Replies

Thank you, sir, for your well-thought out and articulate essay. May I tell you a story about a black man I met in San Leandro, California, at a voter registration table? A little background: My husband and I are just as white-skinned as can be. I have red hair, green eyes, and easily fried skin. My husband has dark hair, blue eyes, and even more easily fried skin. We were talking with an NRA member who was manning a voter registration table in front of a sporting goods store (I had just purchased my first-ever firearm - a .38 revolver). This was prior to the 2000 elections. This man had come out of the store, stopped, and listened to us talk for a few minutes. He chimed in, and he was an angry man. He was beginning to see what the liberals have done - he didn't want to have to explain homosexuality to his 6-year-old son, but was now forced into doing so because of the openness of it all now. He and his wife were now making more money than ever before, but were being hammered by taxes. He didn't want his 2nd amendment rights being eroded. He was beginning to see the conservative viewpoint more and more. But, he said, he had other "issues". He didn't specify, but I suspect that they were along the lines of affirmative action and civil rights.

I will never forget that man, and his anger and pain. I wonder how his viewpoints have evolved since that day.

But, he said, he had other "issues". He didn't specify, but I suspect that they were along the lines of affirmative action and civil rights.

There are a lot of folks who cannot rectify their feelings about issues like that in relation to others that bring them to the fold. They continue to buy into the race-based notions that liberals in general and so-called civil rights leaders in particular raise.

This leaves them believing that conservatives are evil incarnate, and that anyone who supports them are no better than dog squeeze on the bottom of your shoe. As our message continues to push forward and outward into the communities, this perception is changing. Admittedly, it's a slow, painstaking process, but believe me, it is changing.

I'm sure the gentleman that you met has been having a great introspective awakening over time. And I'm pretty sure that he's run into many others who have had some of the same sorts of issues.

Let me offer a suggestion. Perhaps (in the event you run into any other folks like that) referring him to P21 or more locally for you, someone like Larry Elder or Shannon Reeves (get this, he's head of the Oakland branch of the NAACP and secretary of the California GOP!) may help a bit.

Thanks for sharing your experience, and keep fighting the good fight...