cross-posted from: https://lemmy.world/post/25218510
THIS IS NOT A TROLL. I’d like a deeper dive into this as a black man.
For context, I’ve voted Democratic my entire life, same with my family & most of my friends, including most of my white friends. We tend to agree on the obvious issues in American politics like lobbyist & foreign affairs. But we continue to vote Democratic because we see it as the best way forward for progress compared to the GOP.
But my question is why are white people specifically so strong for the GOP? It seems like no matter which election you look at post civil rights, the GOP either comfortably wins the white vote, or narrowly wins it. Despite issues like the war on drugs, early 90s recession, war on terror, mortgage crisis, Trump’s abysmal response to COVID, cuts to Social Secuirty, Tax Cuts for the Rich, etc. It seems like the white electorate always backs Republicans in big numbers. No matter what.
You could say the same for black people and the Democratic Party, but we are a far smaller voting base that can’t really decide elections outside of a state like Georgia (I live in Chicago). But also, the Dems aren’t perfect, I don’t expect any political party to be, but their track record and policy positions work much better for the common man to me.
Obviously there’s a large contingent of white voters who greatly represent the progressive movements on the left more than any other group, but they’re vastly outnumbered by their Republican counterparts. And Trump did worse with white women in 2024 more than any Republican has post-civil rights.
TLDR; Why does it seem like no matter what Republicans do, white voters who always give them a large amount of support? If Dems held policy positions and had the rhetoric of the modern day Republican Party, I doubt black people would support them.
I think it’s usually a smug sense of superiority and a fear that they will lose the benefits that come with being in a privileged class. For most white folks, all of this is deeply internalized and they are in denial that these factors drive any of their behaviors. They cling to the notion that they are ‘good’ and will latch on to any rationale that relieves them of personal responsibility for the imbalances in our society. The Republican Party is extremely good at catering to that desire and feeds them a steady stream of evidence that they are part of the ‘good’ group. This is why they get support consistently despite pursuing policies that frequently hurt white working class constituents. Instead of delivering material improvements, they cater to the emotional desire to feel good/safe. For a group of people that desperately want to believe that they aren’t actually subject to the same dehumanizing economic dynamics that plague ‘those other people’, that emotional hug is enough to get a vote.