I doubt folks here will read the documents below...Oddly, folks here, despite their participation in a political forum, actually seem uninterested in reading high quality research and very thoroughly developed and presented ideas. I also think that folks here are largely oblivious to extant political history and political science that discusses things more deeply than news headlines and editorials do as goes the evolution of the two major parties and their strategies. Ever more sadly, and strangely, in consideration of folks' apparent desire to discuss politics, subtlety isn't in any dimension a strong suit around here, except perhaps when someone is of the mind to toss about insults.
That said, I'll attempt some degree of perspective to this topic...
Background information one should know well in before embarking on this type of topic:
That little lesson you've presented might be relevant and considerably more accurate had the racists in the pre-Clinton era Democratic party not to have moved into the Republican party.
The Southern Strategy:
To understand why the nation's racists find comfort now in the GOP, one needs to go back to Bill Bennett's infamous remark on his nationally syndicated talk radio show said, "I do know that it's true that if you wanted to reduce crime, you could -- if that were your sole purpose -- you could abort every black baby in this country, and your crime rate would go down."
Recall next the late Lee Atwater's remarks in a 1981 interview explaining the evolution of the GOP's Southern strategy:
Atwater, who would manage George H.W. Bush's successful run for the presidency in 1988 (the Willie Horton campaign) and then serve as national party chairman, was talking with Alexander P. Lamis, a political-science professor at Case Western Reserve University. Mr. Lamis quoted Atwater in the book ''Southern Politics in the 1990's.''
The truth is that there was very little that was subconscious about the GOP's relentless appeal to racist whites. Tired of losing elections, it saw an opportunity to renew itself by opening its arms wide to white voters who could never forgive the Democratic Party for its support of civil rights and voting rights for blacks.
The payoff was huge. Just as the Democratic Party would have been crippled in the old days without the support of the segregationist South, today's Republicans would have only a fraction of their current political power without the near-solid support of voters who are hostile to blacks. When Democrats revolted against racism, the GOP rallied to its banner.
Ronald Reagan, the GOP's biggest hero, opposed both the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act of the mid-1960's. And he began his general election campaign in 1980 with a powerfully symbolic appearance in Philadelphia, Miss., where three young civil rights workers were murdered in the summer of 1964. He drove the crowd wild when he declared: ''I believe in states' rights.''
Bill Bennett's musings about the extermination of blacks in America is all of a piece with a Republican Party philosophy that is endlessly insulting to black people and overwhelmingly hostile to their interests. But the white racist vote, once so important to the Democrats, and now so important to the GOP, has been steadily shrinking. The U.S.
is less prejudiced than it was 20 or 30 or 40 years ago, which is
why George W. Bush had to try so hard to disenfranchise black voters in Florida in 2000; and
why Jeb Bush had to call out the state police to try to intimidate black voters in Orlando, Fla., in 2004; and why Republicans in Georgia have come up with the equivalent of a poll tax (requiring people without a driver's license to pay $20 for a voter identification card), which will hurt poor, black and elderly voters. The GOP wasn't always the party of the racists, but now it is.
This election cycle, Donald Trump has toed the racist line to a "T," and with every bit as much subtlety as Lee Atwater, Ronald Reagan and Bill Bennett did.
- He danced around David Duke and other white racist groups' approbation by disavowing rather than denouncing their support, a subtle but important distinction. He referred to the handful of black folks who were at one of his rallies, what was it, "my blacks" or something like that.
- He discusses law and order, but the sole objects and context of that speech are black folks, tacitly attesting to his belief that black folks are the root cause of U.S. domestic lawlessness. Again, subtle.
- He goes to visit flood victims and drives through multiple black or well integrated areas only to show up in one of the most lily white places in America. I guess he thinks nobody will notice....
- He goes to East Lansing, MI (~78% white) and to an audience comprised overwhelmingly of white folks, again says he wants black folks votes. [No sh*t...LOL Of course he wants black votes. That's all he wants.]
- He has not during his campaign gone to any predominantly black areas.
- He has not accepted the invitation of any black organizations.
- When asked to comment on the crisis in Flint, MI, he has no comment.
- On the one occasion I know of in his past (1997) when he did visit a predominantly black and poor school, he was thoroughly condescending and insouciant toward them.
- The minority representation at senior levels of Trump Organization is about what we saw at the GOP convention: nearly non-existent.
- "There weren't many black employees at all that I remember, to be honest with you," said Barbara Res, who worked for Trump from 1980 to 1992. "I know he had a black doorman, which is a big thing for him — that's the front of his building." [It's also in NYC, and the building has onsite parking; Trump may never even see the man. Go to his place in Palm Beach. You don't need five fingers to count the blacks working there. Remember Trump's racist ex-butler?]
- In his social life, Trump has long had a place for African-American celebrities and athletes.
- Well, blow me down. What were blacks good for in the days of unvarnished American racism? Entertainment and serving in the homes of whites, of course.
I think that's probably enough for black folks to see that there's no reason to believe Trump's assertions about caring about black people. It's also provides palpable illustrations of how the GOP is the party that has bamboozled (or at least is trying to) America by embracing the racists that now call it their political home.
Additional Reference Materials Used or Read to prepare this post: