48 Years After MLK’s Death, Many Black Americans Support Government Expansion

There is no denying that blacks have been treated unjustly and unfairly by their own government. In a previous article, I highlighted many historical instances that should give African Americans plenty of reason to adopt libertarianism, or at the very least, hold those in power accountable.

Martin Luther King Jr. spent his entire life fighting for equality under the law. And if you want to consider legislation such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964 a success, MLK (along with other civil rights leaders) were very effective in their efforts. MLK was assassinated at the young age of 39, but we will never forget how he dedicated his life to fighting for a world in which all Americans are treated fairly, regardless of color. I do not engage in conversations about MLK’s political alignment. I do not care if he was a Republican, Democrat, or an independent. These are pointless efforts by the left and the right to attempt to claim ownership of an individual and his activism. I also have no desire to try to predict what side King Jr. would affiliate with or try to act as if I know how he would view the state of Black America in 2016.

I would much rather focus on his message and the harsh reality: MLK fought to end the racism that government mandated, endorsed, and enforced, and it got him assassinated. Almost 50 years after the fact, black Americans tend to lean left and support activists and politicians that push for the expansion of government.

I normally try to stray away from publishing strictly opinionated articles, but this is something I am very passionate about.

Gripes Of Current Civil Rights Leaders Are Not Illegitimate  

People tend to assume that I have absolutely nothing in common with current civil rights leaders and organizations such as the NAACP and Black Lives Matter. This is completely untrue; though many conservatives and others would love to use myself and posts as a mouthpiece. One of the things that annoys me about the individuals who are against black activists groups, is that they try to deny or downplay racism as if their complaints are illegitimate.  You can honestly say that these groups and myself have a lot in common and agree on certain issues.

But we completely disagree in the solution to the issues. I also believe that most of our issues in 2016 are self-inflicted wounds, but I do not have to act as if racism does not exist to make note of that. Like many African Americans, I grew up a leftist who assumed that the Democratic Party cared about the advancement of blacks and the Republican Party were the racist. Once I became far more knowledgeable on history and role of the government, I became an Anarcho-Capitalist.

I believe that racism exists in parties, but I feel as if the Democratic Party has done a great job in masking it.

Expecting It All, Receiving Nothing

Most black activists tend to lean left and support Democratic politicians. This can be somewhat confirmed when you look at the voting habits and how 90% of blacks that voted in the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections voted for Barack Obama. Cities and neighborhoods that are predominately black are ran by Democratic politicians and it has been this way for 50+ years in some instances. Every day, there’s a new black activist or celebrity of some sort that is endorsing a Democrat. These Democrats make it appear as if they care so much about the advancement of blacks, but fall short on action. While I won’t dive into too much detail about their lack of results, it is not secret that the Democratic Party wants to expand government, especially from an economic standpoint. It’s almost as if they think they can cure the country’s problems by simply using the monopoly government has on violence and thus orchestrate our advancement. New taxation and new laws have often had opposite effects, yet we keep falling for this political okie-doke.

Many of the problems that we face have been due to government or extensions of the government. Namely, police brutality and being treated unjustly by the criminal justice system. The war on drugs, for example, has resulted in a growing incarceration of blacks. These are complaints that BLM has been very loud and active about. But it’s almost as if they do not see the fact that many of these scenarios take place in cities ran mostly by Democrats who want to expand government even more. It’s a matter of conflicting interests that are diametrically opposed to each other. More laws and more mandates result in more times blacks are subject to coming in contact with the law enforcers. So we recognize that we get the short end of the stick when it comes to the law, but we support politicians that want to expand government? What kind of sense does this make?

Freddie Gray was killed in police custody in the City of Baltimore. Baltimore has Democratic politicians within their local government from almost top to bottom. Their mayor is a black Democrat. Their city council is full of Democrats, even the president of the city council is a black Democrat.

Eric Garner was killed after being put in a choke hold by a police officer after being approached for selling untaxed cigarettes.

These are just a couple of many unfortunate events that took place in cities with mostly Democrats holding office.

On top of that, blacks are being treated unjustly after being confronted for violating silly laws or committing victimless, nonviolent crimes. Yet for some reason, blacks as a whole seem to give government a pass or keep getting fooled by political rhetoric with no substance behind it. So what exactly have we got from voting for politicians that want to expand government, when it was government that got MLK killed and it’s government treating blacks unfairly? Have we not learned anything? We support activists who lobby for or are bankrolled by left leaning politicians and white liberals and we have issues that didn’t even plague our communities generations ago. We boost them in the power, we get hope and false promises, but blacks don’t advance. This is not only a combination of government being used to con blacks, but also because we expect help from the same entity that has historically oppressed us.

Why Expect Anything At All?

Our collective mindset is just as dangerous as those that use government to control and oppress blacks.  MLK and other black activists were put in jail consistently for fighting for freedom. With the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, Democratic politicians mastered use of government and rhetoric and false promises to simply keep their thumbs on our advancement. While I understand the message, I’ve never been to fond of the slogan ‘Black Lives Matter.’ Black lives DO matter, but it becomes silly when we have a group of old white liberal Democrats on the debate stage answering questions such as “Do black lives matter or do all lives matter?” It’s almost as if we need our lives legitimized or authenticated by everybody who isn’t black. And when these white liberals say black lives matter, we give them a pat on the head and boost their ego as if they said something majestic. They are the same ones who believe insulting laws such as affirmative action are necessary for blacks to succeed; as if we can’t maneuver within the economy without the state holding a gun to employers heads so that they might hire us. This is subtle racism.

I’m not suggesting all Democrats are evil. I’m not suggesting Republicans are the better alternative. But if we acknowledge history, we know that government has been used to oppress us, so why do we keep referring back to the government to fix our situations? Why are we supporting a party that wants to openly expand the government, the same government that has been used for centuries to keep us behind our white counterparts. On top of that, we don’t even hold Democrat politicians accountable. So we expect them help us, they don’t deliver, and we vote another 90%+ for them every major election. Republicans may very well be just as bad, but the reality is that they don’t hold office in our black cities. If we are to blame government and the systematic racism, how can you not blame the Democrats that hold office?

No new law or mandate will advance blacks. We were on to something when Black Wall Street took place, but racists (who were often part of the government) destroyed our businesses. With the help of people like Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., our society is far more tolerant than they were a hundred years ago.  We’d make great strides by holding each other accountable, preaching self ownership, and urging government to leave us alone. I seriously believe that most of our issues are more cultural than systematic. Though government has treated us unfairly, we are not helping ourselves by expanding their imprint and powers.

And while, I’m sure, there will be blacks that refer to the writer of this article as Uncle Tom or a traitor to their race, I challenge them to look at their own actions and voting habits.  If you vote straight ticket for the expansion of the same entity that has championed your oppression, you have no business suggesting that someone a fake black person.  If you continue to seek acceptance from white liberals who guilt-trip you to death, you have no business suggesting that someone is a fake black person. But attitudes as such are just one of the many instances that highlight some dysfunction among black culture. Though black, we have different upbringings so it doesn’t make much sense to limit blackness to political ideology.

We’ve had our own government conspire against us and promote policies that has led to the death and mass incarceration of our loved ones. Yet almost 50 years after Dr. King’s death, we still think we are going to advance by supporting big-government statists. And may blacks seem to not even criticize the party as they have had the keys to our cities for decades.

There are many ways we can advance, but if we are expecting people to use the monopoly on violence to orchestrate it… we’ll be waiting another 48 years.