Posted on 09/05/2004 6:32:25 AM PDT by Cincinatus' Wife
NEW YORK -- It's a good thing President George W. Bush didn't have an altar call at the end of the GOP's convention. I might have joined the Republican Party.
By the time the four-day Republican National Convention ended Thursday night, I had a newfound respect for black Republicans. I will never again wonder what in the world is a black person doing supporting George W.
"One would think you wouldn't have to defend being a Republican," said Jennette Bradley, the lieutenant governor of Ohio and the first African-American woman to fill that post in the history of the United States. "That time is past. We don't have to apologize for being a Republican. We have the right to choose."
And they are choosing.
Lynn Swann, an ex-Steeler and NFL Hall of Famer, is playing a key role in the push to keep Bush in the White House. And award-winning gospel singer Donnie McClurkin performed at the convention despite threats of a boycott.
All in the family values
"I was raised in a Democratic household," actor Joseph C. Williams told me. Williams, who appeared on the "Cosby Show," "General Hospital" and "The District," was the co-chairman of the "African Americans for Bush" steering committee. "The Republican values are the same values that are in most African-American homes. This party reflects those values much more than the opposition."
During the week, I met black people from all professions and all economic classes who proudly touted their decision to support Bush despite the fact polls predict about 90 percent of their counterparts will vote for the Democratic nominee, John Kerry.
In 2000, minorities comprised 10 percent of Republican delegates. This year, they made up 17 percent, according to the Joint Centers for Policy and Economic Studies.
Alice Williams, an administrator in a medical access program in Pittsburgh, was one of those delegates.
"I changed my party affiliation in the 1990s," said Williams, who at the time was elected to the school board as a Democrat.
"I lived in a school district that had the lowest test scores in the state of Pennsylvania, and the population was about 99 percent African American. We fought so hard to bring in a company as a consultant to improve one of our schools, but we had a teachers union that fought us every step of the way. I decided then that I didn't need to be part of a party that continued to say that they are for education, health care and jobs in our community and they do not support the very essence of our community, which is our children."
Virginia Walden Ford, founder and chairwoman of the Black Alliance for Educational Options, the grass-roots organization that successfully lobbied for school choice in the D.C. public schools, also left the Democratic Party disappointed.
Like losing her religion
"I went from being a Democrat most of my adult life to being an independent to gradually getting involved in the school choice movement. We got so much support from the Republicans, I changed over," she said.
"And President Bush, of course, was really supportive of the school choice effort in Washington. He came to a program three years ago before it was even passed to show support for our efforts," she said.
"I was still a Democrat. I don't know whether it was fear or what people would say, but it was like changing my religion," she said.
Although Democrats bash Bush's No Child Left Behind Act, those same Democrats rarely mention that one of the architects of the plan is Rod Paige, an African American who was appointed Education secretary in the Bush administration. Having attended segregated schools in his youth, I'm convinced that despite the act's shortcomings, Paige is committed to challenging what the Republicans call the "soft bigotry of low expectations."
Educated minds
So while black voters may disagree with most of the conservative wing of the party, the GOP's approach to fixing the education gap is worth considering.
During his acceptance speech, Bush made promises that should have poor and working-class families dancing in the street. In pledging to increase funding for Pell Grants and community colleges, he also promised to strengthen early intervention programs aimed at stemming the tide of black and Hispanic students that drop out of high schools every year.
As a lifelong independent, and the daughter of a die-hard Demo- crat, I may never bring myself to punch a Republican ballot.
But the black Republicans I ran into this week convinced me of one thing: Black people can only benefit from their courage.
Great to hear!!
Bump!!
You've hit on something there; to them, smaller government is NOT a good thing!
A lifelong "independent" that can never vote Republican? If it looks like a duck and smells like a duck...
No kidding!
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