Do Handouts Keep Hands Out?

In discussing Black voting patterns, political choices and socio-economic conditions, there is an undercurrent ideology that can be used to perpetually subjugate and invalidate simultaneously. According to this paradigm African Americans blindly accept Barack Obama because he is Black; yet they also blindly rejected Herman Cain because he is Black – the epitome of circular logic. Are we really so naïve to believe that this has no bearing on how African Americans construct identity? Why do we refuse to acknowledge that this dynamic makes it infinitely more difficult for African Americans to develop their own identity when the definition makers in this society perceive them as being capable of nothing more than involuntarily shifting between opposite ends of any spectrum?

In the context of today’s American society it is not the presence of handouts that are keeping hands out. In fact, I would go so far as to suggest that African Americans who can be characterized as underprivileged are responsible for doing less damage to this economy than wealthy individuals, and legislators that abuse their power who misappropriate usage of the American taxpayers’ money, and covertly enjoy lavish extravagance on the very dime that they so readily lambaste. Ironically, the philosophy behind a vast number of federal programs can be traced to Republican ideals and overall good intentions.

However, I contend it is the systemic imperfections in our society that manifest as abuses of these programs. Similarly, these imperfections manifest as the many scandalous acts committed by those individuals who are supposed to be most trustworthy as our society has entrusted them with governance.

But, with the service that large corporations and the wealthy constituency has paid the GOP, Republican rhetoric increasingly seems to be seeking shelter for these groups while being increasingly critical of those folks who are deemed underprivileged.  This is without regard for race. The true divider in our society is socio-economic status. Herman Cain is a Republican because being a Republican serves his economic interests and satiates his political appetite for social conservatism (although his personal appetite does not seem to be similarly constructed).

However, it is generally true that African Americans are disproportionately represented among those who achieve the kinds of socio-economic interests enjoyed by Herman Cain, even though there may be large numbers who share his desire for socially conservative policies.  Oddly enough, Barack Obama and Herman Cain can be said to have come from similarly humble beginnings – Herman Cain’s father working multiple menial labor jobs; Barack Obama’s mother making use of food stamps. Yet, even in choosing divergent paths, both these men have achieved relative greatness and have exhibited the type of work ethic needed to be successful and wealthy; therefore it may be said that they equally and alternatively exemplify that which debunks the idea that Black people maintain a hand held out because there are handouts present.

What keeps the hands out?

The unfounded credibility afforded the idea that African Americans prefer a handout keeps the hands out. The notion that African Americans are only capable of understanding the world in which we all live relative to being African American keeps the hands out. The expectation that African Americans participate in the superimposed ideas, ideals, and attitudes that the power brokers in this society use to rewrite what it means to be African American keeps the hands out. The policies that support corporate personhood keep the hands out. Politicians auctioned off to the highest bidders keep the hands out. The disappearance of the mythical job creators – that at some point in our history used to sit and contemplate ways to employ people in spite of the bottom line – keep the hands out.

African American middle school students being more severely punished for the same behavior or for less severe behaviors than exhibited by their White counterparts keep the hands out. The current push to legislate more stringent voter registration laws that will disproportionately affect African Americans’ and low-income families’ ability to participate in our democracy keeps the hands out. Republican presidential candidates running campaigns antithetical to their very existence – suggesting that the government cannot create jobs when they are on the government payroll; when they are asking that we the people hire them to a job created by the government – keep the hands out.

I could continue on with this.

Yes folks, there are African American conservatives, African American evangelicals who support pro-life and ‘small’ government policies. There are African Americans who believe in abortion rights and who believe in rights for same-sex couples, but who also believe in God. There are African Americans who are fiscally conservative, but who are socially liberal. There are African Americans who believe American ideals are best epitomized by the rugged individualism of the GOP’s ‘every man for himself trickle-down economics’. There are African Americans who believe that affirmative action is necessary to level the systemically unequal playing fields in this society’s institutions of higher learning and in this society’s private sector industries. There are African Americans who believe any number of things that are believable under the sun – the possibilities and the expression of these possibilities are endless. It is the denial that this is either plausible or possible that keeps the hands out.

Damion White works independently as a social media and social media analytics consultant. He creates social media strategy for musicians and Fortune 500 brands alike. Damion graduated from Davidson College with a B.A. in sociology, and lettered in varsity football and basketball. In addition to his work in PR & marketing, Damion produces hip-hop music, releasing a studio album in 2008. 

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