Why Won’t Blacks Embrace the GOP?
Dec 2, 2007 Political
Frank Rich wrote a piece in the New York Times in which he showed how Barack Obama could win the nomination and stifle the GOP because they would not know how to deal with race. Mr. Rich contends that the GOP has barricaded itself and tends to ignore the black vote, not because they are racists, but because they GOP is saddled with a history that makes it uncomfortable:
But the G.O.P., by its own doing, is nonetheless saddled with a history that most recently includes “macaca†and Katrina, Mr. Bush’s appearance at Bob Jones University in 2000 and the nonexistent black population of its Congressional delegation.
~snip~
…But not even conservative leaders of this stature [Gingrich and Kemp] could persuade their party’s top 2008 presidential contenders to show up for a September debate moderated by Tavis Smiley for PBS at the historically black Morgan State University.
It’s not because those no-shows are racists; it’s because they are defensive and out of touch. With the notable exception of Mike Huckabee, most of the party’s candidates have barricaded themselves from African-Americans for so long that they don’t know how to speak to or about them. New York Times
I have to disagree with Mr. Rich on these issues because he misses the bigger picture. The GOP is not saddled bad things, it is painted with the broad brush of racism by a slavish media that sees everything GOP as bad and everything from the left as good. Macaca was an unfortunate issue blown out of proportion by a media that refused to give the same attention to the rantings of Cynthia McKinney and her people and who continually ignore the racist and anti Semite words used by the so-called black leaders for fear of alienating them. Katrina involved black people (for the most part) led by a black mayor and a white governor, both of whom happen to be Democrats. The media never took the Democrats in state leadership to task for their inability to protect their people and instead focused their attention on a massive government effort that was delayed while helicopters performed dangerous missions rescuing those the state leadership failed to evacuate. Once again, this was contrived by the media, a media that refused to look at the actual mission of FEMA or the federal government. A media that led people to believe that George Bush was a racist because he and the feds did not don red capes and fly in to save people. This is the same media that actually gave some spotlight to an idiot like Farrakhan and his assertions that the feds blew up the levee to flood black people. This is a media that ignored the corruption that caused money for levee work to be rerouted to gambling interests and it is the same media that ignores the abuse of federal money in Louisiana at this very moment. A media that will focus on contractor waste in Iraq and ignore the graft and corruption in New Orleans. Maybe the reason members of the GOP do not know how to talk about or to blacks is because nearly everything they say is distorted by the media as more evidence of racism. Perhaps Mr. Rich should look into this.
As for blacks and the GOP; why would any black person want to be in the GOP? It is not because the GOP is a bunch of racists or that it treats black people differently. No, these folks do not want to be in the GOP because of the way they are treated by other blacks who have been the recipients of Democratic hand outs for so long that they do not understand self reliance. The dependent blacks will refer to those blacks in the GOP as “Uncle Toms” or sell outs to their race. The GOP welcomes them with open arms, it is the Democratic party and particularly the blacks in the Democratic party that cause them problems.
As for looking at the absence in the Congressional Delegation, let’s do that. First of all about 90% of blacks vote Democratic. There is no secret there and that is why the GOP skipped the debate at Morgan State. Morgan State is a black college and it is located in one of the most liberal states in the union. No debating in the world would help with the people there and any gains made would be negligible. Also, when blacks run for office as members of the GOP they are castigated by other blacks who believe that they must remain Democrats and vote for Democrats or they will be ushered back to a plantation to pick cotton.
Michael Steele ran for the US Senate in Maryland against an old white guy who was a Congressman for years and years. His name is Ben Cardin and he is a Democrat. Steele, a charismatic man who happens to be black and conservative, was shunned by the black voters of this state in favor of an old white guy. So Mr. Rich should explain why it is that blacks (mostly Democrat) shun other blacks in favor of old white guys. The reason that the GOP does not have any blacks in the Congressional Delegation is not because we do not try, it is because blacks overwhelmingly support Democrats and because there are very few blacks who are Republicans so it makes it even more difficult to find a person to run for office. After what Steele went through, why would anyone want to?
No Mr. Rich, the GOP is not out of touch with the black voters in this country. The GOP is well aware of them and is also well aware that the Democrats have convinced them, through years of welfare and other social programs, that the Dems are the party for them and they owe that allegiance. The blacks quickly forget that they are IGNORED right after the election. Then, leading up to elections a bunch of feel good legislation is passed so politicians can say they are the party of minorities. The Democrats buy the votes and then ignore the blacks all over again.
One only needs to ask, how much progress have blacks made in the last 50 years, a time when Democrats have held office as the majority more than Republicans ever have and a time period of huge amounts of money spent on social programs, the same kinds of programs that caused people in New Orleans to be unable to take care of themselves. The highest crime rates is in the black community. Black on black crime (particularly murder) is at an all time high and if it continues there will not be enough young black males to continue the race. The teen pregnancy rate in the black community is very high and the rate of households where there is only one parent is well over 50%. The inner cities, where blacks tend to live, are crime ridden with high unemployment and high incarceration rates.
GOP racism is not the cause of these things. This is because of a breakdown of the black community and disintegration of the black family unit. This is because social programs ostensibly designed to help the black community actually keep them downtrodden and subservient to the Democratic Party. If Obama wants to wake up and find more blacks in college than jail he needs to abandon the idea that social programs will cure the ills of society. Only by looking at the root cause can a solution be devised.
Regardless of that process, it is safe to say that it was not the programs of the GOP that caused the breakdown of the black community. It is also safe to say that until the cycle of dependence is broken the black community will continue to be enslaved to the Democratic party and their plight will be the same. Rich and others can blame the GOP but looking at it as a whole, those minorities who have chosen to be more conservative and joined the Republican party have done well. Colin Powell, Condi Rice, and Clarence Thomas are all blacks who have done well as conservatives (though Powell is the least of the bunch) and they did so based upon their merits, not because of a program.
Those minorities on the left who are successful owe that success to race hustling and class warfare. They maintain power by telling everyone about the racists in the world and claiming victim status. They also make money by keeping those they are supposed to represent down rather than helping them achieve something.
Mr. Rich, there are many problems in this country with race and the image of the GOP might be a problem but it is not one that will ever be erased as long as the black community refuses to remove the shackles placed on them by the left and embrace the idea that they can achieve without being attached to the government teat.
I would think that being taken granted for so long would embolden the black community to
Others with similar items:
The Virtuous Republic, Rosemary’s Thoughts, The Crazy Rants of Samantha Burns, Adam’s Blog, Right Truth, The World According to Carl, Stuck On Stupid, Global American Discourse, The Pink Flamingo, CORSARI D’ITALIA, Dumb Ox Daily News, Conservative Cat, The Uncooperative Radio Show! Special Weekend!, Right Voices, and Gone Hollywood, thanks to Linkfest Haven Deluxe.
Tags: anti semite, barack obama, black mayor, conservative leaders, cynthia mckinney, Democrats, gop, Hillary, katrina, morgan state university, racists, Republicans