Because Bernie Sanders' devastatingly lopsided loss in South Carolina was largely due to African Americans loyal to the Clinton mystique, we think it's a good time to analyze the psychology hidden in the numbers. When you lose any demographic by 86%, you want to know what the hell were they thinking. Since the Sanders message clearly addresses African American issues in far more depth than the Clinton's, why that message was rejected is a mystery to be solved. So, lets consider a strange but not implausible possibility. The Southern Black Comfort Zone.
Perhaps some African Americans in the South still have a soft spot in their hearts for the progressive racist. Because the Clintons were essentially the first Southern Whites Southern Blacks felt embraced by after centuries of slavery, Jim Crow and all the rest, they may feel forever grateful and loyal for that embrace. After years of smiles, handshakes, kissing Black babies and sharing fried chicken, African Americans became comfortable with the Clintons. They felt as though they knew the Clintons as well as the Clintons knew them. Unfortunately, African Americans were only half right.
Knowing no Democrat has a snowball's chance in hell of winning the White House without strong support from the African American community, the Clintons made it a point to get close to African Americans and learn everything they could about them. They laughed with them. They cried with them. They shared the African American's pain. The Clintons were so convincing, some African Americans were calling Bill the first Black president. But what did African Americans really know about the Clintons?
Did African Americans know the Clintons would support policies that would send hundreds of thousands of African American men to prison for the better part of their lives, while destroying their families and increasing poverty in their community? Did African Americans know Bill Clinton could even fathom referring to Barack Obama as a baggage handler during the 2008 campaign? Did they think Hillary Clinton would be so insensitive as to refer to Black suspects as Super Predators that must be brought to heel? Did African Americans have any idea how Bill Clinton would handle his Sister Soljah moment? Having to say no on all counts, African Americans must be afraid to go beyond their comfort zone.
Although African Americans seek and deserve change more than any other demographic in the country, when real, radical or revolutionary change is presented, it can be frightening to some. When something is offered beyond what's ever been seen before, it takes courage to step outside the box for a closer look. Sometimes, no matter how attractive an alternative approach appears, when people have to choose between what they know and something they don't, many will stick with what they know. And the Clintons know this well.
Bottom line: The Clintons have created a comfort zone so warm and fuzzy for African Americans, they've been so blinded by the Clinton relationship, they can no longer see the Clinton realities. They've been made so comfortable by the Clinton promises, African Americans are ignoring the immediacy of their own priorities. If the Clintons can lull the rest of Southern African Americans into patiently accepting half measures and second best for another election cycle or two, the Clinton dynamic will have little trouble fending off credible challenges moving forward. Podcast below!
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