As the Republican Party struggles to reinvent itself, they have created something called the "National Council for a New America." Part of the mission of the NCNA being to reach out to Black and Hispanic America.
Strange. As one who is married to a Hispanic-American, speaks Spanish, and has written and spoken extensively on this subject for the last two decades, I was not invited. Nor were others I know who care deeply about the GOP reaching out to minorities. The inaugural event proclaimed it had a "national panel of experts" headlined by former Governor Jeb Bush, former Governor Mitt Romney, Governor Haley Barbour of Mississippi and Senator John McCain of Arizona. Older white wealthy guys who are going to attract America's minority youth to the GOP. Okay. My only question then being, why haven't they done it over the course of the last twenty years?
My other question for the "leadership" of the GOP being, what has really changed for the better in the Republican Party since I wrote the column below for USA Today in July of 1993? Other than continuing to exclude those who actually know this issue.
USA TODAY, Wednesday, July 21, 1993
GOP Must Reach Out To BlacksBy Douglas MacKinnon
If the Republican Party hopes to recapture the White House in 1996, we had better snap out of the ether in a big hurry and get back to our roots.
The first and best way I can think of doing that is for the Republican leadership of Senator Robert Dole, Chairman Haley Barbour, et al, to carve in granite (today, if possible) that we will never, ever let those country-club elitists who infested our last presidential campaign anywhere near the playing field in 1996.
For in my humble opinion, it was those "types" (as they fought over who would get the best furniture and office view, instead of against candidate Clinton) who went a long way toward undermining the re-election bid of a good man and a very good president in George Bush.
I guess at this point I should state that I am about as far removed from the stereotypical image of a Republican as you can get.
Even though I'm white, I grew up on welfare in various parts of Boston and New England. A number of times my family was homeless and destitute. But as bad as things were, there was a bright side for me. That bright side was that I often lived in mostly black neighborhoods and learned at an early age what all Americans should know.
I learned that Black America is a great America. That my Black friends were no different from me inasmuch as we were all struggling to survive and rise above the poverty that was sucking the life out of all of us.
I believe that if the Republican Party hopes to rise above the defeat of 1992, we must turn to Black America with open arms and say: "Join us. Help us build a country that will serve all of its citizens."
We must say this -- and as Republicans, we must mean it.
Let's face it: In 1993 there are still members of the GOP who only want and expect to see black men and women if they're holding trays of drinks.
To Black America, I would only say, give the Republican Party a chance. Don't blindly turn your back on a party that can, with the right leadership, help lift you out of a lifetime of despair.
I am here to tell you that there are many Republicans who care deeply about the plight of Black Americans and all minorities. Republicans like the late Lee Atwater, George Bush, Jack Kemp and Governor Carroll Campbell of South Carolina.
Four years after the fact, I am still saddened to think that the students of Howard University, a Black University in Washington, forced Atwater off their board of trustees because of a knee-jerk reaction triggered by the lies the Democrat Party told about Lee and the Willie Horton incident.
To those students and faculty who forced Lee out, I would only tell you how wrong you were. Lee Atwater sincerely cared about the problems faced by Black Americans and would have done great things for you and your university.
He believed, as do I and many other Republicans, that Black Americas have been shortchanged and taken for granted by a Democrat Party that considers their votes in the bag.
As one who grew up in abject poverty, I believe that many of the policies of the Democrat Party are harmful to those below the poverty line and must be changed.For that reason, while we are far from perfect, in my heart I believe the Republican Party has more to offer to Black Americans and all those striving to make a better life for themselves.
I realize full well that by writing this column, I possibly am cutting my own throat within the Republican Party. So be it. I can't control the insecurities of others; I can only be true to myself.The party of Abraham Lincoln is not the party of country-club elitists. It was, and must be again, the party of those who believe in the dream called America.
To survive and prosper, we must truly become a party of inclusion.
But I realized that sooner or later, you have to make up your own mind, and that means you are going to say, "No" i dont agree with the welfare program the way it is...or "No", "Affirmative action is not a Black Program and it is hurting us more than helping us..., "No", I wont vote for you JUST because you are Black..., "No", Bill Clinton is not an honorary Black man. I was offended that anyone would even consider that as an option....yeah, i am talking to you Arsenio!!!
That's the funny thing. Liberals of all races ~try~ to get along because that's what liberalism means. Most conservatives of all races don't want to mingle because THAT'S what conservatism means.
The Black America movement has been of of earning their piece of the pie, not liberalism. They can be just as gun-touting, God-fearing and "untrusting" as the South that spawned them. They were the Republican staple for a century for a reason.
The real question is, can the average White conservative voter agree with helping other conservatives from an arms-length? XD
The Republican party's mantra is "every man, woman, and child for themselves" with the Party's vice presidential candidate praising secessionist thinking if we find this sacrifice to be a little too annoying for our tastes.
Quote: we must turn to Black America with open arms and say: "Join us. Help us build a country that will serve all of its citizens."
That sort of doublespeak has left many Obama supporters not just puzzled but outraged. Certainly, Mercedes [Campbell] is. “Out of everything else they can shut down or everything else they can advocate for, they want to take this one thing away?” Adds her mother, Ingrid, “We voted for you, we walked, we went to the parade, we stood freezing. Why?…Can you get this tape over to Obama and have him answer our questions?
Why, sir, why?” http://vodpod.com/watch/1590298-obama-the-dc-school-voucher-program
...And yet these people who have been blatantly betrayed by Obama will remain wallowing in that poisoned pool, and they will continue to reliably drink deeply from it every other November. I’m sorry that the vouchers are going bye bye for those kids when they need it but then… they voted for the guy. They screamed and they cried and they danced in the streets and why? Because he’s black. And the color of a man’s skin is no good reason to vote for him so ya know… you brought this upon yourself…
Why is the GOP not blacker??? Shear stupidity on part of the "black" democrat voters...
http://vodpod.com/watch/1590298-obama-the-dc-school-voucher-program
And lets do some probability calculations here : Black people vote on Democratic party lines like 95% of the time...so why would this year have been any different? Should we have NOT voted for him because he's black? So stupid. Every word of yours reveals its un-subtle racism and hypocrisy.
Plus, there are no black people clamoring to be a part of the Party, the Party wants US. The article is about reaching out to us, not how we have decided to uncast our vote and want Republicans to be in office so we can have vouchers. Wtf are you reading? I don't really know why your dumb comment is addressed to my community.
Thanks.
4) For minorities, it isn't all about making government smaller, being on top, winning, being the best, having the best car, house, boat, the most money, etc.Those things are nice if you can have them but they are not motivators.
5) Finally, the GOP does things as a marketing ploy, not because they believe in it. Liberals are really about the liberation and the dignity of all, where conservatives are only concerned about the freedom of the individual. Republicans view life from the top and a position of advantage and minorities frequently see life from the bottom and ask for empathy and understanding, things that conservatives typically are constitutionally unable to give.
I honestly believe it is NOT POSSIBLE for Republicans to have a significant minority membership without minorities giving up their own heritage and past which informs their present ideas of who they are. However, if the GOP could begin to think more in terms of the community or horrors, collectively, it might be possible.
Respectfully yours,
TomFox
These days we the people are awake and aware. The Republican brand is exposed for what it truly is and only a select few identify with it. Unless they make themselves effective and give itself a voice worth listening to, they will soon be lost.
The Democrats are not in the catbird seat either. They need to stop bullshi__ing as well and unite. The days of private agendas is over (not speaking socialism here). The next election cycle will have a few surprises for them if they are not careful.
As a person of color, I am appalled by this condescending proof of why the GOP cannot widen their tent, let alone check their own premises and the pulse of 21st century American culture ... a reprint of an article on race from 15 years ago and a shout out to Jack Kemp. To throw Attwater as a pawn into this dated and archaic article is an insult to any person of color. The founder of "fear" and post-civil rights race baiting. THE ORIGINAL KARL ROVE?!?!
Duh is right!
Here's the deal: many people know what lies in the underbelly of the party of No and their fellow teabaggers-- a President who does not look like them. Limbaugh, Palin, Cantor, Boehner, Pence, FOX NEWS, Cheney, Rove, and the majority of other Republican voices pander to the ignorant...those who protest tax hikes while they get tax cuts, those who continue to be shills for the wealthy just because they fear a loss of their own sense of identity--these folks need the GOP and that is all the GOP has--
Most Americans, let alone Americans of color are much smarter than this. I had to double check to make sure this was a blog on Huffington Post or it was April Fools Day. This is embarrassing and a truly backward attempt at cajoling for votes...just votes :(
Duh is proven...
1. Jesus fans. There is no separation of church and state ANYWHERE. Not even a hip-hop concert.
2. Individualism. I got mine. Get your own.
3. Government is the enemy. There are legitimate historical reasons that fuel this belief.
4. Because Jesus said so.
What is astounding is the fact that the GOP doesn't recognize its own people and let them under the tent where they belong. Oh, no. That tent will only accommodate blacks and latinos in the serving capacity. The whites that occupy the tent don't care about ideology. They only care about skin color and superiority. A losing strategy.
They have come to a crossroad. They must vehemently denounce racism and lose everything they have in their "base" voters or continue on the path of stupidity. Seems they chose the latter. Let the "white people's party" decay for all I care.
YOU SPEAK THE TRUTH!!!
I'm a fan!
I did like your observation that minorities should only enter the GOP through the servants entrance. And I thought your last paragraph was spot on.
knowing this person well enough to no that it's racism that is the real problem, as citizien of America
we should all stand up against this stuff, the GOP only gives lip service to equality and just like the
person posted, they know each other well enough to know that many in their ranks are surely racist.
Good people like Jack Kemp knew this was a problem back then. What does it tell you when he passes on and there seems to be nobody in the party ready to fill his spot, as a Republican who made minorities feel like he cared about them. John McCain feels that immigration should be dealt with rationally and the base of the party is okay with Rush Limbaugh telling him to follow Arlen Spector to the other side. McCain is in his 70s. When he steps down, who is waiting in the wings to hold up that end of the party?
Sixteen years ago, the GOP had a problem reaching out to minorities. In that time, the Democratic party nominated a bi-racial Presidential candidate and recognized that the nation was ready to elect him. As a response, the GOP named Michael Steele the chairman of the party, a blatant bit of tokenism if ever there was one, and even as I write, they are stripping him of power.
At this point, they have a long way to go until they get to the point where they will have a long way to go. They are shrinking into total irrelevance.
It's amazing how the Internet has changed so much from the last decade. We have access to so much information that it's very difficult to be misleading.
"To those students and faculty who forced Lee out, I would only tell you how wrong you were. Lee Atwater sincerely cared about the problems faced by Black Americans and would have done great things for you and your university.
He believed, as do I and many other Republicans, that Black Americas have been shortchanged and taken for granted by a Democrat Party that considers their votes in the bag."
Yeah, right.
I know this will not be allowed to post, but as an African American who does not like when others think they can speak for me and think they are experts on the Black Community just because they knew a few, I just want to say that statements like this are the reason why I will continued to be turned off from the Republican Party.
The author needs to understand why his "outreach" has and will continue to be rejected. Telling African Americans that people like Atwater , who's actions and deeds are well documented, were misunderstood and insulting our intelligence in the face of documented evidence, is a sure way to get yourself and your party utterly ignored by the groups you claim you want support from. Actually, it's not support you want . Just votes. And that's another problem.
Excellent post. I wanted to come right out and say I had made a couple of lengthy comments here explaining in my mind why the gop is not attracting the African American and minority communities. I think the GOP needs to hear from white liberals and African Americans what doesn't work about their party.
Personally, I am sick to death of hearing the garbage spewed by the talk-radio crowd and then saying, "but I'm not a racist". Look I'm 50 years old and still learning about my own racism, how would I believe someone else is over theirs. It's too insidious to just brush off.
Apologies if my other posts looked like I was speaking for you. Just really wanting to show my solidarity WITH you.