Why are African Americans Socially Conservative?

[walleye26]

People have said Mayor Pete can’t win the Black vote because they are too socially conservative. Why is this? Does it have to do with Black Churches?

[Beet]

For the same reasons other people are. Religion, tradition, or actual conviction. In a healthy political system, African Americans would be about 45% Democratic, 30% Republican and 25% independent. The Democratic contingent would be similar to the current African American Democrats except younger, more liberal on social issues, and more progressive. Their top issues would be things like BLM, criminal justice reform, affirmative action, ending the drug war, and economic populism. The African American Republican contingent would be older, religiously conservative, and their top issues would be things like restoring black families, the divorce rate, pro-life, school choice, black business, and anti-immigration.

However we don't have a healthy political system because one major party is virulently anti-anybody who isn't white (and the other is starting to turn a blind eye to anti-whiteness), so all the African Americans vote Democratic and end up favoring establishment candidates.

[Famous Mortimer]

For the same reasons other people are. Religion, tradition, or actual conviction. In a healthy political system, African Americans would be about 45% Democratic, 30% Republican and 25% independent. The Democratic contingent would be similar to the current African American Democrats except younger, more liberal on social issues, and more progressive. Their top issues would be things like BLM, criminal justice reform, affirmative action, ending the drug war, and economic populism. The African American Republican contingent would be older, religiously conservative, and their top issues would be things like restoring black families, the divorce rate, pro-life, school choice, black business, and anti-immigration.

However we don't have a healthy political system because one major party is virulently anti-anybody who isn't white (and the other is starting to turn a blind eye to anti-whiteness), so all the African Americans vote Democratic and end up favoring establishment candidates.

We've basically seen in majority Black cities the Black vote split into two factions:

One that is fiscally neo-liberal, socially liberal, technocratic, pro-charter school

and another that's basically non-ideological and supports organized corruption

there's a third faction of hyper woke college students but they aren't big enough to win on their own and generally lob on to one of the other factions, usually the one out of power

[Amenhotep Bakari-Sellers]

Sharpton and Oprah are the leaders of the movt. Blacks arent backing Pete Bettigeg. They were looking at Beto after Harris tok a nose dive. Now, Biden is the better bet.

However, Blacks do go with establishment candidates. Cory Booker would of been the annoited one, but he doesnt have a spouse

[lfromnj]

People have said Mayor Pete can’t win the Black vote because they are too socially conservative. Why is this? Does it have to do with Black Churches?

Literally look at any gay marriage referendrum.

Its possible this could have changed  in the past years but its clear that black people voted right of the state.

[OneJ]

Black people as a whole aren’t even that socially conservative. It’s select issues where they might lean closer to the right on than other races with gay marriage being the most popular and relevant example. There are in fact quite a few social issues where blacks are seemingly to the left on relative to the public.

[TML]

People who attend church regularly are generally socially conservative. This would apply to many African Americans as well. However, this group usually votes on economic and racial equality issues, which explains why it has been overwhelmingly Democratic for at least the last half-century.

[scooby]

People who attend church regularly are generally socially conservative. This would apply to many African Americans as well. However, this group usually votes on economic and racial equality issues, which explains why it has been overwhelmingly Democratic for at least the last half-century.

[🐒Gods of Prosperity🔱🐲💸]

High religiosity and Southern cultural origins lend themselves to social conservatism.

On the other hand, urban life and the build up of coalitional politics on the left create tendencies toward social liberalism.

So it's a complicated picture.

[John Dule]

Because there's no such thing as intersectionality, so there's no reason to think they wouldn't be.

[pbrower2a]

Educated blacks are the real leaders of most African-Americans, and they are very traditional in their educational objectives. They are more likely to reject postmodernism in favor of the tried-and-true, and they recognize that social experiments that white pols have tried out have usually had poor African-Americans as "test patients" for whom the results are often catastrophic.

Add to this, older black people know what a disaster the drug scene is as white people don't. The current meth and opiate plagues are in places far from the urban ghettos as they could be. It is arguable that some of the people most hostile to drugs in America are elderly African-Americans who knew first-hand what drugs did to their peers.

[Fuzzy Bear]

People who attend church regularly are generally socially conservative. This would apply to many African Americans as well. However, this group usually votes on economic and racial equality issues, which explains why it has been overwhelmingly Democratic for at least the last half-century.

[pbrower2a]

High religiosity and Southern cultural origins lend themselves to social conservatism.

The African-American church has been a center of resistance to institutional racism -- and still is. At the same level of economic success, blacks are more likely to be participants in religious activities than practically any others. (Hispanics may be close).   

On the other hand, urban life and the build up of coalitional politics on the left create tendencies toward social liberalism.

... and such has implied coalitions with Jews, Hispanics, Asians, and organized labor. The NAACP was founded by Jews on behalf of blacks. Organized labor sought equal pay for blacks and whites at equal levels of skill.

So it's a complicated picture.

But the distinction between Good and Evil is so simple that even children can make the distinction unless they face unceasing propaganda from people with an evil agenda. Most religious bodies make that distinction clear and give that distinction the quality of holiness. It is hard to believe that anyone could make a muddle of that distinction by saying that there are good people on both sides of a divide between  Good and Evil. (OK, a thoroughly-evil person like John Dillinger knows that he is evil, but that is not a muddle).

No, there are not good people on both sides of the issue of whether Nazism, Stalinism, or ISIS is good or evil.   

[Frenchrepublican]

African Americans are not particulary socially conservative. If you look at abortion, gun issues, they are to the left of white Americans

[darklordoftech]

They're more afraid of their kids doing drugs or turning to a life of crime than they are of their kids getting incarcerated or shot by police.

[RINO Tom]

Who cares?  They’re smart and don’t get hung up on a make-or-break issue or two ... everyone should vote that way.

[Progressive Pessimist]

Who cares?  They’re smart and don’t get hung up on a make-or-break issue or two ... everyone should vote that way.

That's basically what I came to say. I don't know if the black community being socially conservative is really the case anymore though, especially with generational changes, but it doesn't really matter because even if they do have concerns about social/cultural liberal policies, they are basically never swayed by those issues and still largely support Democrats regardless. It's why the Republican pursuit of black voters, on the grounds of social conservatism being appealing to them, never really succeeds.

[Cassandra]

Who cares?  They’re smart and don’t get hung up on a make-or-break issue or two ... everyone should vote that way.

I doubt that many Americans would choose the polity of Baltimore or Chicago over those of Vermont or Oregon.

What does this mean?

[Grassroots]

Because of religiousness mainly, but also because of the more traditionalist culture within the black community.

The only reason they vote for democrats with the amount they do is because the democratic party thinks they own the black vote and will do or say anything to win over African Americans and other minorities at the expense of white people, which may give them a PV advantage, but gives them a big EV disadvantage.

I would say that republicans should try to go after the AA vote more, but they already do and Trump was an example. He ran the most pro-AA campaign of any republican in the 21st century. But that didn't matter, because the media ignored what he was saying and resorted to calling him a racist and xenophobe in order to satisfy their democrat supporting corporate interests. The AA community and many others believed the media over what he was actually saying. Thus, he did badly with the AA vote and lost the PV.

If the media were unbiased, maybe Trump could have won at least in the 20% range of African American voters. Sadly, the media, and the democratic party in general, are bought and sold by big corps looking to take advantage of ordinary people such as the AA community.

[ηєω ƒяσηтιєя]

Black people are generally socially conservative when it comes to the LGBT community. When it comes to other social issues, Black people are generally socially moderate to liberal.

When it comes to economics, Black people are generally economically and fiscally liberal (Keynesian economics).

However, of course, not all Black people are the same. There are some Black people who are hardcore social and fiscal conservatives like Alan Keyes, Clarence Thomas, and Herman Cain.

SOURCE: I am a Black man.

[All Along The Watchtower]

Who cares?  They’re smart and don’t get hung up on a make-or-break issue or two ... everyone should vote that way.

I doubt that many Americans would choose the polity of Baltimore or Chicago over those of Vermont or Oregon.

What does this mean?

It's an outcome of relative poverty, deindustrialization. and structural racism. I just think it's silly to suggest that everyone should vote that way. People who can afford to do otherwise don't.

In my ideal political system (to the extent that I have one) most people would be a straight-ticket partisan voter. But our country's party system is toxic and irrational, so I can't blame Americans IRL for getting "hung up on a make-or-break issue or two."

[All Along The Watchtower]

Anyway, I don't think that whatever degree of social/religious conservatism black voters have really matters. What matters is that most black voters, particularly in the South where they are decisive in the Democratic primaries, support candidates with high name recognition + solid and long-standing ties to existing black Democratic power structures and political machines (for lack of a better term). Hence the support for the Clintons and current support for Biden.

Obama is the exception that proves the rule - but he's the exception for what are surely obvious reasons.

[Suburbia]

Educated blacks are the real leaders of most African-Americans, and they are very traditional in their educational objectives. They are more likely to reject postmodernism in favor of the tried-and-true, and they recognize that social experiments that white pols have tried out have usually had poor African-Americans as "test patients" for whom the results are often catastrophic.

Add to this, older black people know what a disaster the drug scene is as white people don't. The current meth and opiate plagues are in places far from the urban ghettos as they could be. It is arguable that some of the people most hostile to drugs in America are elderly African-Americans who knew first-hand what drugs did to their peers.

[Suburbia]

Even some black millennials are socially conservative.

They are some socially conservative Black Democrats, the Republican Party is too white for them; they call black Republicans "sellouts", "tokens", "coons", but the Democratic Party does not have any socially conservative values or beliefs, but they vote Democrat because the Republicans don't do good outreach to black people.

Latinos the same thing.

[Some of My Best Friends Are Gay]

Even some black millennials are socially conservative.

They are some socially conservative Black Democrats, the Republican Party is too white for them; they call black Republicans "sellouts", "tokens", "coons", but the Democratic Party does not have any socially conservative values or beliefs, but they vote Democrat because the Republicans don't do good outreach to black people.

Latinos the same thing.

It feels pointless to respond to you, but I'm going to do it anyway.

Black people don't vote Democratic because the GOP is "too white", they vote Democratic because the GOP panders to racists and never even tries to reach out to the black community.

Also, I don't see what's wrong with saying a black person is a sellout if they support a party that's lead by people like Donald Trump, so long as it's coming from someone who's also black and not some woke white liberal who lives in his moms basement.