You can be a minority and a Republican too

the first 7 blacks ever voted into the congress (house & senate) were Republicans.

the question is: why would a minority NOT be a Republican???

Dems have been hurting minorities (namely blacks) for years! No self-respecting minority is a Democrat.

(NOTE: undergrads aren’t sophisticated nor experienced enough to understand this)

You highlight some very good instances of the Republican party benefitting blacks in America. I just have one question: what do they do for minorities today?

I’ll give you lots of time to think.

Condoleezza Rice is the perfect example. No person could ever have done as well during the current era of the modern democratic socialist era. She has continued to serve as a highlight of American policians. Because she has helped America so much, she is afraid to run for president. To all the liberals out there who continue to shame her,for helping America, forget you. To call Uncle Tom on every black who does not commit to the socialist movement is sickening. Free thought is not ment to be decided upon by the major media of the day.

This is an issue that needs more attention. The Democrat monopoly on the black vote (up to 96%) is simply heartbreaking. The Democrats continue to keep the majority of the black population in a perpetual state of poverty in order to receive the consistent ¨black vote¨. This scam run by the Democrats has been the most disgraceful smear on American politics for the last forty years. Why do people refuse to bring it up? Because the liberals are ready to pounce with the ¨you´re just racist¨ mantra if anyone dares to discuss it. Talk about ignorance. Slavery is still very alive and well, thanks to the Democrat Party.

p.s. Leo, keep up the good fight.

“The Democrats continue to keep the majority of the black population in a perpetual state of poverty in order to receive the consistent ¨black vote¨.”

And how exactly do they accomplish this? Please enlighten us.

The Republican party in its current incarnation is for rich people and religious people. Oh, and peopole who loves guns, too. If you fit any of those descriptions, it makes sense for you to be part of the GOP. If not, I’m not sure why anyone, minority or not, would be.

As an example, under the term of Mayor Emanuel Cleaver of Kansas City, crime went down, murders went down, unemployment went down, schools began to crawl out of the legacy of a lousy desegregation plan that still plagued them. He was a democrat.

The real problems with our urban centers stem from the economic plights brought about by whites moving to the suburbs and now exurbs in an effort to escape blacks. With racism still prevalent, it is quite a challenge to bring about change on a large scale. These urban problems were caused by the racism of those in all political persuasions.

Mayor Cleaver, a democrat, worked to rebuild the city’s infrastructure, fund youth programs—programs that might be deemed as “socialist programs” by some conservatives—and in the process he brought Kansas City’s economy back from the dead.

Did I mention he was a democrat? Republican mayors have done this too. This whole discussion about which “side” is better is a load of crap. There are effective people in both the Republican and Democratic parties. Can’t we elevate our discourse to a higher level? Good god.

One of the reasons minorities generally don’t receive Republicans well is that Republicans have a platform indicating that impoverished people are in that state as a result of their own doing. It is all their fault. Since many minorities are in this state as a result of racism and discrimination, they reject this. Though in some cases it may be true, Democrats generally see this “self-perpetuating poverty” as utter nonsense on a large scale. This is more inviting to minorities who are sick and tired of feeling under attack for being in an economic situation that they have no control over and find it very difficult to escape. As I went to school with many of these people, I saw those that were fighting to get out of the cycle. Some succeeded, some failed. I reject the idea that without social programs, impoverished people can pull themselves up by their bootstraps. In many cases, they don’t even have boots. They lack confidence. Privileged people do not understand this. In fact, they get angry when liberals invoke the term “privilege.” I have seen this first hand. My high school contained the entire spectrum—privileged to impoverished. The two extremes grow up living in entirely different environments. It does indeed have an impact on one’s ability to succeed.

Voorhee,
Having family values, themself, are not racist however, the Republican Party’s platform of defending “family values” IS. This rhetoric convinces white Americans that their traditional way of life is under attack from the left through the inclusion of minorities (namely African-Americans) into the political system.
Furthermore, it perpetuates the myth that American character is based on rugged individualism (pulling yourself up by the bootstraps). This is also known as the Horatio Alger Myth (look it up).

The flip side of this myth holds that those in poverty are there as a result of their own misgivings and flaws and that those that are at the top are there because they possess some unique character that we should all aspire to. Such thinking exonerates the system as a whole from the role it plays in perpetuating the cycle of poverty.

This line of thinking is demonstrated when Republicans cut social programs such as welfare and medicaid. Most recently it can be seen in President Bush’s veto of the SCHIP bill. Furthermore, it was this very same rhetoric that persuaded white Michiganders to repel Affirmative Action in the last general election.

Rear Admiral,

I agree with you and always chuckle at guys like Leo who wrap themselves around the whole Party of Lincoln stuff to justify the current GOP. That all changed after the 1960s (even Barry Goldwater had problems with the modern neo-con right-wing zealots) You’re right, it was the Nixon-Pat Buchanan Southern Strategy — after JFK, LBJ and other Dems embraced the Civil Rights Acts of the mid-60s, pushed conservative, ex-rebel type whites (esp males) into the arms of Republicans. But I don’t get your line about family values being anti-African American. African Americans are very conservative in many ways, esp regards family, religion, anti-homosexuality, anti-abortion, etc… Blacks just tend to regard fairness and civil rights even more, which pushes them more to be Democrats in the modern era. Trust me, a young Jackie Robinson in the modern era would be a Democrat.

please note I was referring to the replies not the article itself. The column was okay.

I’d be careful about lumping Powell in with that category right now… I doubt he is very happy with the direction the party has taken the last few years.

King Jr. was not a Republican. He never gave any sort of political endorsement. I’d love to find out where you got that piece of information… your own brain, I’m sure. His father supported Nixon in 1960 and was registered, but after Robert Kennedy supported Jr. when he was arrested, he switched allegiance.

That’s not even the big issue here… you know as well as I do that neither party stands for the same thing they did even 30 years ago. That is a completely pointless comparison listing him among your other “black Republicans.”

I certainly hope you weren’t planning on using this column for anything important in any sort of portfolio someday.

If the Republican Party were still the Party of Lincoln i’d gladly call myself a member.

Throughout this whole disscusion the term “racist” has been bandied about without giving one solid example of any racist ideology. Simply saying that banning affirmative action is “racist” without supporting your assertion is not a valid argument.

I suggest you all pick up a history book. Historically, minorities that have been discriminated against have been able to raise themselves up out of poverty. The Jews have been persecuted for most of their existence yet still manage to do quite well. Koreans come here with nothing and manage to raise themselves up. Scotland and Japan were both considered hopelessly backward nations until they embraced and emulated Western culture and values. Now both exceed Western culture in many respects.

And the term privilege is a loaded word. Privilege implies that something that was not earned. Nobody walks around handing out “privelages” to people at random. But to accurately describe those with wealth as those who have achieved is inconvenient to those who wish to malign them. People who have achieved should be emulated, not despised because of petty jealousy.

Statistically, the rate of Blacks in poverty went UP after the great society programs of the 1960s were implemented. This is “an inconvenient truth” to those who wish to blame outside forces for everything wrong in their life instead of looking inward. Nobody denies that racism exists, but it’s how an individual works around and overcomes adversity that is a sign of a strong strength of character.

And the idea that you cannot “lift yourself up by your bootstraps” is absurd. Anything is possible if you work hard enough. My father got back from Vietnam with literally nothing but the clothes on his back and he has done quite well for himself.

so in summation, Republicans are better people than democrats. i agree.

I don’t understand why any minority would be a democrat. All they do is tell them that they’re all “disadvantaged” and in need of programs to get them on an “equal footing.” As a minority, I don’t want to join a party that tells me I’m automatically less than everyone else and in need of handouts. I didn’t come from Africa or Mexico, I was born here.

Other minorities today who feed off that shit need to get a life. Anyone who things we are disadvantaged needs to grow up and stop living in the past.

I have a cousin (he is white) from Johannesburg, South Africa. His family moved to the States five years and they are now U.S. citizens. Does that make him an African-American?