Why Are There So Few Black Libertarians?

by Gerard Emershaw

In the 2012 presidential election, 93% of black voters cast ballots for President Barack Obama. Part of this could be that after so many decades of being underrepresented politically, they had a chance to cast a vote for a black presidential candidate. While such a collectivist racist attitude is typically unacceptable, over two centuries of institutionalized racism on the part of the federal government makes it understandable. Given that both parties are nothing but two wings of the same corrupt welfare/warfare state party, perhaps if one is going to vote for one of the mainstream parties at all, it is as good a reason as any to cast a vote. However, why should blacks choose either the neo-progressive donkey or the neo-progressive elephant? Why are there so few black libertarians?

Libertarianism should be a natural fit for blacks. Black Americans were so long denied their freedom—and at times their very personhood—by the federal government that one would think that blacks would naturally support a political philosophy which so zealously guards personal freedom. A group of individuals whose ancestors had been enslaved and who have been systematically disenfranchised both economically and politically by both statist parties for so long should not rationally support either party.

The role models of the black community are not individuals who succeeded because of government handouts or political favors. These role models are entrepreneurs, athletes, and entertainers who have succeeded through their own genius, hard work, and excellence. Sean Combs, Jay Z, Tyler Perry, Oprah Winfrey, LeBron James, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, etc. have all risen to the top on their own. Freedom has allowed such individuals to succeed, and more freedom would allow even more individuals like them to succeed. Black rap stars and others in the entertainment industry have become successful thanks to freedom of speech. Black athletes have become successful thanks to freedom of contract. Black entrepreneurs have become successful thanks to the free market. If it was freedom which allowed such success stories to unfold, why are the protagonists of such success stories not libertarian? Why do they oppose the philosophy which promoted their success while supporting the corrupt welfare/warfare state which attempted to hold them back and which will attempt to do the same with future generations?   

Even if the libertarian philosophy does not appeal to blacks, by default it is the only rational position for them to hold. Here are four reasons why blacks should not support statism in any way, shape, or form:

1. Slavery

The evil institution of slavery, which violated the American credo that all human beings are born equal in terms of natural rights, led to millions of individuals of African descent being deprived of their freedom and forced to labor against their will. Slavery was only possible because the government endorsed and defended the institution. The Three-Fifths Clause of the Constitution will forever remain as racist scar tissue in an otherwise enlightened document. From the Fugitive Slave Act to the infamous Dred Scott decision, the federal government was continually the key player in the enslavement of Africans in the United States. So why should Blacks be supportive of a government which allowed Americans much like themselves to be enslaved for nearly a century?

2. Jim Crow

Even after the Civil War when the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments were ratified, the federal government still did little or nothing to ensure that the natural rights of Blacks were defended. Reconstruction ultimately proved to be at best a noble failure and at worst a tyrannical exercise which set back the cause of racial equality. The federal government embraced and defended segregationist policies and turned a blind eye to Jim Crow laws in many southern states. The racial caste system that Jim Crow created disenfranchised many Blacks and allowed them to be victimized by continued institutionalized racism. It was not until nearly two centuries after the founding of the nation that the civil rights movement ultimately began to change things. For two hundred years the federal government either actively oppressed blacks in the United States or allowed state and local governments to violate their natural rights. Why should blacks trust this government now?

3. Welfare State Racism

The conventional wisdom is that blacks should favor the American welfare state. According to this line of thought, progressive social programs such as welfare, Medicaid, Headstart, etc. are most beneficial to blacks. Justification for this view typically begins with the recitation of disturbing statistics. In 2012, 28.1% of blacks were living in poverty, including 39.6% of blacks under the age of 18. The rate of black unemployment is twice as high as that of whites. Therefore, welfare programs are needed and are needed most by blacks. In the eyes of progressives, blacks should be grateful to the government. Many progressives hold racist views which they perversely consider to be enlightened and politically correct. They view blacks as dependent upon the government. They view blacks as unable to compete on a level playing field. Through their destructive Nanny State programs, progressives create a self-fulfilling policy when it comes to the economic and social well being of the black community.

The truth is that blacks should be grateful to the federal government. About as grateful as one would be to a thug who stabs him or her in the stomach and then offers a free Band-Aid. Why are blacks in such dire straits economically? Many reasons. Two centuries of institutionalized racism spearheaded by the federal government. Progressive economic policies such as the Federal Reserve, the income tax, deficit spending, stifling business regulations, etc. which erode the economy and destroy wealth, jobs, and other economic opportunities. The welfare state which infantilizes blacks and fosters dependency. The war on drugs—which will be discussed below. The federal government has created the disease, infected the black community with it, and has offered the “cure” in the form of the welfare system. The only thing is that the welfare system has done nothing to help blacks in the lower socioeconomic classes rise economically. It has been roughly 50 years since LBJ instituted the social programs of his Great Society. For the past 50 years, the ratio between black and white unemployment has remained roughly 2:1. For the past 50 years, the gap between black and white household incomes has remained the same. The wealth disparity between blacks and whites has been growing since the beginning of the Great Recession, and the already appalling black poverty rates are again increasing. So why should blacks favor and support the statist system which offers them nothing but financial methadone? The black community remains sick and dependent upon the welfare state, and it will never be healthy as long as the perverse racism of progressivism continues. Unfortunately, the black community does not seem to be learning its lesson about the Welfare State Emperor having no clothes. Black Americans are three times more likely than whites to support Obamacare.

4. War on Drugs

According to a recent report, 1 in 3 black males will go to prison during their lives. It is difficult for individuals to succeed economically when they are in prison or are stigmatized and disenfranchised ex-convicts. By 2011, there were more blacks in prison or “under watch” than were enslaved in 1850. One of the reasons for this is the economic carnage wreaked by the progressive welfare state. Another reason is the War on Drugs. The idea of the War on Drugs seems to be that drugs ruin lives; therefore, if we catch you using or selling drugs, we will ruin your lives by putting you in prison. Actually, the hidden racist reasoning might be that drugs ruin the lives of white children; therefore, if we catch blacks using or selling drugs, we will ruin their lives by putting them in prison.

Drug crimes are victimless crimes. Ergo, they should not be crimes at all. Even if drug offenses were genuine and deserving of punishment, blacks are incarcerated for them at shockingly unjust rates. According to the Sentencing Project, blacks “make up 12% of the nation’s drug users, but represent 34% of those arrested for drug offenses, and 45% of those in state prison for such offense as of 2005.” This has devastated the black community, destroying families and creating more out of wedlock births.

Leftwing statists attempt to re-enslave blacks by fostering and perpetuating economic dependency while rightwing statists attempt to re-enslave them by unjustly imprisoning them for bogus victimless drug crimes and forcing them to work at slave labor in prison. So how can blacks support statism? How can blacks vote for either the neo-progressive donkey or the neoconservative elephant? Only a libertarian philosophy of free markets and free expression can held heal the wounds of over two centuries of institutionalized racism perpetrated by the federal government in the hands of the mainstream political parties.