Why Courting the Black Vote Won’t Work

Justifiably confident going into the election cycle, Republicans have announced they hope to win 25 percent of the black vote. Former Speaker of the House Newt Gingrich has great expectations. “If we get African American votes, [the Democrats] are in deep trouble,” he told the Washington Post. Not just any trouble. Deep trouble, he says.

Columnist Jonetta Rose Barras agrees, citing black voters’ growing dissatisfaction with the Democratic Party that resulted in Arnold Schwarzenegger winning 17 percent of the vote and New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg garnering 22 percent.

The statistics portend good things for Republicans. According to the oft-cited Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies 2002 political survey, 63 percent of blacks self-identified themselves as Democrats (down from 74 percent in 2000), 24 percent self-identified as Independents (up from 20 percent in 2000) and 10 percent self-identified as Republicans (up from 4 percent in 2000).

Regardless of how blacks self-identify, however, Democrats consistently get 90 percent of their vote. Why? Years of damage caused by liberal ideology and misinformation pumped into the black community for the past 25 years. Memo to Republicans: Popping up in black church services and doing sound bites on urban radio won’t cut it.

Blacks have been lied to about the history of the Republican party and civil rights. Historically, blacks voted for Republicans because Democrats were blatantly anti-civil rights (and in some ways still are). For example, “radical” Republicans of the 1860s supported slavery’s end in America, the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 and 1964 were opposed by Democrats (Senator Robert Byrd participated in a filibuster of the latter) and Jim Crow was a creation of Democrats.

In the 1960s, Democrats blocked school doorways while Republicans pushed de-segregation legislation. In 2004, Democrats continue to block school doorways while Republicans push school choice, the only hope many black parents have to ensure that their kids get a decent education.

So why did blacks switch from voting for Republicans in large numbers to voting for Democrats? Some say it was President John F. Kennedy’s perceived sensitivity to the oppression of minorities that endeared him and the Party to black Americans, and they’ve been voting for Democrats in droves ever since.

Aside from revisionist history, a more fundamental rift exists between blacks and Republicans. The concept of limited government—a core Republican principle—is anathema to most blacks, even wealthy, well-educated ones. Thanks to the handiwork of Southern Democrats, blacks continue to turn to the federal government for redress of the slightest racial grievance.

Conservatives have a healthy distrust of the federal government and believe its powers should be limited to only those enumerated in the U.S. Constitution. To most blacks, however, limited government brings to mind “states’ rights,” which in turn evokes images of Southern whites and their resentment of federal intervention in local affairs during de-segregation.

The rights of the states are at the heart of a good constitutional republic, but blacks won’t easily forget it was the federal government that enforced their civil rights after Reconstruction, got them jobs under the New Deal and protected them from billy clubs, dogs and water hoses in the 1960s. Do you blame them for believing a bloated, central bureaucracy is still savior even in 2004?

Republicans should keep emphasizing that the federal government is not supposed to have this much control over the people. The U.S. Supreme Court most recently usurped the will of the people by finding a non-existent Constitutional basis for continued race discrimination, although it was legally abolished in 1964. In 1973, they usurped the will of the people by discovering a non-existent “right to privacy” to kill unborn babies. Favoring a strong, forceful central government was once a matter of survival for blacks generations ago but no longer.

Given this elemental divide between blacks and Republicans, courting them won’t be easy. But the most important advantage Republicans have over Democrats is that Republicans can win elections without the black vote; Democrats can’t.

In the meantime, Republicans should continue to do what they do best: defending the country, supporting policies that foster economic growth, fighting for the sanctity of the family, the unborn and the dignity of the individual.

Once blacks are fed up with liberal lies, fear, resentment and mistrust (and being passed over for leadership positions), perhaps they’ll return to the party that set them free. And once they get a taste of real freedom, Democrats will be in trouble. Deep trouble.

This is correct. States Rights were a boot on our necks. Slavery and Jim Crow were defended strongly in the name of States Rights.

Federalism needs strong individual States in order to function properly. But let's be honest. Those who used States Rights for nefarious reasons are the ones who ultimately killed them. They had no one to blame but themselves.

You can look to the hostile rhetoric concerning black issues on this forum for your answer as to why courting the "black vote" is problematic.... You have to deal with the perception issues... Imagine if a black person other than myself read some of the things that are posted here.... There is a general sense of "black people are either whining or complaining or breaking the law or demanding a welfare increase" And the other thing that needs to be told more are the stories about the successful black conservatives... What I see way too much are discussions about reparations, affirmative action, Kobe, Michael, Jesse Jackson, etc... The biggest mistake that Republicans make when talking to black people is proceeding from the assumption that we are all the same... A black conservative like myself has too stand up and say "This is what I think and this is how I feel!" I too often see in many corners where we are not asked anything. We are told what we are thinking and why we are doing something we shouldn't and we are failing without anyone really listening to what we have to say....

Republicans and Democrats make too many assumptions about what we think. That needs to stop...

The negatives in the black community are well known.. But I think that just as whites get tired of hearing about slavery and having it thrown in their faces, we get just as tired of hearing about affirmative action, etc...

I think the divisive rhetoric that I see in Republican and Democratic Circles oversimplify our problems and issues. I see Democrats pandering and I see Republicans spending a lot of time scoring political points at our expense. I am not talking about what I hear the Democrats talking about in reference to Republicans. I am talking about what I hear the republicans saying....

If you really want to recruit blacks into the Republican Party, you could start with one simple question... "What's on your mind?"

I see the bad news mhking tells about blacks on a regular basis and I see the "I don't care" or "They deserve it" or "It's their fault" attitude. I know that racism is not at the core of many of the statements posted here. It is just the conservative way. But I say this... There have been just as many Allen Bakkes in black skin as in white skin. There have been people mistreated by law enforcement from all different backgrounds. The divisive rhetoric or the attitude that the only way I will be welcome in the conservative ranks is if I say nothing but bad things about the black community or black people... Needs a little work....

And there is a perception that also only ultra conservative blacks have a place in the Republican party... Most black people I know are conservative fiscally and moderate to conservative socially... More Colin Powells... Less Janice Rogers Brown... Too many black people look at her as the exception and not the rule... Powell is accepted and trusted in the black community because he is not ultra conservative on everything.... Get the moderates into the party....

And you will have a hard time convincing anyone that the Party of Lincoln is the same party of today... Everyone knows about Jim Crow, the compromise of 1877, Plessy vs. Ferguson, and all those other wonderful things that Democrats and Republicans let happen... Best thing to do would be to acknowledge that the past of both parties has some things that in retrospect, could be perceived as unfair, and find a way to look to a future where a meritocracy is the primary goal...

Never forget the past but try each day to make a better future... The Republicans can sell the future and where they are going.... They can sell it on merit... That is what the message from the Republicans should contain...

I think the article seems to be very well on point. The part that you are leaving out that needs to be put back in.... If you look at the Rodney King trial.... State Courts in certain jurisdictions did not provide what most people would call "acceptable justice"... I am not a fan of Rodney King either but no way can you tell me that he deserved what he received that night...

It was the Federal Prosecutions that gave the black community some sense of "acceptable justice"... What is scaring the he$$ out of the black community is the perceived swing toward conservatives in the judiciary.... This is why Janice Brown, Clarence Thomas, and others scare the black community... The Federal Government has given the black community "acceptable justice" .... When you talk about state's rights, the perception that you are talking about history that has usually not been kind to those with a good tan needs to be addressed... The Federal Government was a place where most of our protections that were denied in state courts have been affirmed and upheld...

Until a black person feels that he can get justice in Simi Valley and Orange County as well as LA, this affection for the federal government is going to exist...

You have to deal honestly and sensitively with the history if you want things to change...

What Martin Luther King said is true... At the state level, it has not been the behavior of the bad people.... It has been the silence of the good people...

And you have to remember that people's experiences which are still significantly different where race is concerned will have different perceptions of events....

When you have things like what happened in Tulia, TX and Jasper, TX (while Bush was Governor), please understand that limited government means to minorities that they have no protection against majorities...

Change that perception and the game is over... You must understand that your goal is an honorable one but difficult to achieve... Most people would say that states and local authorities have a poor record when it comes to fair treatment of blacks...

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