Russians have been fighting for our freedom :D
for so long 
Came upon the history of Soviet/Russian involvement with African Americans during the 2016 presidential campaign after a condescending post reached me on FB, sent by 2 of my white liberal friends, both DUers, that blacks should not be dumb enough to fall for Russian trolls, think smart. As if AAs in huge numbers have fallen for Russian propaganda in the past. I was stunned by the tone especially since I saw many posts of whites thanking Putin and several thanking Mother Russia that were not taken seriously before 2016 election night.
I reject any narrative of Russia specifically targeting us as the cause of slightly lower AA voter turnout. I hope that our allies and anyone else who wander here keeps in mind that besides gerrymandering, restrictions on early voting, or requiring specific forms of voter identification that we as a group have Russians not only there but, of course, helping avowed racists here to suppress our vote. Just another thing we have to worry about.
One of my favorite early propaganda targeting African-Americans
How red Russia broke new ground in the portrayal of black Americans https://www.pri.org/stories/2017-08-31/how-red-russia-broke-new-ground-portrayal-black-americans
When The Soviet Union Tried To Woo Black America https://www.ozy.com/flashback/when-the-soviet-union-tried-to-woo-black-america/62517
= new reply since forum marked as read
There were many articles written to explain the impact of voter suppression, lack of access (thank you Justice Roberts), and fewer protections (again, thank you Justice Roberts) on the 2016 Election. I was sickened at all the "allies" whom seemed more upset about the few black people that sat out of the election than they were at the tons of white people that affirmatively voted FOR tRump.
I keep a few articles handy. Feel free to use them!
https://www.salon.com/2016/11/10/the-real-reason-black-voters-didnt-turn-out-for-hillary-clinton-and-how-to-fix-it/
From the article:
The low turnout for Clinton had little to do with her black support and everything to do with the effective campaign of voter suppression run by Republicans, one that has decimated accessible options for people of color. This election illustrates the importance of alternatives to the current voting system, which continues to actively disenfranchise marginalized populations subject to numerous barriers to entry. It’s time to update the ballot box to make sure everyone’s voice is being heard.
Voting in the U.S. isn’t equal for all groups. Black voters, who are often concentrated heavily in inner-city areas, are forced to endure the nation’s longest lines, ones that may discourage them from voting altogether. A study from the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies showed that black voters wait twice as long as white people to cast a ballot, with the longest wait times being in South Carolina, Florida and Maryland. Harvard researcher Stephen Pettigrew found that African-Americans were six times more likely than members of demographic groups to spend more than an hour in line in order to vote.
https://www.americanprogress.org/issues/democracy/reports/2016/11/11/292322/voter-suppression-laws-cost-americans-their-voices-at-the-polls/
From the article:
States have gone on a spree restricting voting rights and voter access since 2010, when Republican-controlled state legislatures began passing voter ID laws and other provisions making it more difficult to vote. Once the Supreme Court gutted the Voting Rights Act in Shelby County v. Holder in 2013, even more states made it harder to vote in ways that were targeted at and fell disproportionately on people of color, young people, and low-income people. Even after major legal victories for voting rights this year—rulings that showed voter suppression tactics presented a grave danger and would prevent eligible Americans from casting their ballots—14 states had new voting restrictions in place for the first time in a presidential election. These included cutting back early voting, restricting voter registration, and imposing strict voter ID requirements. It is difficult to say definitively how voter suppression laws affect voter participation and exactly how many citizens were prevented from voting. But one analysis in 2014 found a decline in voter participation of 2 percentage points to 3 percentage points that was attributable to changes in voter ID requirements.
https://www.thenation.com/article/wisconsins-voter-id-law-suppressed-200000-votes-trump-won-by-23000/
From the article:
According to federal court records, 300,000 registered voters, 9 percent of the electorate, lacked strict forms of voter ID in Wisconsin. A new study by Priorities USA, shared exclusively with The Nation, shows that strict voter-ID laws, in Wisconsin and other states, led to a significant reduction in voter turnout in 2016, with a disproportionate impact on African-American and Democratic-leaning voters. Wisconsin’s voter-ID law reduced turnout by 200,000 votes, according to the new analysis. Donald Trump won the state by only 22,748 votes.
https://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/samantha-bee-voter-turnout-election_us_58248486e4b0aac624894bca
Because it's Samantha Bee!
And I wish it were its own OP. Thanks for the thorough links that I'm saving in case I need to whip out some handy facts if and when the Russia-African American narrative starts changing.
It's feeling like deja vu all over again, reminding me of Prop 8 back in '08 and the liberal blame that was heaped on African-Americans in California. I think that we were less than 6% of the population back then but studies were conducted to prove, I couldn't believe it, that if every single one of us voted for the proposition it would have still failed because of the tremendous white majority vote against it.
I'll never understand the immediate scapegoating. Well, I guess like Frantz Fanon said when blacks walk in reason walks out the door so how does one reason with the unreasonable? But yet another study 
Goodness, Samantha Bee! I've haven't really watched her. She's sweeping and on-point with every single thing she said. Had me cry-laughing. What a release 
Last edited Tue Dec 18, 2018, 01:24 AM - Edit history (1)
The "immediate scapegoating" is exactly why I get nervous around those that insist we focus exclusively on an economic populist message. When something goes awry, no matter the reason, it somehow gets placed on the people with the most melanin. (Where they do that, at?)
Sam brings the funny, unapologetically. She has some gems if you ever have an extra minute or two to catch her clips on youtube.
Always look forward to your OPs! 