Free Republic

Many black Republicans running for Congress are turning away from the identity politics of race and ethnicity and, in the process, seeking to reshape the way politicians and voters think about skin color and ideology. In 2004, 10 black Republicans are running for the House and Senate; these candidates come from Georgia, Indiana, Michigan, Mississippi, New York, North Carolina, Oregon and Rhode Island. Unlike many black Democrats, whose political roots go back to the civil rights battles of the 1950s and ’60s, these Republicans draw a distinction between politics and race, arguing that their worldview has little to do with...

PROVIDENCE -- Margaret B. Crosby is aiming to become the first black Republican woman elected to Congress. Crosby, a scholar who lives in Providence, has announced plans to take on Dave Rogers in a GOP primary, with the winner challenging Democratic U.S. Rep. Patrick J. Kennedy. While African-Americans are now identified more closely with the Democratic Party than the GOP, that was not the case earlier in American history, said Crosby, who has a doctorate in history from Brown University. Crosby said congressional Republicans approved the 13th, 14th, 15th and 19th Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, thereby abolishing slavery, providing...