By Raynard
Jackson
Columnist
Alright, alright; enough about my column from last week where
I called out several RNC staffers by name because of their total disloyalty and
disrespect towards me. No more jokes
about me being introverted and never speaking my mind.
I will admit last week’s column was very pointed and blunt—by
design.
I came into the Republican Party in the middle of the Reagan
administration; right after I graduated from Oral Roberts
University.
But I really cut my political teeth during the Bush 41
campaign and subsequent presidency. I
got a chance to see the Reagan and Bush administrations up-close, which is why I
am the person I am today. Last week’s
column reflected that influence.
The disrespect shown to me by this RNC would have never been
tolerated by team Bush. I had something
similar happen back in St. Louis while Bush was seeking the presidency and the
Bush family personally shut it down immediately and let everyone know in no
uncertain terms that I was part of the Bush team and they would not allow anyone
to disrespect me or the Bush campaign by extension.
This is why the Bush family is so beloved by everyone, even
Democrats. They put a premium on loyalty
and will protect those who are part of their team.
I learned the art of politics from the likes of my former
Senators Jack Danforth, Kit Bond, and John Ashcroft. I had the honor of sitting at the feet of
luminaries like former secretary of state Jim Baker and former secretary of
commerce Bob Mosbacher.
Can you imagine a kid from the hood of St. Louis being able
to call people like these friends? I am
still in touch with the Bush family and all those who were instrumental in my
political career. I am even still in
touch with many of my high school and college teachers.
Unfortunately, today’s politics are totally transactional and
not personal.
By transactional I mean people only deal with you because you
have the right title or you have something a person needs and people deal with
you strictly on the basis of that paradigm.
These types of relationships are totally foreign to me. Former senate majority leader Trent Lott,
former house majority leader Tom DeLay, and former congressman Tom Davis are
good friends who I stay in regular contact with. The reason I still stay in touch with them is
because our relationship was never predicated on their titles; but rather on a
personal friendship.
Over the years, some of my friends ended up going to jail
because they crossed certain ethical boundaries. I helped some of them get jobs or consulting
contracts after they served their time.
I gave some of their family’s money when everyone else had turned their
backs on them.
So, let’s just say I was very heartened last week with all
the phone calls and emails of support after my friends found out what I was
going through.
Maybe one day these RNC staffers will learn the value of
relationships; because I would never hire any of them for any job. If they will screw over me, what makes you
think they won’t do the same thing to you?
Now I hope you have some insight into what made me write last
week’s column, beside all the obvious reasons.
Old school politics are about relationships that should last
a lifetime. Old school politics is why I
created the Black Republican Trailblazer Awards luncheon in the first
place. Every honoree I have ever chosen
has a personal story of how they have impacted me.
I will continue to host these awards every year to promote
Black Republicans who have left an indelible mark on the Black community, the
Republican Party, and America.
The Republican Party has a great story to tell relative to
Blacks, but they seem totally uninterested and incapable of communicating that
story. The Black staffers in the RNC
have absolutely no institutional memory or curiosity of who the Black
trailblazers are.
Black Republicans role in civil right have been allowed to be
erased from the history books because of the Republican Party’s ineptitude in
telling their own history.
Why do Republicans continue to go to groups like the NAACP or
the Urban League for validation in the Black community when they need look no
further than Black Republicans like Bill Coleman, Bob Brown, Bob Woodson, Kay
James, Allegra McCullough, etc.?
No one will tell our story better than us. The Trailblazer awards is my vehicle to
communicate this story and we will continue to use this vehicle to make America
aware that the Republican Party has always been intimately involved in every
major stride the Black community has made in this country.
The reason Blacks find this hard to believe is that we have
allowed Black liberals to totally erase us from the historical record.
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 his website at:
www.raynardjackson.com.
