The Pandering Must End

This coming Wednesday in Manhattan, the Black Republican Forum will meet and John McCain has been invited.

by: bob parks | published: 08 03, 2008

I do want John McCain to win in November. Consider the alternative.

I've personally been told to tread easy and not make the McCain Campaign mad, but there's certain things that need be said, and I'm proud of my habit of saying things that need be said by those who don't want to make waves.

Like, what are they going to do? Ignore us…?

John McCain's overtures to black groups like the NAACP, and now the Urban League may make for well-needed press, but at the same time, why do Republicans continue to blow off the one group of black folk they KNOW will vote for them: black Republicans?

This coming Wednesday in Manhattan, the Black Republican Forum will meet and John McCain has been invited. However, to date, no acknowledgment of his interest in attending has been received. This is quite disappointing and to be truthful, is a slap in the face to all those who are in the trenches, taking the kind of slings and arrows on a daily basis John McCain could never comprehend.

This is not meant to be a "woe is us" lament, but being a black Republican is not something many sane people would opt to do in today's America. While people are walking on eggshells countering Barack Obama because any inference of racism could doom the deliverer, the left can (have, and will continue to) discharge their racist venom on black conservatives with no adverse consequences. All are still working.

Black Republicans, for the most part, agree with John McCain so he's assured of a warm reception any time he chooses to meet with us. And it's not just McCain I'm talking about here. President Bush has met with black Republicans how many times…? I don't remember any press accounts off the top of my head.

The GOP doesn't have to "pander" to us. They just need include us. They just need empower us. But unfortunately, they've seemingly written us off as that five percent they assume they'll get, disregarding the fact that if they made us part of the team, we could up that percentage to a potentially winning margin.

And what's more insulting (given the private, internal opinions issued within the black GOP) are the token attempts at "outreach". It reminds me of that CNN "Black in America" special.

While in Hollywood, I went to a work in a post-production facility one day and I remember this little producer complaining that the spot we were working on wasn't "black enough". I can only imagine white liberals crafting that propaganda piece meant to soften us all up for the opportunity to vote for a representative of a segment of our population they intentionally portray as victims.

Who is behind the GOP strategy to reach black people? Is it a token overture or is it a real strategy to turn that five percent into thirty? The dirty little secret is if Democrats lost that stranglehold on the black vote, they'd be screwed in presidential elections for years, so keeping blacks "victims" and rewarding them with entitlements is their imperative.

Black conservatives can counter this if given a real infrastructure and the autonomy to do so, but it would appear that the Republican leadership would much rather spend all of their time trying to convince liberal blacks they're not racists instead of allowing us, on their behalf, to prove it. Believe it or not, we're already armed with the facts and just need the honest backing of the Party.

As I'm no longer a betting man (I wasn't very good at it), I can't say at this time if John McCain will come to the Forum in New York. It would help all sides, as instead of apologizing for everything and treading softly, he could proudly extol the virtues of Republicanism to an audience that agrees. It would show black conservatives that our efforts are appreciated and will be supported. If John McCain went to black Republican conventions, that would most definately give him better press than that which he is getting now where the media gleefully reports of the "frosty" receptions he receives from black Democrats.

Has Barack Obama reached out to us? Hell no. None of his three to four hundred advisors have, to this day, have ever even considered coming to meet with black conservatives. Why do Republicans constantly pander to hostile black groups while traditionally ignoring those who will vote for them on Election Day?

Stupidity? Hope not.

I know many people are going to be mad I wrote this, but I needed to vent, and "Don't make massah mad" is something I haven't had to worry about since leaving the Democrat Party 13 years ago.

Real black Republicans won't vote for Barack Obama. Then again, many could also find something else to do on November 4th. If this election is as close as the previous ones have been, John McCain can't afford to lose one vote. Republicans should be reaching out to us. It shouldn't have to continue to be the other way around.

Give us some power. Set us loose and see what damage we could do to the Democrat voting block. Kissing their asses gets you nothing. Blowing off black Republicans perpetuates the ill will within.

Senator McCain, it's all up to you.

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