Explain Carol Swain -- Part II: LBJ, McGovern and the black political machines
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| Sharpe James dominated Newark politics for 20 years while his city decayed. Why is it that this template just gets repeated in city after city across black America? |
The LBJ pivot
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| LBJ was the first Democratic presidential candidate to campaign forcefully in favour of civil rights. |
Yet the Great Society itself was supposed to be the largest government investment in social spending in US history and created the federal entitlements of Medicare, Medicaid, and more construction of public housing. Food stamps, introduced in 1964, were made a permanent program under the Great Society.
The debate over the success of the Great Society is not the subject here, but what happened was that instantly the Democratic Party became identified with the policy of broad social spending, whereas the Republicans would remain resolutely opposed. Paired with that was the turmoil sweeping America at the time. Johnson was a dedicated supporter of civil rights legislation, and so were many Democrats across the country. However, without the support of Republican senators and members of Congress the 1964 Civil Rights Act would have never passed. In fact, as conservative writer Dinesh D'Souza correctly states, the Republicans approved the Act by far higher majorities than the Democrats did. To be clear, if the Republicans had desired to defeat this and other civil rights acts, all they would have had to do was vote as a bloc with the southern Democrats. It was a result of bipartisan cooperation that JFK and LBJ were able to show that civil rights legislation was not just a southern issue, or a black issue, but an issue for all Americans and our system of laws. In 1964 the Republicans nominated Arizona Sen. Barry Goldwater, an opponent of the Civil Rights Act, and the majority of Republican voters opted for Johnson, as evidenced by his victory in GOP strongholds that have never since voted Democrat such as Wyoming.
The Lurch leftward
If there was one axiom that LBJ should have lived by it was "No good deed goes unpunished". By 1968 the Democratic Party's internal turmoil over the Vietnam War and civil rights was wreaking havoc on his presidency, and progressive opponents within the party like Bobby Kennedy and Eugene McCarthy caused him to turn down a reelection bid. The moderate Dem. VP Hubert Humphrey was defeated soundly as anti-integration southern Democrats flocked to George Wallace's third party bid, and much of the silent majority backed GOP nominee Richard Nixon.
From 1968 on the Democrats would gradually drift leftward on a host of issues. The conservative wing of the party, known as the blue dogs, have not had a nominee for president since then. The 1972 candidate Sen. George McGovern (SD) was buoyed by his Vietnam War opposition, a position that earned him the backing of numerous counterculture figures like Simon and Garfunkel, and Peter, Paul, and Mary. Once again the Democrats were beaten by Nixon, this time by a complete landslide where McGovern only won Massachusetts. The embrace of McGovern by the far left also belies the fact that he was not an avowed socialist but had several socially liberal positions.
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| It was with George McGovern's candidacy that the Democratic Party began to court the radical left. McGovern himself was not a member of that camp, but his anti-war and pro-domestic reform policy was very popular with them. |
This defeat did not stave off the progressive tendency in the party. On the contrary, the Watergate scandal fueled the spurious myth that Nixon had robbed McGovern of the presidency, as well as the belief among the far left that American democracy was irredeemably compromised. Never mind the fact that McGovern was fatally hampered by the lack of powerful trade union support, and that the South finally rejected the Democrats completely, but Nixon steamrolled McGovern all across the USA.
So then what does that have to do with blacks?
After 1972 the Republicans became hopelessly inward looking and embraced its hokey image as the party of the "silent majority". What it neglected to notice was that it had conceded entirely its position among numerous segments of the population by embracing neo-conservatism. One segment completely alienated by it was black America. The Republicans simply offered nothing.
The Democrats on the other hand offered more social spending and a platform that embraced women and minorities. It's not that the Republicans did not have ideas that they could pitch for blacks, but rather they declined to engage them. It was a clear concession done out of condescension and lack of imagination on the part of one of the two major political parties.
In some cases the black bosses merged into existing political machines or replaced older white ones. The best examples are Chicago and Detroit, two cities where mayoral leadership passed from white ethnic Democrats like Richard Daley (Irish) and Roman Gribbs (Polish) to black Democrats Harold Washington and Coleman Young in 1983 and 1974 respectively . This may have been an organizational revolution but in point of fact political influence remained in the hands of many of the same people. Old political bosses and the new black leaders in the city halls, county offices, and congressional districts learned very quickly to cut deals rather than be hassled. The Black Political Machine was born on the local level. This is not an original term of mine, but is loaned from black minister and conservative commentator Jesse Lee Peterson (SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America).
The BPMs
Meanwhile, blacks began to assert a greater role in Chicago, Detroit, Newark, Cleveland, and more inner cities across the USA, but in particular in the northern states. Many blacks had arrived from the Deep South following the jobs of the manufacturing boom starting during WWII and continuing in the 1950s. They brought a culture that in many aspects was distinct from the established northern black community. Racist northerners confined them to urban ghettos through housing restrictions such as redlining. Like the Irish before them, among the black communities there developed a class of local political bosses and dynasties that became kingmakers or even kings in their own constituencies.In some cases the black bosses merged into existing political machines or replaced older white ones. The best examples are Chicago and Detroit, two cities where mayoral leadership passed from white ethnic Democrats like Richard Daley (Irish) and Roman Gribbs (Polish) to black Democrats Harold Washington and Coleman Young in 1983 and 1974 respectively . This may have been an organizational revolution but in point of fact political influence remained in the hands of many of the same people. Old political bosses and the new black leaders in the city halls, county offices, and congressional districts learned very quickly to cut deals rather than be hassled. The Black Political Machine was born on the local level. This is not an original term of mine, but is loaned from black minister and conservative commentator Jesse Lee Peterson (SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America).
Case Study
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| Newark has been under Democratic control since 1953, and its four mayors since 1970 have all been black. Their accomplishments have been few. From XXL Hip Hop magazine |
This faux revolution would result in a disaster for the average citizen. The best example of the BPM is Newark, the largest city in New Jersey, where Kenneth Gibson was elected the first black mayor in 1970. Local poet Amiri Baraka claimed that this would lead to the city being "liberated territory" like in rebel zones of Zimbabwe and Angola, while Gibson claimed that wherever US urban areas were heading, Newark would arrive first among them. His claim would be unintentionally prophetic:
- By the time he was running for his fifth term in 1986 the city's unemployment rate had spiked by 50%.
- Newark's industrial and business base had completely abandoned the city, while its school and public services were in a state of collapse.
Did the people of Newark elect someone from a different party? No, Gibson was defeated in a Democratic primary by Sharpe James, a community college instructor. Instead of reviving the city administration James became notorious for almost dictatorial control over the city and its police, nepotism, and shady land deals with his girlfriend. He was indicted in 2008 for tampering with a city land sale to her. His successor was the reformist Corey Booker who attempted to attract business back to Newark. Although Booker was a refreshing change and helped keep Prudential Insurance in Newark, he did not truly lead a reform in the Democratic Party and when he was elected US senator in 2013 he was succeeded by Ras Baraka, a Sharpe James follower, while James' son was elected to the city council. Newark continues to be among the most blighted cities in the USA with foreclosures and boarded up homes dotting its landscape. Many of the accomplishments reached under Booker have either been squandered or did not filter down to the residents. The most embarrassing one was the waste of a $100 million donation from Mark Zuckerberg to Newark schools with a matching donation from others that was largely wasted on overhead costs.
An elite political class
Instead of criticizing these inept dynasties, the Democratic national leadership has enabled it. There are families that have multiple members in the machine. This mirrors family nepotism in the broader Democratic and Republican parties a la the Kennedys, Bushes, Clintons, Rockefellers, Haslams, and more. Here are some families that feature heavy influence in their local BPM aside from the previous example of Newark:
- Detroit: Kilpatrick -- Father: Bernard (Wayne County Commission), Mother: Carolyn Cheeks (US Representative), Son: Kwame (Mayor, convicted of corruption).
- Chicago: Jackson -- Father: Jesse, Sr. (US Shadow Senator for Washington, DC), Son: Jesse, Jr. (US Representative, convicted of corruption).
- Cleveland: Stokes -- Brother A: Carl (Mayor), Brother B: Louis (US Representative), Daughter: Angela (Municipal Court Judge, resigned facing disciplinary charges)
These families in the BPMs create a new political class. Many Americans are unaware that there has always been a black upper class, but it has been composed mainly of medical and legal professionals and community businessmen of whatever local community in question. However, BPM agents are able to access budgets, job appointments, and other assets of power, and therefore often a BPM person can actually benefit private cronies outside of the formal government. This is exactly how the Kilpatrick machine steered tens of millions of dollars to both Bernard Kilpatrick as a consultant and contractor Bobby Ferguson.
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| US Rep. Corrine Brown (Fla.) flanked by Jesse Jackson, Sr. and US Rep. Charles "Chip" Rangel (NY). Three members of BPMs with long records of tax violations or other financial offenses. |
Being a participant in a BPM creates an alternative fast track to enter the city's elite, but in some cases incompetent people are able to reach astonishingly high positions.
- This is how Washington, DC had a mayor (Marion Barry) convicted of crack cocaine possession who was later re-elected, only to later also be convicted on tax evasion charges.
- This is how Atlanta elected a US congressman (Hank Johnson) who has stated concerns that a US base on a Pacific island would cause the island to capsize.
- This is how Jacksonville has had a US congresswoman (Corrine Brown) since 1993 who has been criticized for being practically illiterate and recently has been implicated in a charity fraud scheme.
So then where's the Marxism?
Again, you've been teased. What this colossal failure means for our topic is that it was NOT Marxism that drew the black voter to the Democratic Party during your parents' generation. It was the following:
- Support for the civil rights agenda of Lyndon Johnson.
- Success by black local politicians in assimilating into local Democratic machines and then building their own.
- LBJ and successive generations of the Democratic leadership at all levels of office have peddled a populist agenda where they increase entitlements to the poor at ever increasing levels. This started with the "Great Society", but it did not create a great society.
In the first segment, I described the pre-Civil Rights era Democratic Party and its victory among blacks without communist rhetoric. In this installment, I tackled the black political integration into the party. In the next segments, the two currents will be tied together, and my favourite analogies, the "poisoned cocktail" and "milk truck" will become ever clearer. I will convey how whereas under Harry Truman the Democratic Party rejected Marxist principles, today the leadership simply has a much different attitude even if this is denied publicly. Furthermore, it will be shown that even while on the surface the Democratic Party has rejected communism, infiltration has always been an issue both in the Party and among black leadership and activist groups.
Until next time readers, and please, keep it BOLD or don't even try.
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