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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...