Recently, I posted on Facebook an article about “Black Conservatives” and as usual I got no response or a single because “Black people are Democrats”. That was heartbreak for my dear departed mother in law. I contend that is a propaganda ploy or better yet a misperception fo many people, including Black people. In an interview with, a Nigerian American, Chidike Okeem, a writer at VoiceofChid.com we get this perspective:

“One of the fallacies that black progressives promulgate about black conservatives is that we have nothing to conserve except historically oppressive structures. Black conservatism is often presented as an ideology that is about protecting and preserving white supremacy. This argument is absurd. Black conservatives believe in the preservation of institutions that have been important to black life and survival, such as the nuclear family, the church, and the community. Although conservation is an important part of the black conservative worldview, it is not about the protection of pillars of oppression. Where demonstrably immoral structures exist, the black conservative cannot ethically justify attempting to look for the positive aspects of such structures. The black conservative is justified in subverting and seeking to dismantle oppressive systems. The conservation mind-set of the black conservative applies only to constructs that are both moral and salubrious. The notion that conservatives of African descent must look for the positive aspects in the apparatus of white supremacy is a caricature of black conservative thought.”

Periodically, I will site Glenn Loury, a long time noted conservative/liberal depending on how the wind is blowing. Loury who tries to take a nuanced look at race inequities in America, “I argue for a more nuanced approach: I stress that history matters – not only its material inheritance, but also via mental habits bequeathed from the past. (Thus, but for latent biases that served to justify racial domination in the past, I hold, the high level of incarceration in the aggregate, with its severely adverse impact on specific groups, would not have been tolerated.) Nevertheless, I conclude by advocating that “more human development”, and not “less racial bias”, should be the rallying cry of contemporary (racial) egalitarians.” From a lecture promotional site entitled, “Changing My Mind: Confessions of a Restless Black Conservative in the Age of #BlackLivesMatter.”

Loury takes an economist’s view and instead of resting on slogans and ideal rhetoric he studies the problem with analytics and writes a commentary. My problem with Loury is not his scholarship or commentary he understands that there is a legacy/mindset of poverty that persists in the Black community but my issue is his audience. From my perspective is his audience, he hides in academia. He may not be a “Black is Proud” advocate but in many ways, he states the same “Do for Self” message as Dr. Claud Anderson. It is lengthy but I think is evidence of what I speak:

R-0519-Glenn Loury_Manhattan

On the other hand, there are Black Republicans, those who pander to “White People”. Who as Michael Harriot notes in a recent “The Root” article, “Candace Owens, Jason Whitlock, John McWhorter, Sage Steele and the Myth of ‘Questioning Blackness'”:

“White people do not want to know the true story.

They like me because I am not real. They prefer me this way. I am the fabricated personification of the white imagination and as such, they can wish away the things that their very real people have inflicted upon me. They do not hate me “in theory” because they do not have to touch me. Because they get to choose their own adventure (and mine), they do not have to burden themselves with washing out the bloodstains caused by the conquering swords of their heroes. After all, I am not real.

I am “Black people.”

Harriot continues, “These people are not ignorant; they are charlatans. They have carved out a niche for themselves where they dutifully serve as white people’s example of the rare Black person who escaped from the Democratic plantation and became a “free thinker.” Their apparently lucrative grift depends on perpetuating the tall tale on which white supremacy has built its bedrock foundation.” The keyword is lucrative. 

Several weeks ago a web developer friend of mine told me about a young Black Republican whose Youtube channel has over a million followers grossing over $100,000 a month. $100,000 a month that isn’t counting his website and other marketing avenues. I didn’t really believe her so in my checking I found the website, Social Blade which tracts social media influencers and how much money they generate. Take a moment and take a look at your favorite “performer” and see how well, their sites are doing.

I listen to several Black Youtube commentators and not only did I look at the number of followers but also if they were generating money. My realization was what/where/who do Gen-X’ers and Millenials for information? Obviously the notion, of my generation, of getting the news from reputable sites/cable news passe. My final question is where are Black people getting their news and commentary; specifically, what sources are Black Millenials and Gen-Xer’s viewing? You?