Why doesn't social conservatism work with Blacks?

[Redban]

African-Americans are more religious than the population as a whole is, with lower rates of atheism and higher rates of church attendance than all other groups have.

Accordingly, a sizable group believes that abortion should be illegal, that homosexuality should be discouraged, and that religion should play an active role in politics.

(SOURCE: http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/)

Those beliefs align with the Republican Party, which is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-religion (whereas the Democrats are pro-choice, pro-LGBT, and pro-secularism). Still, Blacks vote Democrat by an overwhelming margin. Why?

I can understand that concerns about the economy and racism might play a role, but I don't understand how those concerns can totally shut out social conservatism in such a religious community, as they vote Democrat by a 95% margin.

[White Trash]

African-Americans are more religious than the population as a whole is, with lower rates of atheism and higher rates of church attendance than all other groups have.

Accordingly, a sizable group believes that abortion should be illegal, that homosexuality should be discouraged, and that religion should play an active role in politics.

(SOURCE: http://www.pewforum.org/2009/01/30/a-religious-portrait-of-african-americans/)

Those beliefs align with the Republican Party, which is pro-life, pro-traditional marriage, and pro-religion (whereas the Democrats are pro-choice, pro-LGBT, and pro-secularism). Still, Blacks vote Democrat by an overwhelming margin. Why?

I can understand that concerns about the economy and racism might play a role, but I don't understand how those concerns can totally shut out social conservatism in such a religious community, as they vote Democrat by a 95% margin.

Because for most people, economic issues outweighs social issues. And Black voters tend to support more socially conservative Democrats anyway in primaries and such.

[RINO Tom]

Sorry to derail your thread, but this is an appropriate arena to say this: it is completely ridiculous to think of things as "religious" vs. "atheist."  Atheism is a distinctly fringe subset of being "non-religious," and the vast majority of people who do not have a religion are NOT atheists.  Even among millennials, where organized religion is facing a decline, atheists remains a tiny minority.

Anyway, as SG said, economic issues often rule the day.  According to Gallup, Democrats making less than $30,000 annually are actually PRO-LIFE by about a 5% margin.  I doubt they go to the voting booth thinking about Roe v. Wade if they're seeing ads every week talking about how Mitt Romney outsourced jobs and wants tax cuts for millionaires.

http://www.gallup.com/poll/147941/republicans-unified-democrats-abortion.aspx

[Redban]

Sorry to derail your thread, but this is an appropriate arena to say this: it is completely ridiculous to think of things as "religious" vs. "atheist."  Atheism is a distinctly fringe subset of being "non-religious," and the vast majority of people who do not have a religion are NOT atheists.  Even among millennials, where organized religion is facing a decline, atheists remains a tiny minority.

I just said:

African-Americans are more religious than the population as a whole is, with lower rates of atheism and higher rates of church attendance than all other groups have.

I didn't imply that all non-affiliates are atheists any more than I implied that all religious people have high rates of church attendance.

The goal was to simply emphasize that Blacks are more religious than other groups are, and lower rates of athiesm and higher rates of church attendance help demonstrate that claim; I picked those two as examples, nothing more.

[RINO Tom]

Sorry to derail your thread, but this is an appropriate arena to say this: it is completely ridiculous to think of things as "religious" vs. "atheist."  Atheism is a distinctly fringe subset of being "non-religious," and the vast majority of people who do not have a religion are NOT atheists.  Even among millennials, where organized religion is facing a decline, atheists remains a tiny minority.

I just said:

African-Americans are more religious than the population as a whole is, with lower rates of atheism and higher rates of church attendance than all other groups have.

I didn't imply that all non-affiliates are atheists any more than I implied that all religious people have high rates of church attendance.

The goal was to simply emphasize that Blacks are more religious than other groups are, and lower rates of athiesm and higher rates of church attendance help demonstrate that claim; I picked those two as examples, nothing more.

No, I know, I was just yapping away.

Anyway, the more important part of my post was below that!  There are tons of very culturally conservative minoroties who struggle to get by and vote Democrat and tons of wealthy folks who don't go to church who vote Republican.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Because African-Americans see the Income Tax as a Wealthy tax.  Blacks who have money aren't millionaires or have alot of wealth in the stock market. The Income Tax punishes Wall Street and relieves Main Street.

Many other ethnic groups, like whites, have many, many investments in the stock market.

[Boston Bread]

Being poor or working class can explain a large percent of the black vote, but not even close to 95% when a good chunk are middle class or socons. The reason for why black socons and middle class voters vote D is that blacks have a very strong sense of community and will vote for the party seen to benefit them as a whole even if it doesn't benefit them individually.

[IceSpear]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

[Redban]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

[IceSpear]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

[RINO Tom]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

Not disagreeing as it pertains to present day, but Black voters literally did that from the '30s to the '60s...

[Santander]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

Not disagreeing as it pertains to present day, but Black voters literally did that from the '30s to the '60s...

They don't make 'em like they used to.

[IceSpear]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

Not disagreeing as it pertains to present day, but Black voters literally did that from the '30s to the '60s...

Point taken, but it's not as if both parties didn't have that back then.

[RINO Tom]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

Not disagreeing as it pertains to present day, but Black voters literally did that from the '30s to the '60s...

Point taken, but it's not as if both parties didn't have that back then.

This.  I would imagine black voters could pick only the lesser of two evils from 1896-1948, as virtually no one in either party even paid lip service to civil rights between McKinley and Truman. 

Define lip service ... Harding and Coolidge were very vocally in favor of federal anti-lynching legislation.

But also, point taken.  Also, more like 1870s on.

[Figueira]

The problem with the economic arguments is, why do poor white people often vote Republican?

I agree that the main factor is that the Democrats are much, much better on racial issues.

[pbrower2a]

Conservatism may mean something very different to blacks than to whites, on the whole. It is possible to express cultural conservatism while rejecting class privilege. Very few black people will ever endorse any white politician of any kind who endorses or even seems to hint at an endorsement of any genetic inequality of black people.


But even with blacks whose demographics are similar to those of white people who ordinarily vote for conservatives, like entrepreneurs and business owners, may have less of a stake in conservative ideology. The black owner of a small chain of grocery stores may have a clientele that relies heavily upon food aid; a black physician or dentist may rely heavily upon clients  getting government-subsidized medical aid. Such entrepreneurs and professionals  will often show themselves more concerned with revenue sources than with taxes as would be so with  white business owners who have a middle-class clientele.

[Person Man]

Conservatism may mean something very different to blacks than to whites, on the whole. It is possible to express cultural conservatism while rejecting class privilege. Very few black people will ever endorse any white politician of any kind who endorses or even seems to hint at an endorsement of any genetic inequality of black people.


But even with blacks whose demographics are similar to those of white people who ordinarily vote for conservatives, like entrepreneurs and business owners, may have less of a stake in conservative ideology. The black owner of a small chain of grocery stores may have a clientele that relies heavily upon food aid; a black physician or dentist may rely heavily upon clients  getting government-subsidized medical aid. Such entrepreneurs and professionals  will often show themselves more concerned with revenue sources than with taxes as would be so with  white business owners who have a middle-class clientele.

Aren't there white professionals in poor neighborhoods like that?

[Kingpoleon]

Has nobody really said the obvious answer yet?

Racism?

Yes. I think individual issues will take a backseat to the fact that most blacks would never even consider voting for a party with a vocal white supremacist contingent.

Not disagreeing as it pertains to present day, but Black voters literally did that from the '30s to the '60s...

Point taken, but it's not as if both parties didn't have that back then.

Wendell Willkie and Thomas Dewey beg to differ

[TrumpCard]

It could work better if addressed properly.  Part of the problem is having a candidate who knows how to talk about these issues in ways most blacks can relate to.  Someone compassionate with an understanding of family hardships would work better.  Sell it as family values instead of social conservatism.  Bush was better at this than any of the recent candidates we've had.  Obama has been a major setback for the black community with more blacks living in poverty than ever which doesn't help.  Trump seemed to make progress last week asking "what have you got to lose," but it might be too little too late.  Before Obama blacks opposed gay marriage which was a place to start.

[hopper]

Black People think they get better results economically from voting from Dem than Republican. Thats it. Republicans out of the state of Ohio have had success with the Black Vote like Kasich, Mike Turner and George Voinivich.

[DoctorWinstonOBoogie]

Because black people have only seen things get better for them as time went on. They don't long for a past like white people do. I doubt you'd be able to find any black person who is yearning to go back to the legislated segregation of the '50's or the tumultuous days of the '60's. They have in it progress, because they've seen it first-hand.

The people who tried to keep them down were the social conservatives. And as long as it's the social conservatives who stand against them with regards to police brutality, voter suppression, and white nationalism, blacks won't be social conservatives.

[Heisenberg]

While we're at it, can one explain why many Black Democrats from VRA districts are pro-choice and pro-LGBT? Do special interests play a role?

[hopper]

While we're at it, can one explain why many Black Democrats from VRA districts are pro-choice and pro-LGBT? Do special interests play a role?

I agree that the pro-choice position of Black Congressmam is odd given the influence of "The Black Church" in Black Communties. Being Pro-LGBT maybe Black Congressman think LGBT issues are kinda of a civil-rights issue.

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Blacks do respect 2nd Amendment rights, but not unchecked as sons are gunned down on streets. DC concealed weapons carry prohibition law helped blacks tremendously, but the stand your ground law that law enforcement have used like in Treyvon case, is used for racial profiling.

[Roronoa D. Law]

As a black person I will tell you that black people are socially conservative more so than the country as a whole. Half of our population are still in the south. The problem for Republicans is that most socially conservative laws they propose involve taking people civil rights away something that does not sit well with the black community. If Republicans want to gain black vote with socially conservative ideas they need to stop allowing social issues to turn into white backlash. Some blacks are against gay marriage but you will never see them on Capitol Hill carrying a sign about stopping it.