There isn’t a single adult today that in good conscience would make the argument that America is a more racist, more white nationalist society than it was when my grandfather was growing up. Yet, we are hearing those terms [used] today because what [Democrats] want to say is that brown people need to be scared, which seems to be the narrative that we hear every four years right ahead of a presidential election. (Candace Owens)
Thus, spoke a young black woman, Candace Owens, in her opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee during its hearing on hate crimes and white nationalism. Her core message was that white supremacists – in whatever numbers they exist – are not responsible for the real problems hurting black Americans. Her political message is that Democrats have done little to repay black voters since the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Not surprisingly, Democrats and their media allies have put Ms. Owens on their enemies list.
Owens is a registered Democrat, who founded Blexit (Blacks Exiting the Democratic Party) because she is woke to identity politics, which she describes as “conning minorities that we are perpetual victims, all but ensuring our failure.” The DNC should at least respect Ms. Owens because she is a social influencer, including 1,250,000 Twitter, 850,000 Facebook and 606,000 Instagram followers. If Democrats are sincere about believing every woman, they should take this black woman’s critical observations to heart.
Owens reminded the committee’s Democrats that racists were not responsible for 75 percent of black teens in blue-state California not meeting state reading standards, and that white supremacists were not responsible for single motherhood in black communities soaring from 23 percent in the sixties to 74 percent today. She told the assembled Democrats that today more black babies are aborted than born alive in New York City. Her statistics should invite Democrats to ask why should black voters stick with us?
Have Democrats really taken the black vote for granted every four years? Hard to say, but black communities seem as frustrated now as they were before 1965. LBJ might have created The Great Society, but he also disproportionately sent black draftees to Vietnam (11% of civilian population, 23% of combat troops, and 25% of combat deaths). Jimmy Carter’s mishandling of energy and inflation was responsible for black unemployment soaring to 21.2 percent right after he (thankfully) left office. Bill Clinton signed the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act in 1994, disproportionately incarcerating black men for drug possession – not violence.
In an odd twist, the promising Obama presidency ended up an economic disaster for non-whites. Black and Latino home foreclosure rates were double that experienced by white Americans. And, while black businesses received 8.2 percent of all SBA loans under George Bush, they received only 1.7 percent of SBA loans under Obama. This is true, but Obama’s greatest disservice to African-Americans, according to Candace Owens, was suggesting white privilege was responsible for income inequality.
Owens is to Democrats what the wise guy is to magicians; calling attention to how identity politics obfuscates what is really happening to black households. This is true, and she came prepared for the sharp-elbowed Democrats, who came at her hard. Owens began by calling out Chairman Nadler: “You reduced [my biography] to one sentence, calling me a conservative activist. It wasn’t what I submitted to your office last night…you opened with anti-black bias.” Later, when Nadler wrongly admonished her for disparaging Ted Lieu (D-CA), she admonished Nadler right back. In fact, Owens had not called Lieu “stupid,” and she scolded Nadler for “not listening” to her.
Her tour de force was exposing Ted Lieu after his selective-and-misleading sound bite suggesting Owens (a black woman) was a Nazi apologist: “I think it’s pretty apparent Mr. Lieu believes that black people are stupid, assuming that they will not pursue the full two-hour clip. And, he purposely extracted the question that was asked of me. That was unbelievably dishonest, and that he did not allow me to respond to it is worrisome.” After that blast, a Republican yielded his time to let her finish.
Common sense suggests it’s only a matter of time before Candace Owens gets traction. She knows many black parents want self-regulating adult children, and many black congregations want nuclear families and fewer abortions. She knows black communities want crime-free streets and drug-free schools, and black men and women want the dignity of gainful employment. Candace Owens knows black lives matter and is convinced black votes must be cast for candidates who deliver results that matter to black lives.
One can only guess how #Blexit and #Walkaway will affect the 2020 elections, but the optics of a young, black woman being mistreated by House Democrats is not a good look in Democrat-mismanaged cities like Baltimore, Chicago, Detroit and Philadelphia. And just like West Virginia, the votes of sure-thing constituents are sure bets…until they vote Republican. As the western cowboys sang, you don’t miss your water until your well runs dry.