By Raynard
Jackson
Columnist
Republicans are often criticized, many times unfairly so, for
using the “race card” when it comes to the Black community. Liberals postulate that if Republicans
treated the Black voter like any other voter; or treated Black groups like White
groups; then the Black community would vote in their own
self-interest.
Well, let me shock all my liberal friends by saying I agree
100%. Let’s now apply this to the real
world.
With the onset of summer, this marks the beginning of all the
major Black national organizations annual conferences throughout the
country. Groups like the NAACP, the
National Urban League (NUL), the National Association of Black Journalists
(NABJ), and the National Newspapers Publishers Association (NNPA), just to name
a few.
All these groups “claim” to be nonpartisan, but the reality
is that they and their membership are mostly hardcore Democrats. But what these groups have been masterful at
is taking advantage of the Republican’s irrational “fear” of being called racist
by the left. A Republican being labelled
a racist is akin to kryptonite to Superman, a cross to Dracula, or water to the
bad witch, Evileen.
To my utter amazement, many Black Republican operatives and
staffers have bought into this idiotic nonsense. Most Black staffers throughout the party have
the attitude that “we need these groups, so we can’t negotiate with them. We should be glad that they at least invited
a Republican to speak.”
Newsflash, you rarely ever win when you negotiate from a
position of weakness.
Last week I received a press release from the National Urban
League indicating they had invited all declared presidential candidates to
address their upcoming convention this summer.
No Republican should agree to speak at any Black convention
unless certain conditions are met. The
biggest, most non-negotiable condition that must be met is that these groups
must have Black Republicans on various panels throughout the week of their
conventions.
Reince Priebus, as head of our party, should encourage all of
our presidential candidates and other party leaders to abide by this
recommendation. As chairman of the
party, Priebus cannot force anyone to abide by this; but his recommendation
would carry significant clout.
For each convention that our party leaders are asked to
participate in, Priebus should put together a list of recommended panelists
based on the mission of the particular group in question.
For example, I know for a fact certain that Priebus knows
plenty of Blacks who could represent the party before the NAACP and Urban
League; people who have a thorough
knowledge and understanding of the role and history of the Republican
Party in Civil Rights.
Again, Priebus cannot force a group to accept his
recommendation; but as in all negotiations, you must always be ready and willing
to walk away if you don’t get what you want.
What is the logic behind having one of our presidential
candidates or the chairman of our party address these groups only to have the
rest of the week being devoted to panelists who are going to do the bidding of
the Democratic National Committee (DNC) with no one from our side to present a
countervailing view?
If these groups refuse to accept the party’s terms, then
there must be an unequivocal rejection of their invitation to speak to at their
conference.
For example, the Urban League’s convention is in Ft.
Lauderdale, FL this summer. If they
don’t agree to the party’s terms, then there should be no Republican leaders to
address their convention. Then the RNC
or some other Black Republican group should convene a one day conference to
provide a “friendly” platform for Republicans to speak directly to the Black
community. The event should be in the
same city as the group who refused to accept the party’s terms, in this case Ft.
Lauderdale.
I would take this fight directly to the media and force these
groups to answer the question as to why they have no Black Republicans on their
various panels; but yet claim to be nonpartisan.
When it comes to the Black community, we must stop being
afraid to say no to everything these liberal groups want. And if we are going to give them something
they want, then it must be on our terms.
These Black groups claim they are fighting for equality and
diversity, then should we not expect them to practice what they preach? Why is this equality of opportunity and
diversity of thought within the Black community not on display at any of these
national conventions?
In life, some things are urgent and some things are
important. It’s urgent that Republicans
speak directly to the Black community; but it is important that it be on the
party’s terms.
Raynard
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