CNN Commentary: Why is the GOP scared of black voters?

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http://www.cnn.com/2007/US/09/25/roland.martin.gop/index.html

By Roland S. Martin
CNN Contributor

Join Roland Martin on CNN.com Live Video at 11 a.m. ET Wednesday when he will respond to some of your "Sound Off" comments.

(CNN) -- That's right, I said it. And I mean it.

The GOP as a whole is completely scared of black voters, and the actions by the front-runners for the party's 2008 nomination show they are continuing the same silly political games the party has played for years.

Oh, don't bother tossing out the appointments of Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state by Bush. Yes, they are African-American. But I'm speaking of the party.

Ever since Richard Nixon ran for the White House, the GOP has run on a "Southern Strategy," meant to alienate blacks in an effort to garner white voters. They've worked the strategy to perfection. When he was head of the Republican National Committee, Ken Mehlman apologized for that strategy as he sought to make inroads among black voters.

Republicans will tell you they are the party of Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation, but their outreach efforts to black voters are lacking.

Oh, yes, I know. Democrats have a stranglehold on the black vote, receiving upward of 90 percent in national elections. A significant part of that is a result of the party seeing blacks as the backbone of the party. But the reality is that when you have only one party that truly makes a play for those voters, of course you will see such disparities!

That's why it's dumb, dumb, and dumber for the leading GOP candidates to skip Thursday's debate hosted by Tavis Smiley and airing on PBS.

Mitt Romney, Rudy Giuliani, Fred Thompson and Sen. John McCain have all cited "scheduling conflicts" as the reason for their lack of attendance to debate at Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland, even though Smiley personnel tell me they began discussions with then-RNC head Mehlman in February 2006. When the debate was announced earlier this year, along with a Democratic forum held in June at Howard University, the RNC promised their candidates would speak.

But those of us who follow politics knew that wasn't going to happen.

This summer, all of the Republican candidates, save Colorado Rep. Tom Tancredo, skipped the NAACP and the National Urban League conventions. OK, I get the former, but the Urban League? President Bush has spoken there several times as president!

The GOP keeps blowing a big opportunity by ignoring blacks. And what about the debate sponsored by Spanish language TV station Univision? Only McCain accepted the invite.

Today's generation of blacks and Latinos shouldn't be seen as the same as their parents. An increasing number of people are refusing to identify themselves with a party, and looking at issues. Latinos have been a huge part of the Republican outreach, but the immigration debate is turning that in a different direction.

Why should the GOP talk to black voters, and what would they talk about?

First, I can tell you that immigration is huge in the black community, and gets folks riled up in a hurry (you ought to see my talk show lines when this comes up). Education and health care are also major. And every GOP debate has been about faith in the public square, and we know that plays well with black voters.

Now, when it comes to the war in Iraq, the GOP can forget that tune. No one is listening. And they are completely uneven on the issue of civil rights.

Here is an example that further explains the GOP's stupidity on this topic.

Several years ago, a Republican in the Dallas-Fort Worth area was trying to unseat then-Rep. Martin Frost, a heavily entrenched Democrat. That summer, a series of black churches were being burned. My good friend, Michael Williams, a third-generation black Republican, was planning to hold a fundraiser at his home for the GOP candidate.

He called the campaign and said it would be a good idea for the candidate to make a statement on the burnings, condemning them and saying it didn't make sense. The campaign said no.

Williams called back and made the suggestion again, and the response was they didn't want to seem as if they were pandering to the black community. He laughed at that because the campaign was bringing then-Rep. J.C. Watts, a prominent black Republican, to visit black churches with the candidate. Hello! That's pandering.

So Williams told his wife, Donna, what the candidate said. She replied, "Any man who is such a coward that he can't speak against churches being burned is not welcome in my home."

The fundraiser was called off.

Here was a simple opportunity to actually show that he cared, but the candidate was so scared to say something, he turned off a campaign donor.

Will speaking at one debate turn around decades of black support for the Democrats? Nope. But not speaking will just mean business as usual, and the GOP needs less of that.

Roland S. Martin is a nationally award-winning, multifaceted journalist and CNN contributor. Martin is studying to receive his master's degree in Christian Communications at Louisiana Baptist University, and is the author of "Listening to the Spirit Within: 50 Perspectives on Faith." You can read more of his columns at http://www.rolandsmartin.com
 
Yeah the GOP definitely does not try to attract black voters.

It's strange to see a party completely discount the possibility of receiving support from a particular demographic.
 
I can't believe that about the church-burnings. How much political courage does it take to come out against church-burnings? I understand the history of the Southern strategy, but it's almost mind-boggling that there could still be white voters who would not vote for a candidate because they condemned burning down churches. Wow.
 
I can't believe that about the church-burnings. How much political courage does it take to come out against church-burnings? I understand the history of the Southern strategy, but it's almost mind-boggling that there could still be white voters who would not vote for a candidate because they condemned burning down churches. Wow.

Yeah I can't imagine that the candidate's assessment is accurate. There may well be people who be be opposed to a candidate who spoke out in support of the balck churches, but they are so few in number that the added black votes would more than make up for it.

Plus it opens the candidate to attacks on his unbelievable cowardice.
 
Why is the GOP scared of black voters?


Several reasons:

1) If they meet a big, muscular black dude in a public restroom, they might be intimidated into offering him a bl*wjob.

2) They're afraid that a rap concert or gun battle might spontaneously break out at a restaurant or other public venue patronized by blacks.
 
What would the GOP base do if the party was seen as actually paying attention to black voters?

The GOP base is made up of mostly white males, many of whom are from the south. Their political agenda is far removed from that of black voters. They are no more going to support issues important to the black community, like criminal justice system reform, than black voters are going to support issues important to them, like war.

Nixon's southern strategy worked, but now they're trapped by it.
 
When you look at social issues and issues of faith it would seem that many repubs have alot in common with black voters. I can't speak in general terms but I know that in the family members in the circles of friends I have they REALLY dislike homosexuality, are mostly pro-life, and think that religious belief has been marginalized in public discourse. I think that if the GOP could make just a 25% to 30% in road in the black voting community they could really put the pinch on the dems
 
What would the GOP base do if the party was seen as actually paying attention to black voters?

The GOP base is made up of mostly white males, many of whom are from the south. Their political agenda is far removed from that of black voters. They are no more going to support issues important to the black community, like criminal justice system reform, than black voters are going to support issues important to them, like war.

Nixon's southern strategy worked, but now they're trapped by it.
They are only "trapped" as long as they stick with the strategy. Thankfully there are others who will go and speak with them, and doubtless, as it is found not to work at all, they will return to sanity and I will then be able to vote for somebody rather than "against" somebody.
 
What would the GOP base do if the party was seen as actually paying attention to black voters?

The GOP base is made up of mostly white males, many of whom are from the south. Their political agenda is far removed from that of black voters. They are no more going to support issues important to the black community, like criminal justice system reform, than black voters are going to support issues important to them, like war.

Nixon's southern strategy worked, but now they're trapped by it.
I agree BAC. The GOP cannot embrace things like Criminal Justice Reform, healthcare, or innercity economic problems, but I do think that if they hit on some of the socially conservative issues like abortion, like faith and even as the commentary says, immigration issues, then the GOP makes some inroads.
 
When you look at social issues and issues of faith it would seem that many repubs have alot in common with black voters. I can't speak in general terms but I know that in the family members in the circles of friends I have they REALLY dislike homosexuality, are mostly pro-life, and think that religious belief has been marginalized in public discourse. I think that if the GOP could make just a 25% to 30% in road in the black voting community they could really put the pinch on the dems

I agree with you for the most part, but Republicans have already missed that boat. Younger generations of blacks are more accepting of homosexuality and far less constrainted by religion, and many don't believe that voting for either party will change anything.

Black voting patterns remain consistent regardless of economic, educational, or social status. We are decidely collective left-wing progressive people. What is "conservative" among other groups is not necesaarily the same "conservative" among blacks.

Black identification with the Democratic Party has been declining since 2000, but that has not increased the number of blacks who identify as republicans.

An article written in black press "The Serpent in the Garden", fairly nails the reality.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/72/72_cover_serpent.html
 
I agree with you for the most part, but Republicans have already missed that boat. Younger generations of blacks are more accepting of homosexuality and far less constrainted by religion, and many don't believe that voting for either party will change anything.

Black voting patterns remain consistent regardless of economic, educational, or social status. We are decidely collective left-wing progressive people. What is "conservative" among other groups is not necesaarily the same "conservative" among blacks.

Black identification with the Democratic Party has been declining since 2000, but that has not increased the number of blacks who identify as republicans.

An article written in black press "The Serpent in the Garden", fairly nails the reality.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/72/72_cover_serpent.html

Great article!

"the bipartisan businessmen’s project to create the impression that political conservatism is on the rise among a “new” and “emerging” class of educated, upwardly mobile African Americans."

I can't tell you how many republicans have tried to tell me that exact thing.
 
I agree with you for the most part, but Republicans have already missed that boat. Younger generations of blacks are more accepting of homosexuality and far less constrainted by religion, and many don't believe that voting for either party will change anything.

Black voting patterns remain consistent regardless of economic, educational, or social status. We are decidely collective left-wing progressive people. What is "conservative" among other groups is not necesaarily the same "conservative" among blacks.

Black identification with the Democratic Party has been declining since 2000, but that has not increased the number of blacks who identify as republicans.

An article written in black press "The Serpent in the Garden", fairly nails the reality.
http://www.blackcommentator.com/72/72_cover_serpent.html
Wow great article BAC. And great website as well. I just added it to may favs.
 
I agree BAC. The GOP cannot embrace things like Criminal Justice Reform, healthcare, or innercity economic problems, but I do think that if they hit on some of the socially conservative issues like abortion, like faith and even as the commentary says, immigration issues, then the GOP makes some inroads.

Again, I agree with you my brother .. however, abortion and immigration aren't hot button issues among blacks and there are many organizations, like one I belong to, whose mission is to forge new relationships with hispanics. We spend a lot of time defusing the immigration issue and highlighting the great benefit that comes from what's natural for us, brotherhood.

Additionally, you'll find great numbers of blacks who are pro-Palestinian and have empathy for their plight. We don't have the same fear of socialists like Chavez, Castro, or Morales as is resident with republicans.

We are decidely antiwar and never supported the madness of Iraq.

In my opinion, the biggest impediment of black republican identification or support is that republicans are goosestepers. They are all required to think alike, irrespective of race or background. Black republicans like Powell and Rice think exactly like their white counterparts. Diversity to republicans means that you can have a black face .. as long as you do and say as you're told. I think that's what got to J.C. Watts. He simply got tired of being a doorknob.
 
Great article!

"the bipartisan businessmen’s project to create the impression that political conservatism is on the rise among a “new” and “emerging” class of educated, upwardly mobile African Americans."

I can't tell you how many republicans have tried to tell me that exact thing.

I hope this adds to your knowledge of what to say to them.
 
Again, I agree with you my brother .. however, abortion and immigration aren't hot button issues among blacks and there are many organizations, like one I belong to, whose mission is to forge new relationships with hispanics. We spend a lot of time defusing the immigration issue and highlighting the great benefit that comes from what's natural for us, brotherhood.

Additionally, you'll find great numbers of blacks who are pro-Palestinian and have empathy for their plight. We don't have the same fear of socialists like Chavez, Castro, or Morales as is resident with republicans.

We are decidely antiwar and never supported the madness of Iraq.

In my opinion, the biggest impediment of black republican identification or support is that republicans are goosestepers. They are all required to think alike, irrespective of race or background. Black republicans like Powell and Rice think exactly like their white counterparts. Diversity to republicans means that you can have a black face .. as long as you do and say as you're told. I think that's what got to J.C. Watts. He simply got tired of being a doorknob.
Except they don't. They are both pro-Affirmative Action, and against strong stances against Gays.

The Republican Party has far more diversity in ideas than you give it credit for.
 
Wasn't it Watts dad that said a black person voting for a repulican was like a chicken voting for Col. Sanders. Someone later subverted that and said that any working man voting for a republican was equal to that. I don't know if I would go THAT far, here in the mountain west we have some, as republicans go, moderates. Race is not as BIG an issue here in NM as it is elsewhere, because so many on both sides of the aisle are hispanic and our black population is pretty low. But even here, on a national level, hispanics don't vote republican in near the numbers they do for Dems. That was also basically confirmed on a national level with hispanic voters. I think the article is right on in its assesment that the reason for these pronouncements is in essence, to confuse minorities into voting for Republicans. It is still not happening like the GOP thought it would nor like they said it did.
 
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