The Democrats many now have a political majority in U.S. House of Representatives, but there is no question that the conservative movement is making inroads into black America. Many reasons explain this change in political belief among a small but growing number of blacks. One is the physical disintegration of the black community. The upward mobility of blacks and their physical move to the suburbs has strained the black community's cohesiveness because the entire community no longer lives in one concentrated urban location. Another is that affluent and middle class blacks no longer feel powerless and dependent on goverment to improve their lives. Economist Walter Williams is one of my favorite writers on race in America and he explains things this way in an article he wrote in 2005:
By any assessment, black Americans have made the greatest progress, over some of the highest hurdles and in the shortest span of time than any other racial group in the history of mankind. If one added the earnings of black Americans and thought of us as a nation, we'd be the 14th richest nation. Black Americans have held some of the nation's highest positions, such as secretaries of State, Housing and Urban Development, Health and Human Services and Education; chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff; and mayors of some of our largest cities. Blacks are some of the world's most famous personalities, and a few blacks rank among the world's richest people. In 1865, neither a slave nor a slave owner would have believed these gains possible in a little over a century, if ever. As such, it not only speaks well of the determination and intestinal fortitude of a people, but also of a nation in which such gains were possible.Here's the link to the entire article.
