Blacks are a heritage American of sorts, “African-Americans”. However they are clearly a distinct population or nation. I think a potential political alliance could be formed between Whites and Blacks on the basis of our peoples both being here for centuries. However it’s more likely that they are too bitter to ever want to help us fight off our impending disenfranchisement, even if it means they are disenfranchised further as well.
Black Americans are without a doubt heritage Americans, it is literally in their blood. They were often seen as a part of the family in the antebellum south.
Unfortunately, as we transitioned from the post civil-rights era into the BLM/woke era the college educated American black elite largely traded their seat at the American table for a seat at the Global one. Instead of framing themselves the richest African descended people on the planet with a clear American identity, Blacks(with a capital B) cast themselves as another global south victim group of “whiteness” .
As America becomes less white(and especially less anglo) their specific grievances become less relevant. They have repeatedly sided with the exact mass migration that will make them politically irrelevant.
On the bright side, president Trump has brought some relief. Trump’s base is people whose primary identity is “American”, and every time he has run, more black Americans(especially men) have seen the appeal of that identity and jumped into the tent.
This is not to say we should ever count on the "black vote" or any normgroid bs like that. But there is clearly hope for some of them.
I agree Black Americans are heritage, but they are their own group with a different history from ours.
As for them voting with Trump, I am not so bullish on the civic nationalism you talk about. No one even knows what it means to be an American anymore, because there is no racial/ethnic/historic/religious tie to it. Being “American” to a Trump voter just means any number of positive adjectives that can be applied to any productive citizen of any country (hardworking, honest, ambitious).
I don't think JD Vance would ever wax indignant over an American Jew accusing him of not doing enough for Israel. If that happened Vance would probably fall to his knees knowing who really runs Washington and it isn't Heritage Americans.
I don't think Teddy Roosevelt would be too pleased at the demographics of America today nor would other great men of America's past who essentially saw America as a blood and soil nation of European settlers and immigrants and not a creedal nation where any Mestizo, Paki, Arab, African and Asian can come here and profess love for American ideals. The founders especially would reject the concept of America as a universal and creedal nation that Vivek and some conservatives claim that America is all evidence to the contrary.
So many important questions raised in this article and your recent AMA podcast on the same and I hope you will use Ramaswamy's campaign to succeed Mike DeWine at Governor.Ohio.GOV as an opportunity to pull on those threads.
Are Ohioans happy with how well Ramaswamy was indoctrinated by American educational and other institutions into American culture? And are Ohioans happy with the American culture that Ramaswamy absorbed?
Blacks are a heritage American of sorts, “African-Americans”. However they are clearly a distinct population or nation. I think a potential political alliance could be formed between Whites and Blacks on the basis of our peoples both being here for centuries. However it’s more likely that they are too bitter to ever want to help us fight off our impending disenfranchisement, even if it means they are disenfranchised further as well.
Black Americans are without a doubt heritage Americans, it is literally in their blood. They were often seen as a part of the family in the antebellum south.
Unfortunately, as we transitioned from the post civil-rights era into the BLM/woke era the college educated American black elite largely traded their seat at the American table for a seat at the Global one. Instead of framing themselves the richest African descended people on the planet with a clear American identity, Blacks(with a capital B) cast themselves as another global south victim group of “whiteness” .
As America becomes less white(and especially less anglo) their specific grievances become less relevant. They have repeatedly sided with the exact mass migration that will make them politically irrelevant.
On the bright side, president Trump has brought some relief. Trump’s base is people whose primary identity is “American”, and every time he has run, more black Americans(especially men) have seen the appeal of that identity and jumped into the tent.
This is not to say we should ever count on the "black vote" or any normgroid bs like that. But there is clearly hope for some of them.
I agree Black Americans are heritage, but they are their own group with a different history from ours.
As for them voting with Trump, I am not so bullish on the civic nationalism you talk about. No one even knows what it means to be an American anymore, because there is no racial/ethnic/historic/religious tie to it. Being “American” to a Trump voter just means any number of positive adjectives that can be applied to any productive citizen of any country (hardworking, honest, ambitious).
I don't think JD Vance would ever wax indignant over an American Jew accusing him of not doing enough for Israel. If that happened Vance would probably fall to his knees knowing who really runs Washington and it isn't Heritage Americans.
I don't think Teddy Roosevelt would be too pleased at the demographics of America today nor would other great men of America's past who essentially saw America as a blood and soil nation of European settlers and immigrants and not a creedal nation where any Mestizo, Paki, Arab, African and Asian can come here and profess love for American ideals. The founders especially would reject the concept of America as a universal and creedal nation that Vivek and some conservatives claim that America is all evidence to the contrary.
So many important questions raised in this article and your recent AMA podcast on the same and I hope you will use Ramaswamy's campaign to succeed Mike DeWine at Governor.Ohio.GOV as an opportunity to pull on those threads.
Are Ohioans happy with how well Ramaswamy was indoctrinated by American educational and other institutions into American culture? And are Ohioans happy with the American culture that Ramaswamy absorbed?
Thank you!
John
groenveld@acm.org