For Black Republicans, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is an obligatory fiction

[westwall]

No superiority is what you claim to be.

Never has Dave claimed superiority over anyone.

YOU have though!

 

[daveman]

No superiority is what you claim to be.

Never have, never will. I love being just an average guy. You have zero evidence I feel like I'm superior to anyone.

You do have your own racism against whites, but that's not evidence, Skippy.

 

[daveman]

Never has Dave claimed superiority over anyone.

YOU have though!

 

[Superbadbrutha]

Never have, never will. I love being just an average guy. You have zero evidence I feel like I'm superior to anyone.

You do have your own racism against whites, but that's not evidence, Skippy.

Is that why you can NEVER post anything racist I have said.

 

[daveman]

Is that why you can NEVER post anything racist I have said.

Perhaps we're both wrong, and neither of us is racist.

I'm willing to consider you may not be. How about you? Can you consider I'm not racist? You're never proven I am.

 

[badbob85037]

Aside from racial gerrymandering, suppressing votes, underfunding schools, upholding a biased criminal justice system, denying a woman’s right to choose, preventing access to healthcare, undermining democracy, opposing reparations and thwarting every effort for equal rights, perhaps the most preposterous part of conservative mythology is the insidiously racist idea of “bootstraps”.

According to this wholly absurd construct, hard work – and hard work, alone – is a magical key that unlocks the promises of the American dream. And, if one accepts this premise, then the converse must also be true. Anyone who doesn’t achieve their dreams is simply not working hard enough.

Although “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally intended to be an obviously sarcastic phrase suggesting an impossible accomplishment, the concept has become a key component of the Republican ideology, especially as it relates to racial inequality. Apparently, the infallible founding fathers and the heralded leaders of the past wasted 250 years constructing laws, traditions, practices and a constitution that provided an economic, political and social advantage to the white majority when all they had to do was put their noses to the grindstone. America’s white majority benefited from human trafficking, free labor, segregation, redlining and the whole of government-sanctioned racism. Yet, to fulfill the promise that America offers, all Black people ever needed is a strong back, a good idea and an unfailing work ethic.


For Black Republicans, accepting this sliver of ahistorical fiction is the first step to ascending to a position of power and prominence in the Grand Old Party. Counterbalancing the accusations of racism lobbed at the Republican party is the main job of Black conservatives. To do this, they are required to fabricate a life story that serves as a parable and proof of the bootstrapping thesis.

Even before Herschel Walker decided to vie for the Georgia Senate seat occupied by Senator Raphael Warnock, the NFL running-back-turned-bootstrap-evangelist made a habit of explaining how his work ethic and a don’t-quit mentality led to accomplishments as a student, multimillionaire and a business mogul. There was only one problem with Walker’s backstory:

It doesn’t seem to be true.

According to investigations by the Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, there is no evidence that supports Walker’s claims to own the largest minority-owned food business in America, his supposed net worth of $65m, or his proprietary mist that can “kill any Covid in your body”. It is possible that Walker isn’t a liar; maybe he simply meant to inspire others with the story about how he worked his way out of poverty to graduate in the top 1% of his class at the University of Georgia … Except he didn’t graduate from college.

Although he was hailed as the only hope of regaining the invaluable Senate seat, Walker’s Republican challengers are now convinced that his fabricated backstory, and domestic violence allegations by his ex-wife, have become a risk to the party, according to a report by Politico. Now that Walker’s con has been exposed, he is of no use to his Republican colleagues. The fairytale life that was once his biggest attribute has become “baggage”.

The South Carolina senator Tim Scott is taking note. For years, he has repeatedly extolled the values of hard work as part of his origin story. He often recounts the tale of his poor, illiterate grandfather who – Scott conveniently forgets to mention – owned 900 acres in South Carolina. While Scott once told me during an interview that he “struggles to come up with a concise definition of what systemic racism looks like”, he confidently told the world that “America is not a racist country”. And, according to Axios, Scott is now preparing to give a speech that warns against “teaching kids that they are oppressors”. How convenient. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Scott’s name has been bandied about as a presidential candidate.

Perhaps America’s highest-ranking Black Republican is Clarence Thomas. During his rise to the supreme court, Thomas loved to tell the tale of how his sister was content to survive on government assistance while he embraced the all-American ethos of hard work. “She gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check,” Thomas told a group of Black conservatives in 1980. “What’s worse is that now her kids feel entitled to the check too. They have no motivation for doing better or getting out of that situation.’’ It turns out, it was all a lie. But of course, it served its purpose. As a supreme court justice, Thomas’s life has turned into a liability that may cost his party a supreme court seat.

“What has happened too often is that people who seemingly mean well have promoted things that do not encourage development of any innate talent in people,” explained another Black bootstrapper, Ben Carson. “Hence we have generation after generation living in dependent situations. It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s that this is what they’ve been given, and it’s all they know in some cases.” As secretary of the housing and urban development department, Carson, a former presidential candidate, pledged to reverse policies that “created a culture of dependency in urban communities”. Carson didn’t mention that those same policies provided shelter, food and even the ability to see clearly during his quest to become one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in American history. But, alas, he has been discarded, too.

Unlike their white counterparts, Black Republicans are required to promote the idea that – instead of discrimination, systemic inequality and history – Black people are victims of their own laziness. Kelly Loeffler, who held the Georgia Senate seat before Walker’s opponent, came from a family that profited from government assistance. However, Loeffler didn’t bear the burden of representing the shiftlessness of white “culture”. Ben Carson didn’t point out that the man who appointed him could serve as the poster boy for white privilege, if Trump could manage to wrestle the title from the man who appointed Thomas to the supreme court, George HW Bush.

But that’s not what makes this a racist idea.

By preaching the tenets of the bootstrap gospel, Black Republicans are essentially saying that 83% of Black voters, 63% of Hispanic voters and 72% of Asian American voters are wrong. The fact that every non-white demographic in America has rejected this narrative cannot unseat this fraudulent conservative conceit. They might not know much about history, business, systemic racism or inequality in their own country but, apparently, white people know what’s best for everyone else.

The willingness to toss aside the people who labored for the conservative movement actually disproves the logic of bootstrap mythology. Ultimately, when the premise of the false narrative is exposed as a fantasy, they have no use for the Black people whose lives once supported the idea that the gears to equality are lubricated with elbow grease.

It turns out, it was snake oil all along.

For Black Republicans, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is an obligatory fiction

Just listen to the new tokens the Republicans have adopted, Herschel Walker and Tim Scott are the two they parade out front today. It used to be Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Allen West, etc., but they seemed to have fallen off the map.

Martin Luther King Jr was a republican He said all those democrats do is push in the stools of other democRats . That's why I don't think they are against abortion. It's not like they are making a good dose of laxatives illegal and democrats always enjoyed shitting them self. Right? Right.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

Martin Luther King Jr was a republican He said all those democrats do is push in the stools of other democRats .

Newsflash for you Bob, most black folks were Republicans in those days. Can you post the quote where Dr King stated that.

That's why I don't think they are against abortion. It's not like they are making a good dose of laxatives illegal and democrats always enjoyed shitting them self. Right? Right.

Damn BB, did you come up with that all by yourself.

 

[donttread]

Aside from racial gerrymandering, suppressing votes, underfunding schools, upholding a biased criminal justice system, denying a woman’s right to choose, preventing access to healthcare, undermining democracy, opposing reparations and thwarting every effort for equal rights, perhaps the most preposterous part of conservative mythology is the insidiously racist idea of “bootstraps”.

According to this wholly absurd construct, hard work – and hard work, alone – is a magical key that unlocks the promises of the American dream. And, if one accepts this premise, then the converse must also be true. Anyone who doesn’t achieve their dreams is simply not working hard enough.

Although “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally intended to be an obviously sarcastic phrase suggesting an impossible accomplishment, the concept has become a key component of the Republican ideology, especially as it relates to racial inequality. Apparently, the infallible founding fathers and the heralded leaders of the past wasted 250 years constructing laws, traditions, practices and a constitution that provided an economic, political and social advantage to the white majority when all they had to do was put their noses to the grindstone. America’s white majority benefited from human trafficking, free labor, segregation, redlining and the whole of government-sanctioned racism. Yet, to fulfill the promise that America offers, all Black people ever needed is a strong back, a good idea and an unfailing work ethic.


For Black Republicans, accepting this sliver of ahistorical fiction is the first step to ascending to a position of power and prominence in the Grand Old Party. Counterbalancing the accusations of racism lobbed at the Republican party is the main job of Black conservatives. To do this, they are required to fabricate a life story that serves as a parable and proof of the bootstrapping thesis.

Even before Herschel Walker decided to vie for the Georgia Senate seat occupied by Senator Raphael Warnock, the NFL running-back-turned-bootstrap-evangelist made a habit of explaining how his work ethic and a don’t-quit mentality led to accomplishments as a student, multimillionaire and a business mogul. There was only one problem with Walker’s backstory:

It doesn’t seem to be true.

According to investigations by the Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, there is no evidence that supports Walker’s claims to own the largest minority-owned food business in America, his supposed net worth of $65m, or his proprietary mist that can “kill any Covid in your body”. It is possible that Walker isn’t a liar; maybe he simply meant to inspire others with the story about how he worked his way out of poverty to graduate in the top 1% of his class at the University of Georgia … Except he didn’t graduate from college.

Although he was hailed as the only hope of regaining the invaluable Senate seat, Walker’s Republican challengers are now convinced that his fabricated backstory, and domestic violence allegations by his ex-wife, have become a risk to the party, according to a report by Politico. Now that Walker’s con has been exposed, he is of no use to his Republican colleagues. The fairytale life that was once his biggest attribute has become “baggage”.

The South Carolina senator Tim Scott is taking note. For years, he has repeatedly extolled the values of hard work as part of his origin story. He often recounts the tale of his poor, illiterate grandfather who – Scott conveniently forgets to mention – owned 900 acres in South Carolina. While Scott once told me during an interview that he “struggles to come up with a concise definition of what systemic racism looks like”, he confidently told the world that “America is not a racist country”. And, according to Axios, Scott is now preparing to give a speech that warns against “teaching kids that they are oppressors”. How convenient. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Scott’s name has been bandied about as a presidential candidate.

Perhaps America’s highest-ranking Black Republican is Clarence Thomas. During his rise to the supreme court, Thomas loved to tell the tale of how his sister was content to survive on government assistance while he embraced the all-American ethos of hard work. “She gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check,” Thomas told a group of Black conservatives in 1980. “What’s worse is that now her kids feel entitled to the check too. They have no motivation for doing better or getting out of that situation.’’ It turns out, it was all a lie. But of course, it served its purpose. As a supreme court justice, Thomas’s life has turned into a liability that may cost his party a supreme court seat.

“What has happened too often is that people who seemingly mean well have promoted things that do not encourage development of any innate talent in people,” explained another Black bootstrapper, Ben Carson. “Hence we have generation after generation living in dependent situations. It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s that this is what they’ve been given, and it’s all they know in some cases.” As secretary of the housing and urban development department, Carson, a former presidential candidate, pledged to reverse policies that “created a culture of dependency in urban communities”. Carson didn’t mention that those same policies provided shelter, food and even the ability to see clearly during his quest to become one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in American history. But, alas, he has been discarded, too.

Unlike their white counterparts, Black Republicans are required to promote the idea that – instead of discrimination, systemic inequality and history – Black people are victims of their own laziness. Kelly Loeffler, who held the Georgia Senate seat before Walker’s opponent, came from a family that profited from government assistance. However, Loeffler didn’t bear the burden of representing the shiftlessness of white “culture”. Ben Carson didn’t point out that the man who appointed him could serve as the poster boy for white privilege, if Trump could manage to wrestle the title from the man who appointed Thomas to the supreme court, George HW Bush.

But that’s not what makes this a racist idea.

By preaching the tenets of the bootstrap gospel, Black Republicans are essentially saying that 83% of Black voters, 63% of Hispanic voters and 72% of Asian American voters are wrong. The fact that every non-white demographic in America has rejected this narrative cannot unseat this fraudulent conservative conceit. They might not know much about history, business, systemic racism or inequality in their own country but, apparently, white people know what’s best for everyone else.

The willingness to toss aside the people who labored for the conservative movement actually disproves the logic of bootstrap mythology. Ultimately, when the premise of the false narrative is exposed as a fantasy, they have no use for the Black people whose lives once supported the idea that the gears to equality are lubricated with elbow grease.

It turns out, it was snake oil all along.

For Black Republicans, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is an obligatory fiction

Just listen to the new tokens the Republicans have adopted, Herschel Walker and Tim Scott are the two they parade out front today. It used to be Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Allen West, etc., but they seemed to have fallen off the map.

Actually every once oppressed group to get out of the ghetto, like the Irish, has used two things to improve their lives. Work ethic and family structure. Want a modern example? The Latinos are doing it right now socio-economically out competing blacks despite lots of misplaced hatred towards them.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

Actually every once oppressed group to get out of the ghetto, like the Irish, has used two things to improve their lives. Work ethic and family structure. Want a modern example? The Latinos are doing it right now socio-economically out competing blacks despite lots of misplaced hatred towards them.

Don't forget the main ingredient, they were white and not black.

 

[daveman]

Don't forget the main ingredient, they were white and not black.

Are Latinos white?

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Aside from racial gerrymandering, suppressing votes, underfunding schools, upholding a biased criminal justice system, denying a woman’s right to choose, preventing access to healthcare, undermining democracy, opposing reparations and thwarting every effort for equal rights, perhaps the most preposterous part of conservative mythology is the insidiously racist idea of “bootstraps”.

According to this wholly absurd construct, hard work – and hard work, alone – is a magical key that unlocks the promises of the American dream. And, if one accepts this premise, then the converse must also be true. Anyone who doesn’t achieve their dreams is simply not working hard enough.

Although “pulling yourself up by your bootstraps” was originally intended to be an obviously sarcastic phrase suggesting an impossible accomplishment, the concept has become a key component of the Republican ideology, especially as it relates to racial inequality. Apparently, the infallible founding fathers and the heralded leaders of the past wasted 250 years constructing laws, traditions, practices and a constitution that provided an economic, political and social advantage to the white majority when all they had to do was put their noses to the grindstone. America’s white majority benefited from human trafficking, free labor, segregation, redlining and the whole of government-sanctioned racism. Yet, to fulfill the promise that America offers, all Black people ever needed is a strong back, a good idea and an unfailing work ethic.


For Black Republicans, accepting this sliver of ahistorical fiction is the first step to ascending to a position of power and prominence in the Grand Old Party. Counterbalancing the accusations of racism lobbed at the Republican party is the main job of Black conservatives. To do this, they are required to fabricate a life story that serves as a parable and proof of the bootstrapping thesis.

Even before Herschel Walker decided to vie for the Georgia Senate seat occupied by Senator Raphael Warnock, the NFL running-back-turned-bootstrap-evangelist made a habit of explaining how his work ethic and a don’t-quit mentality led to accomplishments as a student, multimillionaire and a business mogul. There was only one problem with Walker’s backstory:

It doesn’t seem to be true.

According to investigations by the Associated Press, Georgia Public Broadcasting and the Atlanta Constitution-Journal, there is no evidence that supports Walker’s claims to own the largest minority-owned food business in America, his supposed net worth of $65m, or his proprietary mist that can “kill any Covid in your body”. It is possible that Walker isn’t a liar; maybe he simply meant to inspire others with the story about how he worked his way out of poverty to graduate in the top 1% of his class at the University of Georgia … Except he didn’t graduate from college.

Although he was hailed as the only hope of regaining the invaluable Senate seat, Walker’s Republican challengers are now convinced that his fabricated backstory, and domestic violence allegations by his ex-wife, have become a risk to the party, according to a report by Politico. Now that Walker’s con has been exposed, he is of no use to his Republican colleagues. The fairytale life that was once his biggest attribute has become “baggage”.

The South Carolina senator Tim Scott is taking note. For years, he has repeatedly extolled the values of hard work as part of his origin story. He often recounts the tale of his poor, illiterate grandfather who – Scott conveniently forgets to mention – owned 900 acres in South Carolina. While Scott once told me during an interview that he “struggles to come up with a concise definition of what systemic racism looks like”, he confidently told the world that “America is not a racist country”. And, according to Axios, Scott is now preparing to give a speech that warns against “teaching kids that they are oppressors”. How convenient. I’m sure it has nothing to do with the fact that Scott’s name has been bandied about as a presidential candidate.

Perhaps America’s highest-ranking Black Republican is Clarence Thomas. During his rise to the supreme court, Thomas loved to tell the tale of how his sister was content to survive on government assistance while he embraced the all-American ethos of hard work. “She gets mad when the mailman is late with her welfare check,” Thomas told a group of Black conservatives in 1980. “What’s worse is that now her kids feel entitled to the check too. They have no motivation for doing better or getting out of that situation.’’ It turns out, it was all a lie. But of course, it served its purpose. As a supreme court justice, Thomas’s life has turned into a liability that may cost his party a supreme court seat.

“What has happened too often is that people who seemingly mean well have promoted things that do not encourage development of any innate talent in people,” explained another Black bootstrapper, Ben Carson. “Hence we have generation after generation living in dependent situations. It’s not that they’re bad people, it’s that this is what they’ve been given, and it’s all they know in some cases.” As secretary of the housing and urban development department, Carson, a former presidential candidate, pledged to reverse policies that “created a culture of dependency in urban communities”. Carson didn’t mention that those same policies provided shelter, food and even the ability to see clearly during his quest to become one of the most celebrated neurosurgeons in American history. But, alas, he has been discarded, too.

Unlike their white counterparts, Black Republicans are required to promote the idea that – instead of discrimination, systemic inequality and history – Black people are victims of their own laziness. Kelly Loeffler, who held the Georgia Senate seat before Walker’s opponent, came from a family that profited from government assistance. However, Loeffler didn’t bear the burden of representing the shiftlessness of white “culture”. Ben Carson didn’t point out that the man who appointed him could serve as the poster boy for white privilege, if Trump could manage to wrestle the title from the man who appointed Thomas to the supreme court, George HW Bush.

But that’s not what makes this a racist idea.

By preaching the tenets of the bootstrap gospel, Black Republicans are essentially saying that 83% of Black voters, 63% of Hispanic voters and 72% of Asian American voters are wrong. The fact that every non-white demographic in America has rejected this narrative cannot unseat this fraudulent conservative conceit. They might not know much about history, business, systemic racism or inequality in their own country but, apparently, white people know what’s best for everyone else.

The willingness to toss aside the people who labored for the conservative movement actually disproves the logic of bootstrap mythology. Ultimately, when the premise of the false narrative is exposed as a fantasy, they have no use for the Black people whose lives once supported the idea that the gears to equality are lubricated with elbow grease.

It turns out, it was snake oil all along.

For Black Republicans, pulling yourself up by your bootstraps is an obligatory fiction

Just listen to the new tokens the Republicans have adopted, Herschel Walker and Tim Scott are the two they parade out front today. It used to be Herman Cain, Ben Carson, Allen West, etc., but they seemed to have fallen off the map.

Translation. Black people can only succeed through the benevolence of the Democratic party and the intervention of a Liberal controlled Government.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

Translation. Black people can only succeed through the benevolence of the Democratic party and the intervention of a Liberal controlled Government.

It should actually read, black folks can succeed when the playing field is level with no racism and discrimination.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

It should actually read, black folks can succeed when the playing field is level with no racism and discrimination.

Really what laws are the cause of this racism and discrimination ? The only discriminatory law that I know of is Affirmative Action.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

Really what laws are the cause of this racism and discrimination ? The only discriminatory law that I know of is Affirmative Action.

You mean that law that helps white women more than anyone else.

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

You mean that law that helps white women more than anyone else.

It started in 1961 for discrimination against race, creed or color. Gender wasn't added until 1967.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

It started in 1961 for discrimination against race, creed or color. Gender wasn't added until 1967.

Who benefits the most from AA? Why was it started?

 

[ThunderKiss1965]

Who benefits the most from AA? Why was it started?

I answered that in my last post. Did you not read it.

 

[toobfreak]

black folks can succeed when the playing field is level with no racism and discrimination.

So are you against Affirmative Action? Because that is racist. It is based ON race. And for decades, it has more than leveled the playing field giving Blacks actual PREFERENCE in many employment situations!

Then there is this kid in the news just today: only 15 years old and already graduating from college!

15-Year-Old Nehemiah Juniel To Become Youngest Graduate At Sam Houston State University

Nehemiah Juniel is not your average teen.

news.yahoo.com

Where is the racism there? Was it turned off that day? Maybe he got that far by being smart and applying himself, rather than making excuses for why some others DON'T succeed and trying to fix blame, and by going around with a pencil and a notebook, instead of a FIST.

You know what they say: a fist only gets you another fist right back.

 

[Superbadbrutha]

I answered that in my last post. Did you not read it.

So WTF is your point?

 

[Superbadbrutha]

So are you against Affirmative Action? Because that is racist.

Only because it doesn't help the folks it was designed to. It was created because of racism and discrimination.

It is based ON race.

Of course it is, because it was because of race that folks were being discriminated against.

And for decades, it has more than leveled the playing field giving Blacks actual PREFERENCE in many employment situations!

History, data and statistics have shown us it has DEFINITELY not leveled the playing field.

Then there is this kid in the news just today: only 15 years old and already graduating from college!

15-Year-Old Nehemiah Juniel To Become Youngest Graduate At Sam Houston State University

Nehemiah Juniel is not your average teen.

news.yahoo.com

Where is the racism there? Was it turned off that day? Maybe he got that far by being smart and applying himself, rather than making excuses for why some others DON'T succeed and trying to fix blame, and by going around with a pencil and a notebook, instead of a FIST.

He probably did, but since one black child was successful at 15yrs old does that mean every other black kids is going to graduate at 15yrs old? Hell no and you don't know what that kid or his parents have had to face along the way, thank God they probably didn't have a road block racist like you in the way.

You know what they say: a fist only gets you another fist right back.

You should know that better than anyone, as many fists as you have thrown up to black and brown folks.