A Rebuttal to Candace Owens
Candace Owens celebrated the other day when Kanye West, the rap mogul, tweeted some flattering things about her. She enthusiastically began singing his praises and stating that she was happy that he was leaving the “Democratic plantation” that she supposedly left.
Many people in the Black community didn’t even know who she is. I certainly didn’t know so I had to Google her and find out what all the hoopla was all about.
First, I’d like to say that trying to pigeonhole Kanye is a huge mistake. If you believe that someone like Kanye takes a side, you will be severely disappointed. He will not toe the party line for any party.
She believes that Black people need to rescue themselves from the “Democratic plantation” and vote Republican.
First, this is a silly myth that conservatives like to push. It’s insidious for a number of reasons.
- Black people are among the most sophisticated voting groups in the country. We know all too well what party has our best interest and what party doesn’t. We’re not one issue voters. Even though we tend to be quite socially conservative, we know that the Democratic party aligns with our fiscal beliefs. Candace, should know that. We USED to vote Republican. However, when our economic interest no longer lined up with Republicans, we began to switch parties. The New Deal held some promising prospects for Black people, especially farmers. During the Civil Rights Era, we cut ties with the Republican party and never looked back.
- The Republican party misses many opportunities to reach out to Black people. They choose not to. They simply want to insult us into voting for them. They believe that we don’t know much about politics. We don’t know much about how things work. They tell us that we wait for people to do things for us. They tell us that we’re lazy and need to stop using social programs that Whites use with no problem. Is that your sales pitch to me? I’m sorry, but that’s not addressing me as a person. If you’re going to simply tell me how stupid I am for not voting the way you want me to, then I’ll simply stay where I am.
- Republicans love to bring up “Democratic led cities” that are not doing well but forget about “Republican led cities and states” that aren’t doing well either. You want to bring up Baltimore and Chicago? Okay. Let’s talk about how the county that has the most residents on food stamps is in a Red state where they vote Republican overwhelmingly. That county is in Kentucky. Let’s talk about how many poor red states like West Virginia take more federal dollars than Blue states. Blue states that are more wealthy actually subsidize poorer red states. Let’s talk about how teen pregnancies are higher in red states. West Virginia, Tennessee, Louisiana, and Mississippi have the most recipients on welfare.
Red states have higher rates of teen pregnancy that Blue states. I can go on and on.
Wages have remained stagnant, jobs are going overseas, and people aren’t doing better than they were ten years ago, despite who is in office. This isn’t a red or blue thing. It’s an economic thing. Social spending and fiscal responsibility are both important but we can come up with solutions instead of telling people to “Get off the Democratic plantation that wants to keep you enslaved…” which leaves me to…
4. Retire that stupid phrase. First, me voting for a Democratic or Republican party is not akin to toiling on a plantation. It’s downright idiotic and disrespectful to those who actually did. They were beaten and raped on plantations. Me CHOOSING to vote for a political party is not the same thing. Every time this phrase comes out of her mouth, she should be condemned for this nonsense. I make a choice to vote Democratic. Slaves had no choice about being on a plantation. Stop dishonoring our ancestors.
5. Black people can think for ourselves. There are many issues in our communities and it’s more than just Red and Blue. We don’t need this twenty nine year old woman telling us what to do. We could have a discussion not having her dictate to us what is wrong. That’s why we as a group turn away from the Republican party. They don’t have a message. They don’t have a plan. The only thing they say is “Stop voting Democratic!” That’s it. Don’t you remember Republicans? You had us! Lock Stock and Barrel.
We voted in droves for you and you lost us. This bears repeating. You. Lost. Us. You don’t even care about getting us back. What do you do? Gerrymander districts. Voter ID laws. Changing the Voters Rights Act. Stop letting people of color in the country. Make inflammatory statements about “breeding” and people of color. Your plan? Just making sure White people vote. That’s your plan Republicans? Seriously? A lecture and drive your White neighbors to the polls? Wow.
Candace, you tell us to “get over slavery” but you get to use terminology like “plantation”? You tell us to forget about slavery because it’s “embarrassing” but you to get to embarrass yourself and the rest of us with terms like “get off the Democratic plantation”. It’s the ultimate hypocrisy and it should be stopped immediately. If this phrase is uttered on television by anyone, the guest should be cut off and never brought on again. Please retire this phrase. Please stop with your own silly hypocrisy. It’s embarrassing.
“We were children. I wasn’t the only victim.”
In 2007, Candace was the victim of racist bullying. She started a website that exposes bullies to their behavior. This is a woman who claims that she’s not a victim but clearly she feels like one. So much so, that she won a settlement for nearly $38,000.
So are you a victim? Well, you’ll probably say you’re no longer one. Makes sense to do that AFTER you received your settlement from the school district.
There are people on the Right that don’t know how to react to her because she’s just recently coming out as a conservative. She used to be a so-called SJW liberal. Now she’s a conservative? Okay.
Apparently, Candace is the only one that gets to talk about slavery. So please get the memo Black America. She gets to talk about “ideological slave ships” but if Black people talk about slavery or racism, we’re pulling a race card and embarrassing ourselves.
More hypocrisy coming from Ms. Owens. It’s incredibly sad to see that this type of language is used to somehow get our attention. Black people today don’t know what its like to work on a plantation nor ride on a slave ship. However, our ancestors did. To use language like that won’t endear her many fans.
History is For White People
If Candace had her way, history classes would become extinct. You see, the only people allowed to talk about history in her world are White people. White people can talk all day about how their ancestors came to this country with a dime in their pockets and make something of themselves. Apparently, if your skin is Black, you can’t do that. I’m sorry. You’re embarrassing Candace Owens if you do so.
You see, you aren’t allowed to talk about your great grandparents who were enslaved, your grandparents who were the first generation after slavery but were the Plessy VS. Ferguson generation separate but equal, or your parents who were there during the Civil Rights generation. Well, that was my family history anyway. However, we can’t talk about that.We must remain silent and pretend it never happened. Even in a time where people are trying to change the reason why we fought the Civil War, we’re not allowed to speak. Isn’t it irony when a person states that we’re on a Democratic plantation but the other party is telling us to shut up?? Interesting premise.
Why is it that no one wants to talk about what happened with Black people? However, it’s okay to talk about the Irish, Polish, Italian, Scottish, Dutch, and Germans?
Crime In the Black Community
“Black people have more to worry about than just racism!” Conservatives cry. You’re right. We do. However, crime is not a “Black” or “White” thing. I thought crime was just that? There are so many factors that go into play when talking about our neighborhoods. Lyndon B. Johnson’s War on Poverty was well intentioned, but it could have been carried out better. Many of its policies were ill conceived. That’s what happens when you believe that you can solve a problem without first getting input on those communities and asking what they need. However, doing nothing won’t help either.
Liberal policies? The forty hour, five day work week was a liberal policy. Labor unions was a creation of the Left. Public education, the library, down to the fire department was nothing more than socialism. Social Security was a “Leftist” program. Medicare and Medicaid were “Leftist” programs. These programs allowed many people to live longer lives, become much healthier, increase the standard of living for many people, and helped with upward mobility.
So can we stop with this nonsense that liberal policies have destroyed the Black community? If the last thing your party did for Black people was supporting the President that ended slavery, you need to change your credentials and update your resume. What have you done lately? I don’t understand why it’s okay to court White voters but lecture Black voters? You can make promises to one community but when another community asks for services, you call it “handouts”? Last I remember, Black people pay the same taxes that White people do. However, when White people ask their government for things, it’s called “services”. When Black people ask their government for services, we’re told to do it yourself. We don’t give out handouts. Why is that okay?
The only thing Black people have truly asked of our government was protection. Protection from many Southern and Northern states that tried to remove their rights from them. Many times when various states refused to step in, the federal government had to move and protect Black people from the very states that they live, work, and pay taxes in. Why is that?
Why is it that people like Candace believe that Black people should do things for themselves but others aren’t asked to do so? White people lined up to get government services after Hurricanes and other natural disasters. However, during and after Hurricane Katrina, Blacks were chastised all over and told to “wait!”. Wait as they died like flies. Does anyone have an answer for that? Or is this a victim mentality?
For one thing, Blacks in this country do not have a victim mentality. It’s the opposite. We’ve survived everything this country has thrown at us. After slavery, what exactly did Black people get? Nothing but protection and that didn’t last long either. The minute Federal troops moved out of the South, old Confederates began their night rides, terrorizing Black people for a hundred years. It just wasn’t the KKK either. It was your local police to the mailman. There was nothing. Black people weren’t given anything. No handouts. There was no plan to help settle Black people. There was no land given to them. They had to figure it out themselves.
And we did. We figured it out. We educated ourselves. We started our own businesses. We did everything we could. Some of us became even more successful than Whites and were run out of town. They were hung on trees like ornaments, with trumped up charges. They were thrown in jail for “loitering” when they weren’t. They were thrown in jail for charges like gambling or spitting in the presence of Whites. These are horrible things that happened to Black people, not just slaves but things that happened to my parents! Candace should know all about this. She sued a school district for the same racism that she doesn’t want to be a victim over and over again from.
Yes, crime is a problem in our community. There are many neighborhood organizations that do their part in helping to curb it. However, we do need help. We need more investment in our communities. We need more than a finger wagging in our faces. We don’t need to be continuously segregated, as businesses refuse to invest in our communities. We don’t need to be priced out as others gentrify our communities. There is so much that needs to be done and the Republican party is going to have to do more than push people like Candace out there and tell us how horrible we are for bringing up slavery. **Scratches head**
I don’t live on a plantation. Neither does Candace. I vote Democrat just like many Black people. With this new administration in place and the increase of more racist incidents by the day, it won’t change any time soon. It will just cause more of us to vote Democratic by the day. You won’t win with the message of calling us victims. You’ll lose every single time. I don’t know if you’re truly a conservative or a liberal and I honestly don’t care. You just seem to be whatever every one else wants you to be, when it’s convenient. Maybe you can tell the Republicans to come up with a coherent message to Black people from your party that’s more than “get off that plantation!”.
Until then, I’ll continue to vote Democratic. Just like you used to a few months ago.
