John McWhorter Is A Linguist . . .

. . . and I enjoy reading his stuff. Have several of his books on my shelves.

He also does a little politics, and from what I have seen his politics are far more sane than another linguist-turned-political-commentator (Noam Chomsky).

IN THIS ARTICLE MCWHORTER ARGUES WHY AFRICAN-AMERICANS NEED TO BECOME A SWING VOTE.

He’s right. At present African-Americans vote so solidly for one party that neither party is incentivized to go out of its way to foster their interests. The way to gain influence with parties is to make it clear to them that you will not support them if they don’t look out for your interests.

That’s one reason I’m happy that the Catholic vote can’t presently be taken for granted by either party. In the old days, Catholics voted solidly Democrat–and they got taken for granted. Now they are starting in a greater way to vote based on principle (e.g., support of life issues) than on partisan grounds. This means that both parties have a reason to take the principled Catholic voter seriously, as he represents a body that–like Evangelicals–can swing an election.

Republicans cannot take pro-lifers for granted either. Almost enough Evangelicals stayed home in 2000 to cost Bush the election. This time the GOP get-out-the-vote effort focused strongly on Evangelicals. The same clout will be wielded by pro-life Catholics in future elections if real progress (in the form of anti-Roe SCOTUS appointments) is not made in advancing the pro-life cause.

Catholics will have this clout as long as they vote–or withhold their votes–based on principle rather than on party.

Author: Jimmy Akin

Jimmy was born in Texas, grew up nominally Protestant, but at age 20 experienced a profound conversion to Christ. Planning on becoming a Protestant seminary professor, he started an intensive study of the Bible. But the more he immersed himself in Scripture the more he found to support the Catholic faith, and in 1992 he entered the Catholic Church. His conversion story, "A Triumph and a Tragedy," is published in Surprised by Truth. Besides being an author, Jimmy is the Senior Apologist at Catholic Answers, a contributing editor to Catholic Answers Magazine, and a weekly guest on "Catholic Answers Live."

One thought on “John McWhorter Is A Linguist . . .”

  1. It’s hard to imagine Blacks voting Republican. Many Blacks are fairly conservative on social issues, but even after Bill Clinton got caught with Monica L., he was still welcomed in Black churches. Jesse Jackson still has strong support in the Black community.
    Ultimately voting for the Democratic party is in the interest of Blacks. Two thirds of Blacks who are middle class work for the government and many in the private sector owe their jobs to affirmative action.
    I don’t think McWhorter is accurate when he says that Hispanics split their vote in 2004.

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