What Black Republicans Should Do Now
As the author of the recently published book Republicans and the Black Vote, I've been getting calls asking for my thoughts on the recent decisions by former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani, Senator John McCain, former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, and former Senator Fred Thompson to skip Thursday's forum at Morgan State University in Baltimore, MD, a historically Black college. Almost all of the callers want to know what impact, if any, this all will have on the campaigns of the campaigns going forward. I think the impact will be limited in the primary, but the nominee will have hell to pay in the Black community next November for not showing participating in the forum. There's an old saying in politics: "Friends come and go; enemies accumulate." Well, if any of these missing-in-action Republicans get the nomination, then they will learn just how many enemies they have made by stiff arming Black America.
One question that has caught me off-guard in this is: What should Black Republicans do in response to this? It's a strange position for me, a progressive, to give the advice to Republicans, but I really think it's important for this group of maligned and marginalized activists to get in the game. Black Republicans have long been seen as unwilling to vocally and aggressively speak out against ridiculous missteps such as this. There are three steps Black Republicans can take now to move toward credibility in the Black community. If they are successful in that regard then, perhaps, they will see their fortunes rise within the Black community and in the Grand Old Party.
First, all of the major Black Republican individuals and organizations who believe it fundamentally wrong for these candidates to miss the forum should form an ad hoc coalition to express their outrage and demand change. Press conferences, letters, interviews, blogs, whatever; just make it plain this is a decision with which you disagree. That way, even if they don't show, you can face the collective Black community and say: "We tried." Credibility begins with small steps. It's time for Black Republicans to get started.
Second, Black Republicans must demand positions of authority within these campaigns. The Republican nominee will be caught flat-footed if he has no one of substance to go to the Black community. It may not seem like much now, but the 11 percent of the Black vote that George W. Bush received in 2004 will look very good to the 2008 nominee, given the way Independents and Latino/a voters are likely to break. The candidates need to know that they are making a mistake in skipping the forum. Sadly, for them, they don't appear to have anyone in their campaigns who get it. The calculation that they seem to have made - that there aren't any votes to be had by appearing at the forum or that there may be a hostile crowd - is ridiculous and no one in the campaigns stood up and said so. Given that invitations went out six months ago, no one, not even Black Republicans, believes the "scheduling conflicts" defense, so the campaigns need to get real and do the right thing.
Third, it's time for Black Republicans to speak out more forcefully on issues that are of importance to African Americans when there is common ground. The deafening silence by Republicans, Black or otherwise, with regard to the Jena 6, for example, is an area where Black Republicans have dropped the ball. Taking these steps won't guarantee that Black Republicans will begin to win over reluctant converts.
However, doing nothing is a sure-fire way to get nothing. Michael K. Fauntroy is an assistant professor of public policy at George Mason University and author of the recently published book Republicans and the Black Vote.. He blogs at www.MichaelFauntroy.com.
September 26, 2007 | Permalink
Comments
Most negros have been spoonfed that they have to vote for obama. And they all follow inline like lambs to the slaughter. McCain needs to adress the problems that black people face... So many of them are drug addics, illetirate, un-employed and on welfare and robbing people and having too many babies. We need to solve their problems to make our streets safer and not have so many prisioners.
Just because "Osama" is a negro dosnt mean he can fix their problems. Yeah, and what have the f*cking demoncrats done for the country lately besides give more free gub'mint cheese to the negroes?
John McCain is the only cannidate that will fufill our presidents war on islam. What we need in these endtimes is a good strong coneretive anti-libaral, non-hippie who holds true to the word of our lord. I really hope WHEN McCain becomes president he lives up to the republican platform and ends abortion, criminalizes gay sex and marrage and stops de-regulashion. We need to invade andor nuke iran and all these terriorists before its too late. This is exacly what the bible pridected would happen if the world fell away from his word. Armogeddon is close at hand we must stop them as a global force and unite christians and live as the word would tell us. and wage war against the non-beilevers and democarats and libarals.
"The righteous shall rejoice when he sees the vengeance. He shall wash his feet in the blood of the wicked."
(gays & muslims)
(Psalms 58:10)
Posted by: theholylord | May 21, 2008 3:56:32 AM
"The only group of democrats who did storm the GOP were the Evangelicals did who mind you were all "Jimmy Carter" Democrats." -richie
LOL! Jimmy Carter Democrats? Bruh, please! Dems who left the Party of Lincoln joined the Party of FDR while Carter was fighting in the Navy during WW2, long before evangelical megachurches made 'tomming4bush2000' the republican way to heaven.
"We as a people need to rise up and began to set the agenda for our people in both parties. You can not change something if you are not present!"
Well, now, we were there to set an agenda. Brother Tavis got us together to hear and see how we could jump in there with the great elephant to look into black self-actuation and determination. And, four of your boys left us hanging, letting us know that the great elephant still wa'n't stud'nin' colored folks, even you hip-hop Repugs.
I think you youthful, misinformed Uncle Toms need to grab a history book and find out why party politics is the bane of the electoral universe before you suggest we waste more time trying to make inroads with Klansmen in the RNC. What's obvious is that neither party is thrilled about the inconvenience of including the proginy of slaves in their agenda. The Dems are straining their limits in a concerted effort to try to work around their dismay and discomfort. They sometimes publicly note how clean and articulate we are.
Repugs? Oh, we know how they feel about us. Bill Bennett said America would be a better place if we could be killed in infancy. Obama is after some old coot right now who said we conveniently die before we see justice. Then your link boasts some british xenophobe who has been pretty much advocating eugenics for the balance of his career as a geneticist.
In my estimation, Africans of the global diaspera are going to have to pull together to plot a course for our own progression outside of these political parties of the nation who enslaved our ancestors and currently ravish our motherland. Until Africans come together and put African interests ahead of all this distracting ameriKKKan BS, we're never going to emerge and advance as anything. The majority of Africans in ameriKKKa who are that progressive are already PRESENT for the REVOLUTION.
Any further suggestions, my hip-hop Republican brother?
Posted by: rage | Oct 22, 2007 7:02:18 PM
Every decison making table that has that defines public policy should have African American's at that table. The idea that being democrat is being black is laughable in its own right.
The Republican parties ideals of self determenation and independence is nothing new to black culture black's need to storm the Republican gate just as they did the Democrat gate in the 60's.
The only group of democrats who did storm the GOP were the Evangelicals did who mind you were all "Jimmy Carter" Democrats.
We as a people need to rise up and began to set the agenda for our people in both parties. You can not change something if you are not present!
http://hiphoprepublican.com/index.html
Posted by: Richie | Oct 17, 2007 6:59:18 PM
The first mistake made is presuming that affluent negro conservatives who typically support their right wing oppressors are Black. They are not Black. They are negroes. Some of these negroes are even colored, having not yet enjoyed the social evolutionary ascent to the level of negro despite affluence in many cases. They technically are not suppotive members of the Black community of Africans in contemporary America, unable to appreciate or even identify with the plight of real Black people. Negroes neither supported Dr. King, nor participated in sit-ins to fight for civil rights. Negroes currently feel those six misguided young colored people in Jena were wrong and deserving of their harsh inequitable punishment. Negroes socially suffer a strange strain of Stockholm Syndrone. It's best demonostrated when I consider that many negro Republicans didn't just accept these excuses for their top four cnadidates' absence from the Smiley Debates. Committed negro neo-whigs MADE these excuses, claiming these important European patriarchists had way better things to do than be needled with a bunch of mess from ol' Tavis about getting abortions, humoring gay folks, welfare, and affirmative action. Negroes in the Republican Party feel America is better off without all that waste of our taxes. They want parents to save some money for their own kids college, and stop begging. They agree that service in the military builds character, even when the character is that of Colin Powell or Clarence Thomas, both fine Negro Americans who have gone on to be a credit to colored people everywhere. Furthermore, Mr. Smiley, in their estimation, has failed to learn his place. His place is not to be out there bringing attention to gay folks, these rappers and so forth. He needs to be out there telling the world what a good job Dr. Condi Rice has done for the President. In the limited estimation of the negro Republicans, Tavis Smiley needed this embarrassment to take him down a notch, to show him his real place, with his show that nobody important watches.
I don't worry about these neo-whig negro Republicans. They are a tiny constituency the Republicans can keep, for my progressive comfort.
The top four Republican candidates who blew off Brother Tavis' debate invitation realize the majority of African Americans will not be supporting their candidacy. After the Amidou Diallo assassination, Africans in America would sooner die and go to hell than support Dame Edna Guilliani. We are wary of all Mormons, since, up until the 80s, Black people were cursed of God with Black Skin, according to the good news from the Latter Day Saints. We prefered Steven Hill to Ugly Freddy on Law and Order. According to Nixon and the voters of Tennessee, Ugly Freddy is not the sharpest knife in the drawer. And, John McLame's political tour bus had broken down with Black folks when he sang Bomb Iran to a Bleach Boys ditty. We failed to feel that on way too many levels to discuss. In short, we didn't miss them. Their failure to show up simply gave Black folks a better look at the rest of that side of the aisle.
Black folks aren't looking to the top four Republican Presidential candidates for hope. Black folks want courageous candidates with independently functioning brains. If real Black Progressives had their choice of Republicans, we'd choose a candidate like Ron Paul who wants to end this Iraq madness and has joined with the Marijuana Policy Project to pursue the much needed decriminalization and subsequent legalization of weed for medicinal use in every state. At most, we'd be tolerant of Slim Fast Huckabee. With Bill Clinton still enjoying high popularity, some sanctimonious Baptist Arkansas governor from Hope is more played than gold in a platinum world. The rest of the repugs offer no bling to make them memorable to us. Black people are still too ticked off with the obtuse and offensive antics of Chimperor McFlightsuit to give the rest of the Reaganites any play.
Posted by: rage | Oct 8, 2007 3:08:08 PM
It's clear to me from the things I have heard and read coming from Black Republicans, they are not really interested in Black issues. This is sound advice, but I bet it is falling on deaf ears.
Posted by: Cynthia | Oct 4, 2007 10:05:16 AM
The deafening silence by Republicans, Black or otherwise, with regard to the Jena 6, for example, is an area where Black Republicans have dropped the ball.
If Republicans did mention anything about Jena 6, it would have been seen as politicizing the issue and using the plight of young Black men (victims) as stepping stones. Damned if you do--damned if you don't.
All in all, adding more Black faces will help them, but as you know Republicans will still be measured by a much higher standard than Democrats just as we as Blacks measure Whites vs. ourselves.
Interesting post!
Posted by: Duane | Sep 29, 2007 10:33:07 AM
Why is someone who would never vote for a Republican giving advice to Black Republicans? And what is that advice? To start acting like Black Democrats.
The black vote is lost to Republicans. Why should they spend any time appealing to a group that will always vote Democratic? There is no strategy, no campaign issue, no amount of pandering that is ever going to get blacks to vote Republican. So, why should the Republicans even bother?
The real question is there any way for a conservative to appeal to the black voters? I doubt that there is.
Posted by: superdestroyer | Sep 28, 2007 3:25:26 PM
It was worse than a travesty and a slap in the face for African American Republicans for the top 4 leading Republicans not to show to the debate with Tavis Smiley. Do they think they will be President of the Caucassians only? If any of them get the nomination I do not care who the democratic nominee is I am going with it. Who do these four think they are? And what is so sad is that it was the best debate I have seen and I try to watch them all. Alan Keyes was on it and looked very impressive more so than Obama and my man Huckabee was great. But it was the issues and the candidates I don't know I was proud to be a Republican tonight the Republican candidates did a superb job. Disappointed that it was not on television at least no stations I could pick up and that made me mad because I have a computer and watched the debate there but what about all the people who do not have computers? This debate should have been accessible to the people who it was desined for the-the low and middle class.
Posted by: Nand@aoi | Sep 27, 2007 10:47:59 PM
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