Discussion»Questions»Politics» Isn't it just as much a fallacy to assume that all black Americans are pro-Obama as it is to assume all white Americans are pro-Trump?
Dear Randy D, ima play devil's advocate and say No, not just as much of a fallacy...and here is why..
Many perhaps most African-Americans are exposed to bigotry from childhood; so you grow up struggling to salvage your tender self-esteem. Traveling to other countries, I have not seen race such a huge factor as the USA, and I think it has largely to do with some benighted historical decisions handed down by SCOTUS. And thus Obama as President was experienced as a tremendous personal validation among many African Americans, completely aside from his qualifications.
White Americans, in contrast, are more likely to view Trump based on his qualifications (although I do recall he got endorsed by white supremacist group - which he was slow to disavow).
Thus if you look online, even among black Americans who are against Obama, it is often because he did not do as much as hoped to further racial equality.
* * * I do have a solution...because in the bayou country of Louisiana, I saw African-American children growing up free from racial intimidation...simply because there were no white people around. So, I would like to see ALL children reared without exposure to prejudice, until maybe age twenty when your self-esteem is established and your reasoning powers are developed enough to see through all the absurdities... Then we could assess a black president based on his qualifications.
It's as much of a fallacy as assuming that all female Americans would have supported Clinton. The race/gender of the candidate is less important that those promises that they can persuade voters to believe, or the stories about themselves and their opponents that they can persuade people to believe.
By contrast, of course, there are the serious voters who actually stay abreast of politics and are in a position to vote according to the actual issues at stake.
Most people cannot be put in their group and be expected to vote the same as everyone in the same box. We all have different opinions, morals and life experiences that keep us out of some of those voting blocks.
I personally know lifelong Dems who voted for Trump this time. I also now Republicans who stayed home. I don't know any Rs who voted for Clinton, however.