By Raynard Jackson
Columnist
Of February 18, 2009, then U.S. Attorney General, Eric Holder
gave a Black History Month speech to the employees at the Department of
Justice. He said in part, “Though this
nation has proudly thought of itself as an ethnic melting pot, in things racial
we have always been and continue to be, in too many ways, essentially a nation
of cowards.”
I think the same thing can and should be said about our
Republican candidates for president.
These candidates are too busy listening to their all white staffs and all
white pollsters who tell them not to come out and say remove the confederate
flag from flying in South Carolina for fear of angering Southern white
folk. And they wonder why Blacks want
nothing to do with this party or their candidacies?
I am thoroughly embarrassed by their total lack of
conviction. These same candidates that
say flying the confederate flag is a state issue want states to have no say so
on an issue like abortion. Are they
really for states’ rights or just when they don’t want to take a principled
stand on an issue?
If someone refuses to support your candidacy because you are
trying to move America beyond its racist past; should that not be a badge of
honor for you?
But these candidates are giving all their attention to a
shrinking base (white voters), versus giving some of their attention to a
growing base (Black voters).
I am not personally bothered by the flying of the flag at
all. Support for the flag does not
automatically equate to being a racist or supporting the enslavement of
Blacks.
I think Blacks have more important issues to deal with, but
the optics are horrible for Republicans simply because over the past 50 years
Republicans have absolutely no standing within the Black
community.
I am equally as embarrassed by Black Republicans on issues
dealing with race. Of the few Black
staffers working throughout our party, most are totally incompetent in dealing
with these issues. You rarely, if ever,
see them in the media with anything meaningful to say. They have no insight that would resonate with
the Black community. They are more
interested in being patted on the head by whites within the party, as opposed to
finding a way to bring some perspective to the issue.
Why is the party not utilizing people like Bob Brown, Bob
Woodson, Shannon Reeves, Mike Gunning, Sean Moss, Allegra McCullough, and Greg
Griffin?
I will tell you why.
Because most in the party have no idea who these people are. These are the Blacks with standing and
credibility within the Black community.
These are the Blacks who are media savvy and have institutional memory of
the Black struggle and of the party.
These are the Blacks that will not just say what the party
wants to hear; but will say what needs to be said.
The Republican Party has never had a real surrogate program
for Blacks, but one is desperately needed with the above mentioned people. Where are the Black entertainers and
athletes?
Amazingly, some Republicans do actually get
it.
Mitt Romney has been consistently opposed to the flying of
the flag. There is absolutely no
ambiguity in his position. Romney has a
great deal to contribute to the discussion of race relations relative to the
Black community and I hope he will engage more directly with the Black community
so that his voice can be heard, unfiltered by the media.
Reince Priebus, chairman of the Republican National
Committee, is another person who gets it.
Yesterday he unexpectedly flew to South Carolina to be with their
governor, Nikki Haley and their two U.S. Senators Lindsey Graham and Tim Scott
as she gave her support to removing the flag from being flown on the grounds of
the state capitol.
Priebus reached out to me when the tragedy happened in South
Carolina; but before he asked me my thoughts on how he should respond, he
insisted on giving me his thoughts first.
What I find amazing about Priebus is that every time he has reached out
to me on an issue specific to the Black community, we basically agree with each
other. We may disagree somewhat on
tactics, but on substance, no.
I find his instinctual ability to pick up on many of the
nuances of the Black community amazing for someone who grew up in a state like
Wisconsin. My only criticism of Priebus
is in the area of not allowing this instinctual understanding to be seen in the
media, especially the Black media.
The media has no idea of how Blacks respond to him and his
message for the Black community.
I would love to see Republicans like Romney and Priebus
engage more with the Black community on a more substantive level.
They both have great stories to tell relative to the Black
community; they just need to have a media narrative created in a way that
resonates with the Black community and advances the party.
Reasonable men can argue whether America is a nation of
cowards when it comes to race; but there is absolutely no arguing that
Republicans who are running for president are a bunch of cowards when it comes
to race and the Black community.
Raynard
Jackson & Associates, LLC is an internationally recognized political
consulting, government affairs, and PR firm based in Washington, DC. Jackson is an internationally recognized
radio talk show host and TV commentator.
He has coined the phrase “straticist.”
As a straticist, he has merged strategic planning with public
relations. Visit is website at: www.raynardjackson.com
