Quote (thesnipa @ 21 Jul 2016 15:24)
Looking at the graph it looks like blacks didn't surpass until 2008, and still tend to drop below in off year elections. I think its just an old adage that hasnt gone out of use in the last 8 years since it became untrue. I don't think speculation is needed, blacks have been stereotyped as lazy and so people want to believe it is true.
That's exactly my point. It's a racist assumption to think Blacks don't show up to vote. They do.
And like I mentioned and as the data shows, it hasn't just been the the past 8 years, like you are saying. Blacks have almost always shown up in good numbers to go out and vote in recent times, usually only trailing non-Hispanic Whites by a couple digits since 1996. And even before then, only a couple points. Look at 1984, for instance.
And they've always shown up more than Asians and Hispanics....and yet you never hear jokes about how those groups don't show up to vote.
I've heard the joke that Blacks don't show up so many times, and I just don't get it. Well, I do get it. It's just a racist assumption. But the facts just don't support it.
Maybe they didn't show up to vote before the 1960s...when many Blacks couldn't vote for various reasons. Lol. But this idea that Blacks don't show up to vote just isn't true if you look at the info.