In an op-ed at The Hill the sheriff of Milwaukee County lays the blame for the riots in his jurisdiction firmly at the feet of Democrats:
Here are the facts: Milwaukee is run by progressive Democrats. Their decades-long Democrat regime has done nothing to reduce these urban pathologies, in fact, their strategies have exacerbated the situation by expanding the welfare state.
That things have not improved and in fact worsened in the American ghetto after eight years of Barack Obama is remarkable only to those who have not been paying attention to our nation’s cities.
There’s only one answer, which is for the citizens of America to expose and heap scorn on this lying and dangerous triad of big government, liberal mainstream media, and the lost souls of the urban ghettos both these institutions feed upon for their power.
First and foremost the rioters are to blame for the riots. A man being killed by police is no justification for looting a liquor store. Or burning the cars of people who had nothing to do with the killing.
If Democrats who haven’t lived up to their promises don’t share the blame, who should be held responsible? In Chicago the mayors have been Democrats for four generations and the City Council is overwhelmingly Democrats. In Illinois the state legislature has enough votes to override any gubernatorial veto. When the legislature has a year-long logjam, who’s to blame?
Fuck that. A crazy Muslim jihadi killed a bunch of gay Hispanics and I’ve had to hear for weeks that it was my fault for opposing gay marriage. There’s way more culpability for Democrats for the plight of America’s urban centers than there is for me because some goat dickerson wanted to kill swarthy sodomites for the greater glory of Allah. (Auto correct changed my wording, but I like the change so I’m keeping it!) Let this hang around their necks like an albatross. After reading some of the Soros foundation emails, it seems they really do want riots any way. It provides them with “opportunities for social justice”.
IMO, democrats have embraced a rose-colored myth regarding it’s 150 plus year’s ties with the African American population. For, following the Civil War, the democrat party distinguished itself by their open, active support of the now maligned KKK, Black Codes, Jim Crow Laws, extending the subordination of people of color well into the twentieth century.
However, once the Civil Rights Acts was finally passed (by a greater percentage of congressional R’s than D’s), the mode of democrat subjugation changed from a denial of rights to an enabling, condescending relationship — one which has vacuously pandered to African Americans in order to insure the voting allegiance of this demographic keeping the democrats relevant and in power.
Similar to how children are appeased by giving them empty-calorie candy, the democrat strategies have focused on nurturing people’s pleasure points and weaknesses, rather than giving their communities real sustenance, lifting up and motivating families, encouraging them by amplifying their strengths. Consequently, social progressivism actually depletes African Americans’ lives by giveaways, dead-end social programs leading to generational poverty and dependence. Any school choice legislation is considered an assault on school union control, rather than as a viable impetus to opening doors for school reform and a better education to all having no choice but a public education. Jobs and welfare reform are also upended by a return to endless welfare and a disintegration of morals, traditions and the nuclear family.
Currently even race baiting Black leaders are being replaced by a more violent, dishonestly-created movement called Black Lives Matter. Such a movement has become an integral part of Hillary Clinton’s presidential run, as millions of dollars flow into it’s staying power and growth by extreme leftists like George Soros and other liberally run entities such as the Ford Foundation. In the meantime fiscally strapped cities having outrageous UE minority stats, high violent crime rates (despite their strict gun control laws) continue to wither and be destroyed under the governance and policies of democrats.
The Democrats’ response to your charges in your first paragraph, jan, is that they drove the racist social conservative Southern Democrats out of the party 40 years ago. My own view is that the present Republican Party’s Original Sin was accepting them (e.g. Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms, and other Dixiecrats).
None of that justifies the shell game that Democrats have been playing with their black constituents over the period of the last 40 years.
“However, once the Civil Rights Acts was finally passed (by a greater percentage of congressional R’s than D’s)”
Those R’s were mostly Northeastern, and the D’s were mostly Southern. As anyone who reads history knows, there was a big realignment in parties. Ignorance is bliss. I envy you your happiness.
Anyway, yes the Dems hold some responsibility. I also think it is hard to separate the effects of state, national and local politics, so some responsibility is held by any party that controlled state or national politics. And the people who live in those areas have some responsibility also.
Steve
@jan
If you want to have fun, load up your car or SUV with your most progressive friends, and take a trip to Los Angeles or San Francisco. While you are there, stop off for gas in or take a shortcut through one of the darker neighborhoods, and watch your progressive friends squirm.
They will try to make all sorts of excuses for why you do not need to be there, and they will try to do it without sounding racist. If you want to prolong their distress, go deeper into the darker areas, and their pleas will become more desperate as they see more dark faces.
(If I remember correctly, PCH goes through Long Beach, and it an area they would never stop. MLK Boulevard is usually located in the black communities.)
Tasty,
Last month we stayed at a hotel in Tiburon, CA, dealing with an overnight car repair. It’s the first time I’ve actually gone off the 101 and wondered around this beautiful but pricey area just outside of San Francisco. Because it is Michael Reynold’s home base, I did give his existence a thought or two, especially considering the context of his progressive discourses on racism and poverty.
I have to tell you, though, that Tiburon is a long hike from some of the economically depressed areas you were mentioning in the post above me!
“As anyone who reads history knows, there was a big realignment in parties. “
Only one democrat changed parties, and that was Strom Thurmond. All the other southern dems held on to their party affiliation. What I do find odd, though, is how tenaciously current day dems disown their relationships to Dixiecrats, and mute the historical timeline of how rigorously dems attempted to disrupt and deny the rights of Black Americans following their emancipation. And, IMO, the social progressive policies of dems continue to negatively benefit Black Americans, with mere superficial gestures, which do more to stir wounds of the past rather than mending differences that can integrate black and white American into a cooperative melting pot society.
As for one of the biggest flaws in the Republican party’s interaction with minorities — it’s their failed outreach as well as being constantly on defense to the accusations of racism that are constantly posited by dems. Trump’s latest speech in WI was kind of refreshing how he took on the dems and talked about the fiscal and structural rot that more often than not goes hand-in-hand with democrat politicians and their decade’s long, unbroken governance.
Of the actual Dixiecrat leadership, three changed parties: Strom Thurmond, Jesse Helms and Mills E. Godwind, Jr. Tens of thousands or even millions more Southern Democrats who shared their views became Republicans.