to vote for Romney than Black women were (albeit, from 3% to 11%). Young black men were nearly 20 times more likely to do so than young black women.

The other races are not so divided by gender.

[Virginiá]

Exit polls in 2012 showed that Black men were nearly 4 times more likely to vote for Romney than Black women were (albeit, from 3% to 11%). Young black men were nearly 20 times more likely to do so than young black women.

I'm rather curious why Millennial black men voted in larger numbers for Romney than older black men. What are their particular grievances?

[Indy Texas]

About Black Men voting more Republican than Black Women White Men vote more R than White Women and Hispanic Men vote more R than Hispanic Women.

Exit polls in 2012 showed that Black men were nearly 4 times more likely to vote for Romney than Black women were (albeit, from 3% to 11%). Young black men were nearly 20 times more likely to do so than young black women.

The other races are not so divided by gender.

Exit polls in 2012 showed that Black men were nearly 4 times more likely to vote for Romney than Black women were (albeit, from 3% to 11%). Young black men were nearly 20 times more likely to do so than young black women.

I'm rather curious why Millennial black men voted in larger numbers for Romney than older black men. What are their particular grievances?

You may have lower turnout among young blacks than among older blacks. So the young black men who are voting might include people like Simfan making up a larger share than they would if voter turnout were higher in that group.