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Why black Republicans need to get over themselves.
It’s hard being a black Republican these days.
That’s one reason why I admire Sophia Nelson. She reps a small-government, Jack Kemp-inspired brand of Republicanism that emphasizes the imperative of fostering entrepreneurship in communities of color. If you’ve ever caught her appearances on CNN or MSNBC, you know she’s a far more credible spokesperson for the black Republican cause than some of her older, male contemporaries. I was in agreement with the case she made to President Barack Obama for going on Fox News.
Sophia is part of The Root’s diverse political perspective. She rightly blanches at being called a sellout because of her differing views. But it’s time she and other conservatives of color grew some thicker skin.
Just because it’s foul to label anyone an “Uncle Tom” doesn’t mean that black Republicans can’t be held accountable for the anti-black aspects of Republican politics.
There’s a reason most African Americans don’t take kindly to the GOP agenda. Here’s what black Republicans have to own up to before they can even think about getting a “fair and balanced” hearing from the black community:
Admit that Republicans say one thing and do another.
Where was the outrage of black Republicans in 2006 when President George W. Bush and a Republican Congress passed an unfunded $1 trillion Medicare prescription drug benefit as a naked pander to senior citizens? Back then, there were no calls for restraint.
Now? There’s a case to be made against comprehensive health care reform, but when Stanford’s black conservative dean Thomas Sowell calls Obama “charlatan in chief,” that’s not the way to make it. Big words don’t separate that attack from the less erudite, but more honest “You lie!” of Rep. Joe Wilson.
Stop selling what African Americans aren’t buying.
Jingoism is a sure route to permanently driving African Americans away from the GOP. Percentage-wise, black Americans are the only demographic that is overrepresented in the military, but that simultaneously and overwhelmingly opposed the Iraq War from the start.
No one did more harm to Republican hopes of attracting African Americans to their party than former Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, with her unadulterated championing of Bush’s shoot-first-talk-later foreign policy. Yet black Republicans persist in dismissing Obama’s foreign policy out of hand. Sophia says there’s no evidence the Bush administration sanctioned torture. Her response to Obama’s diplomatic efforts: “Yada, yada, yada.” These are non-starters among African Americans.
Start holding Republicans accountable for their hostility.
I know—there’s no direct evidence that Republicans are, per se, hostile to people of color—but there’s a whole lot of circumstantial evidence that they just can’t account for.
Sophia was one of very few Republicans unafraid to criticize fellow Republicans for their disgraceful treatment of Justice Sonia Sotomayor. But she’s in the—ahem—“minority.”
Republicans can’t hide behind ostensibly pro-equality slogans like “Party of Lincoln,” anymore. It’ll take more than a new website to convince people of color that they're welcome in the GOP. Republican National Committee chairman Michael Steele has done more to publicly denigrate African Americans than any of his recent predecessors. He’s so repellent—trying to draw interest with cheesy hip-hop slang and references to “bling”—that fellow black Republicans tried to oust him from his post earlier this year.
This is not the way to get people of color into the GOP:
“Uncle Tom” is an outdated term. If there were a defense for throwing around that slur, I wouldn’t be the one to make it. We’re nowhere near a post-racial America, but we should be getting close to a post-Uncle Tom America. The rededication of African Americans to the American Dream that took place a year ago with Obama’s election should have at least moved us past ideological racial litmus tests.
But black Republicans have to accept that their cherished narrative—that they’re the principled ideological antidote to the civil rights establishment as represented by the Congressional Black Caucus and Reverends Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton—was totally upended by Barack Obama. Obama now owns the old-school Booker T. Washington and the new-school Jay-Z versions of the “pull your pants up” black man ethos. Whether they love or hate Obama’s policy prescriptions, his emergence as a political brand completely evaporated their presentation of themselves as the “serious” blacks.
Here’s a hip-hop maxim that Republicans would do well to embrace: Respect is earned, never given. Until Republicans, black or otherwise, deal with that, they’ll never get any.
David Swerdlick is a regular contributor to The Root. Follow him on Twitter.
Comments
The one (1) thing Republican's of 'All Stripes and Hues' need to hear. This is a simplistic, thumbnail break-down of the American Electorate;
Hard-Rightwing-Fringe 8%
Acknowledge being Republican 20%
Democrats 35%
Liberal Far Left Fringe 10%
Independent Moderates 27%
Future prospects are not positive for Black Republicans specifically, nor are they for Republicans in general. The central element driving "The Republican Problem" (having a "Tiny Tent") is the tacit refusal of All Republicans to CHALLENGE their own wrong-doing, impropriety, misrepresentations and outright lying within THE REPUBLICAN RANKS.
And Black Republicans are specifically vulnerable, since a highly identifiable 1% to 2% internal population would be quickly identified, chastised and likely discharged from the party. (Note the action caused upon the GOP candidate in NY-23 in the recent election.)
With the embarrassment Chairman Steele has 'once again' inflicted upon the GOP (e.g. (agreeing; "White people are scared of Black folks").. during his discussion with Roland Martin (aired today, 11.10.09) it's doubtful the Black community will have the wherewithal to rescue him... this time.
Unfortunate as it may be, it's gotta' (sic) be Real Difficult to operate in an environment where you know full-well, the primary reason you're associated with the party is it's personally in your best interest, yet it's in conflict with the philosophy & ideology of most Black Folks. When you couple that with the knowledge you're basically accepted by the majority in Your Party, based on their objective to gain minority support, to gain political control and power. AND you're critically aware Your Political Party OPENLY ACKNOWLEDGES there is a fairly large segment of Your Party that ....... HATES YOU...Just Because you're Black. Now, that's gotta' (sic be tough!!!)
When African-Americans in the GOP start acknowledging that:
(1)The GOP "small-government" is really a lie, the government has grown the most under and during "Rethugnikan leadership".
(2)The GOP "tax cuts" are generally skewed toward the wealthy (5%) and the Corporate.
(3)The GOP is part of the reason that the government has underfunded many of the agencies that are supposed to protect "we the People", so when they say government doesn't work - they are right - if you don't have money to do anything you do nothing! All to pay for "the tax cuts" that went to the wealthiest 5% of Americans!
(4)That Bush squandered the surplus he was handed in order to give his wealthy backers the tax cuts they wanted!
(5)President Obama didn't create this financial debacle that this nation is in he was handed it by Bush!
While I tried to respect the GOP, their mendacity, their misrepresentation of facts, their obvious skewed politics for BIG BUSINESS is part of what is destroying this nation! The Government, is supposed to be the "great equalizer" between the Oligarchy and the people! To leave everything in the hands of the Oligarchy is to force the average American into slavery! Think about it, we have outsourced all of our manufacturing jobs, so those that might be here, the people are competing with people that are making .50 cents a day - and while it might be good for business, Americans cannot live on .50 cents a day! We have allowed the rules to be re-written and even now as the banks are failing around us and tanking the economy, the GOP is still blathering about "free-market" fundamentalism! When are they going to realize that to keep banging your head on the wall looking for a different outcome is insane!
The problem most conservatives seem to have is to compare the role of government to the role of private enterprise. You want us to compare the two but government exists to take care of its citizens and private business exists to make a profit. With that in mind there are some areas where the profit motive is not only inappropriate it is downright dangerous. The best example is Katrina. FEMA at the time was run by a Bush appointee that had no experience in disaster management. Government agencies, run by competent people, can excel in their given role. The problem started with Reagan and his anti-government attitude. Of course government agencies will fail if you gut them and staff them with incompetent managers or people downright hostile to its existance. Since you asked the FAA has done a good job both promoting and overseeing aviation which is one of the best and economically useful systems in the world. Social Security has never missed a payment that I am aware of and to be solvent in the future we need to get rid of the cap on higher incomes. The post office is great, IMHO. I love the fact that I can send a letter anywhere in the world and almost guarantee that it will get there. I also like my fire dept and police dept, those are government run agencies. Let's stop the government bashing, unless you are an anarchist. I prefer good government so let's get to work and create it instead of bashing it. If conservatives continue to bash it then they must fulfill their campaign promises by actually making it bad. That's not very patriotic to me. We need to return to a time where civil service is viewed as a good thing and not just a jumping off point to enrich ourselves and some corporation.
Black Republican = Crabs in the Barrel.
They will hold the positions the hold only as long as they jig for the massa. Or as long as the are married to their white wives.
Period.
I couldn't have said it better. I'm a registered independent myself, because I feel the democrats should have to earn my vote. However, the way republicans have been acting, to include a lot of these black republicans makes me worried about the future of my own community and family so I'll likely register as a democrat and vote democrat for awhile. Not because the democrats are better for blacks, but because they don't go out of their way to intentionally be worse. All I want is for government to stay out of my way, neither party is willing to do that. The Repubs want to pass laws that are detrimental to me and my community, and regulate everyone according to their pastor'sbeliefs and the Dems want to have free giveaways everyday. At least with the Dems I can take part of some giveaways, repubs just want to take, take and take.
Mr. Swerdlick you need to get over that there are Black Republicans. It's exactly this carping presented in this article, the useless bandying of labels, that both the left and the right use to assassinate character and ultimately silence the free exchange of ideas most necessary for the advancement of colored people and the nation to which we all belong. What you did to Sophia Nelson is no different than what some on the right do to Barack Obama when they simply dismiss him as a socialist, you painted her with a wide brush as an accomplice to the GOP's racism (an Uncle Tom) without the presentation of any evidence of such racism and her express or implies condoning of said racist actions words or deeds. You didn't even mention your own colleague's disavowment of the GOP for the very "racist" act you cited despite it being widely publicized and documented the very least you could have done is to do a lexis nexis search querying if she made any statement or action regarding Representative Wilsons' outburst.
You list a number of things that Black Republicans need to own up to and you compare the prescription drug benefit to the push for nationalized health care. It's dishonest to even begin to compare the two. aside from that you give no context for the comparison. Part D was an expansion of medicare coverage it simply said if you already qualify for medicare you can now buy prescriptions drugs under the program. That is an expansion of health care. The Obama national health care plan, for one has not even been presented, and the parts that have been presented.do not extend care further, it's a means to control the price and cost of medical care. Of the Various competing democratic bills the public option is what is highlighted. The opposition to the public option isn't about the ends it's trying to meet we all black white democratic and republican want more people to be able to afford the health care that we ahve access too. Conservative disagree with the means. You call out Thomas Sowell on his opposition to the President's health care plan, but you complete ignore the fact that Mr. Sowell has be an outspoken opponent of medicare, he's written extensively on his opposition.
There is no government program that is more successful than it's private sector counter part. NONE. I challenge you to name one. And the idea that this public option would be there to force the price of insurance down is laughable, and is in fact dishonest. Government power always expands and always encroaches. From Marbury V Madison, to the social security, to medicare, to Fannie and Freddie. The government destroys every market it participates in as a competitior. Look at higher education, health care, banking compared to pharmaceuticals, software, and semiconductors.
Lets see some facts lets see some data, lets have some honest debate. If Black Republicans zealously focused on these things we wouldn't have it so hard. What our problem is we are too focused on trying to convince our liberal counterparts that we are black enough for them. So,ultimately I agree with you, Black Republicans need thicker skin.
The whole Tom thing seems funny . Who decides ? Same with Republican or Democrat . I work for a living and don't take advantage of government programs , Republican ?? But off hours I like to cut loose , and do some things that were popular in the 60's ,,, Democrat ??? I run this shop , all kinds of customers . Lot of Black Men come here . Your young rough Men , Retired , middle age working , And two of these guys call me the "n" word , I'm an old white boy . These guys that call me that , one is retired , one is close to my age but still working . But back to the Tom thing , Just seems pretty narrow minded to brand a person by one part of their life . None of us just do one thing .
I agree that the GOP needs to emphasize entrepreneurship and self-determination more than ever, and hopefully that appeals to more and more black Americans. There are many people that harbor the dream of owning their own business but the regulatory and tax burdens that get thrown up in the way (mostly due to Democrats) stop too many people from succeeding. However, it is true that the GOP earned the distrust of black Americans over several decades of outright or thinly-veiled racist appeals, although I don't believe that is the case today.
However, I say the Democratic party needs to stop preening about how much it's done for black America - vastly increasing the welfare state has failed to signicantly change the poverty rate in over 40 years and educational achievement is down signficantly while out of wedlock births and incarceration rates have gone up. In fact, liberal policies have done more damage to black folks than any racist conservative has, and it's high time that Dems, liberals, progressives (or whatever brand name they are using) get called out on the utter failure their ideas have produced when put into practice.
In reality the subliminal message that Dems send with their insistence on minorities' need for the government's help in all aspects of their lives is this: you are not capable of success on your own. Is it any wonder that so many people feel so little hope when they are constantly sent the message that they don't measure up?
I've learned to listen to both sides.
Black republicans have it hard. I might not be a republican or share their conservative view points but.....WE NEED THEM! I don't like people looking at me and ASSUMING...we are one sided and all share the same view. We all don't like rap music and watch basketball. So we all are not Democratic liberals.
On the other hand....I FEEL...that that black republicans CAN DO MORE to help direct the image of the republican/conservative party besides being a black face in an empty suite.
I really applauded Michael Steele during the 2008 RNC when he did an interview with the Washington Post when he was very vocal on the complexion of his party. He touched on the issue about not having black republican Gov.. He said it sent the wrong image about the party. I roared in applause when he was given the Chair position for the republicans. Then I sat back and thought about it. Would he have gotten this seat if President Obama didn't win? Say if Hillary won...would he be there? Was he and empty suite black face?
My point was proven when he stated the truth about Rush Limbaugh. Did his party stand behind him? HECK NO! He "didn't stay in his place" because he spoke out against an angry old white male bigot (which their party affiliates with more). THEY MADE HIM APPOLOGIZE to a radio personality.....and he did it? DANCE BOY DANCE!
In ending my post....I will say....I agree with Sophia Nelson (TO SOME DEGREE). We need strong intelligent sistas like her representing ( and Coni Rice too) on the other side to show we are more. But at the same time.....they need to do more to change their party's "image" and "idealology" and stop folding like a used wet envelope when they want to stand up against their own party when the party is wrong.
has the right idea. If the Republican party (and this isn't saying the Dems are better...) would just admit that they are some of the biggest hypocrits around (the party of family values...REALLY???), I would have a lot more respect for them. Yes, I know there are hypocrits on both sides of the aisle but you don't see the Dems yelling they are all about family values and then cheat on their wives, be all in closet about being gay now do you (yeah, I know...the gay former gov. of NJ but was he running on family values and his Christianity)??? I try to listen to their ideas...but they never put any ideas (NEW IDEAS) forward. They just scream NO at any idea that isn't their idea.
Like Chris Rock said, I'm liberal about some sh#t and I'm conservative about some sh@t. Maybe we just need a third party for all of the reasonable folks...teabaggers, racists (a la Rush Limbaugh and boys), and far left/right crazies need not apply.