THE CIVIL WAR

Retro Notes on America’s Racial Politics

The more things change, the more they remain the same

'bumpyjonas…
4 min readApr 12, 2024

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President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Voting Rights Act as Martin Luther King Jr. and other civil rights leaders look on; President’s Room, U.S. Capitol, Washington, DC. LBJ Library, photo by Yoichi Okamoto

For 20 plus years now, I have written for the Progressive Media Project (PMP). I have regularly written essays about how the Republican Party has no chance to expand their share of the Black vote. People scoff at me and send me hate emails. I am accused of being a race baiter by some. And then, this line: the Democrats treat Black people like slaves. And the Democrats are the true historically racist party. I remind them the article is about the GOP.

They never get the point. It is not an either/or. Here is an op-ed from 2004 I wrote on Ronald Reagan after Reagan’s death. Yes, the responses were kind of nasty:

A few years ago, I wrote about the latest incarnation of Ronald Reagan — Donald Trump. I should note it is being stated again Trump will get a significant piece of the Black vote. I have my doubts. (Reagan, for the record, got 14 percent of the Black vote in 1980, which is impressive by modern standards; Trump received 8…

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'bumpyjonas…

word scratcher, baller...shot caller, born in a city made of chocolate.