When I was writing my previous article on diversifying the porcupine population, the idea came to me to write a follow-up regarding on how the Libertarian party can further expand its voter base. As mentioned previously, the Libertarian Party has a diversity problem, and not just a gender one either. The Libertarian Party cannot win elections if they simply don’t market themselves to anyone outside of their existing supporters.
Black people as a population are highly active voters as nearly 2/3rds of eligible Black voters turned out to the polls in 2020. With a few clever marketing pitches, the Libertarians can easily win over the hearts and minds of Black voters, all without any major policy shifts. Just like my previous article on winning over women voters, I dislike the label of Black issues as it is reductionist; Black people as a population are concerned about things such as the war in Ukraine or global de-dollarization just as much as anyone else. With that said, I’ll focus mainly on what legacy media tries to convince us are Black issues.
First, the porcupines can win over more Black voters by advertising their stance on police reform a little more clearly. Libertarians have long opposed power grabs by law enforcement, and are staunchly against militarizing the police force. This can be advertised in stark contrast to Republican’s insistence on militarizing the police. Libertarians can lean on the fact that militarizing the police force rarely ends up going well for Black people during their pitch. Its honestly kind of shocking that the Libertarian leadership hasn’t thought of this.
While we’re on the topic of police, Libertarians can advertise their views on ending the drug war to Black voters (a stance that nearly every Black leader from Tupac to Dr. John McWhorter have advocated for). Libertarians absolutely should be advertising the fact that if the drug war were to end tomorrow, then millions of Black people would no longer be sent to prison needlessly. Ending the drug war would also take away the number one excuse as to why police chiefs claim they need military equipment in their jurisdictions. Less needless police raids means less incarcerations, which means less lifetime disenfranchisement. Speaking of voting rights…
The Libertarians should absolutely market their views on voting access and voter ID laws to the Black community more. Libertarians oppose restricting access to the polls which has been a hot-button topic for the Black community in the last few election cycles. Again, this can be presented in stark contrast to the Republican Party as Republicans love writing voter suppression laws. Libertarians as a whole tend to abhor most forms of government ID’s, which should be pitched a lot more aggressively to Black voters, as Black voters are less likely to have government IDs. Driving a under-motivated government employee around for 20 minutes should not be the deciding factor in whether one gets to vote or not.
Gun rights are another issue in which the Libertarian Party can easily secure the Black ballot; they only fine-tuned their marketing strategy pivots. Libertarians absolutely support the right to carry, while modern Democrat strongholds do not. California is frequently cited as having the most stringent gun laws in the nation (eww). However, history favors the Libertarian on this issue. The porcupines can bring up the blatantly racist origins of gun control in stark contrast to their permissive policies. “But Dan, that was A.) a long time ago and B.) Reagan was a Republican. Modern Republicans support Black gun ownership!” is a retort that I’ll likely get. Are you sure about that?
The Libertarian Party has a unique proposition to pitch to the Black community; the fact that both of them are statistically underrepresented in Congress. The House has an appalling lack of diversity as there are currently no Libertarians in the House of Representatives. This isn’t by accident either, as the system is intentionally designed to systemically exclude Libertarians. Porcupines should absolutely use this fact-and this specific language- in their pitch to the Black community; after all, the Black community certainly knows a thing or two about being on the receiving end of Drunk Uncle Sam’s mood swings! That shared common experience of being systemically underrepresented via a rigged system needs to be leveraged.
Drunk Uncle Sam’s heavy-handed use of eminent domain is yet another issue that the Libertarians can align themselves with the Black community on. Drunk Uncle Sam has historically weaponized the power of eminent domain against Black neighborhoods, and the reverberations of this are still felt today. “Dan, that was a long time ago! Stop living in the past” is a retort that I’ll hear from a northern White liberal, even though it’s factually wrong. However, Libertarians staunchly oppose the use of eminent domain, and this fact isn’t being marketed to Black voters nearly enough.
I’ve spent most of this article contrasting the Libertarian Party from that of the Republicans, however to end the discussion there would be incomplete. The Democrats need to be examined as well; prominent Black voices from Malcolm X to Dr. Marc Lamont Hill have been skeptical of the Democratic Party’s true intentions concerning the Black community. They have good reason to be skeptical too, because LBJ was certainly no ally of the Black community. “Again Dan, that was a long time ago! Modern Democrat’s aren’t like that!” a bowl-cut Karen will shout at me from her heated-seat SUV. Again, Are you sure about that? The Libertarians can use this in their marketing pitch; something along the lines of Why not support a party that will actually earn your vote, rather than just assuming it?
We welcome porcupines of all colors!
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