Posted on 04/21/2014 4:42:39 AM PDT by Kaslin
In January of 2013 T.W. Shannon established two milestones.
He became the first black speaker of the Oklahoma House of Representatives. And, at the age of 34, he became Oklahoma’s youngest House speaker in history.
Also noteworthy is that this young black American is a Republican.
Now T.W. Shannon is making new headlines. He has stepped down from his position as House speaker to run for the U.S. Senate seat being vacated by Oklahoma Republican Senator Tom Coburn.
Senator Ted Cruz (R-Tex) has just joined Senator Mike Lee (R-UT), Dr. Ben Carson and Sarah Palin in endorsing Shannon.
Should Shannon succeed – there are several Republicans already in contention in the upcoming primary - he would become the second sitting black U.S. Senator, joining South Carolina Republican Tim Scott.
I met this brilliant young conservative several years ago and it is hard for me to contain my enthusiasm for his candidacy for this Senate seat.
Needless to say, the prospect of a new, courageous, and unapologetic conservative in the U.S. Senate is a something I find most appealing.
But I am also happy to see another black conservative voice joining the ranks of political power in America.
Shannon was my guest last year when, as guest host on Glenn Beck’s The Blaze show, I convened a panel of black conservatives. He discussed the influences in his life - then Oklahoma congressman J.C. Watts and his Southern Baptist religion - and his rise to the Speaker position in the Oklahoma legislature.
It can’t be summed up more clearly than the quote he has put on his campaign website:
“I believe we must choose the path to faith, freedom and individual liberty. It starts with us, here today, now, Working together, with God’s favor, we can save the America that we love.”
Conventional wisdom that black liberalism is somehow natural and genetic needs to be disabused and, as more black conservatives like T.W. Shannon come on the scene and win elections, the many black conservatives around the country will feel more comfortable stepping forth and taking public stands for what they believe.
And when this starts happening, America will see that the incidence of black conservatism is far deeper and widespread than most believe.
In a survey done last October by the Pew Research Center on public opinion about the Tea Party, 25 percent of blacks said they have a favorable view about the Tea Party movement, just 6 points less than the percentage of whites saying they have a favorable view.
Blacks, despite their disproportionate voting patterns supporting Democrats, do not fit the profile defining typical liberal Democrat voters.
A Gallup poll done in 2011 showed that whereas only 28 percent of white voters and 45 percent of Hispanic voters who say they are “very religious” identify as Democrats, 80 percent of black voters who say they are “very religious” do.
There clearly is a disconnect between the religious values of blacks, who attend church more frequently than any other ethnic group in the country, and the moral relativism of Democrats.
One reason for this disconnect is that the many blacks who harbor conservative values are intimidated to step forth because of the concentration of political power in their communities among liberal Democrats.
I believe this will change as more strong conservatives like T.W. Shannon step forth.
Shannon’s traditional Christian values will ring true with church going blacks and with all Americans who understand that personal virtue and responsibility and strong families form the basis of a free society. And that wealth comes from ownership and entrepreneurship and not from government programs.
These are the values needed to unite and heal our nation, deeply divided today by the rifts caused by the divisive interest group politics of the left.
Should we care what color a person is? The Dems feel the need to trot out their Liberal blacks but we should just say a person is Conservative and leave it at that.
It takes more than politicians to draw people to our side. It takes thinking conservatives avoiding reactionary comments and giving good thoughtful answers to why others should vote conservative when speaking in mixed crowds.
I don’t need another “Darling” .... How about Tim Scott who hasn’t voted anything but CONSERVATIVE at the NATIONAL level. Screw the media hype, I’m voting for what’ real, not imagined. Think you Tim Scott!!!
Actually, many black "churches" preach Liberation Theology - i.e. a racist version of Marxism.
So not surprising these flocks continue to vote for more leftism/socialism.
Isn’t it about time we stop calling ourselves “Republicans”, and promote conservativism, liberation, freedom, and the “WE All Are And Always Have Been Free” foundation of our belief as human beings? The Republicans in our government are aligned with us in some cases, but we need to promote a new name that aligns us with our freedom from tyranny quest. Our TEA party has a good start on that, but really, we need to approach government creep more directly and return everything in the USA to all of us and take away the government control of good people.
Valid point but there are some who don’t buy into it and some who are stepping away from it.
I have a pastor friend in Detroit who turned his back on Liberation theology and the social justice teaching. He says he was sick of seeing angry faces in the pews every Sunday, looked in the mirror and realized that his was one of the angry faces.
Now he preaches for individual salvation and with that comes individual sacrifice which leads to people choosing to do the right thing rather than doing things because its the law.
I guess I spend too much time in the woods. I didn’t know until today that Shannon was black. All I had heard was that he was a TRUE conservative.
Yeah, if they act as representatives of their color instead of for all of us. I don't want black "conservatives" lecturing me about the black experience. JC Watts seems like he might be the real deal, representing all US citizens as a true constitutional conservative.
I was the same way with Allen West for the first several months he was being talked about in conservative circles.
In 2008, JC Watts proudly proclaimed on Hannity’s radio show he was voting for obamatollah because it was historic.
Watts is just another racist for making decisions based on one’s skin color.
Shannon isn’t another “Darling”
Think Ted Cruz.. but a shade darker. hahaha
Shannon would have soon cut his own arm off before voting for Obummer.
If he has a chance to vote on sanctions during say.. an impeachment trial.. he will vote for Obummer to make license plates in prison.
bttt
Exactly!
We should use the tactics the PC crowd use against Redskins and similar labels they don’t like. Every time someone of prominence uses a hyphenated-American or similar label, we should be all over the media decrying that.
In time, the Libs/PC crowd seems to win and get things changed. Why can’t we?
The Left got their ‘black’ president twice — Clinton and Obama — to help absolve them of their ‘white guilt’.
Many on the Right have been looking for their ‘black’ leadership person to help absolve them of their ‘white guilt’.
The Right, like the Left, don’t bother to vet too thoroughly, either.
I admire black conservatives. The amount of hatred and venomous insults they have to endure from Democrats, especially black Democrats, would scare most people out of politics.
I think Watts said he considered it, but didn’t actually do it.
Actually, I remember very vividly stating without equivocation he was voting for the Marxist/mooslimb because it was historic.
Quite disappointed but it exposed Watts as a racist and his sycophants continue to try and rehab his error. Alas, the damage has been done and the truth was exposed.
Even to consider it based on obamatollah’s skin color is racist as well.
I’ve tried to find a definitive statement from Watts that he actually voted for him and haven’t found it. I did find his statement on the eve of Zero’s inauguration in 2009 where he had inhaled deeply of the “Hopium”, but there was no admittance on his part of voting for him.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcTwc6_nqyE
If I had to make an educated guess, I think he probably cast a vote for McCain, unless and until Watts claims otherwise. This contrasts with Colin Powell, who was pretty clear that he was back on the Democrat plantation.
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