Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: WEDNESDAY, November 23, 1994 TAG: 9411230098
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE: A7 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JEFF ARTIS
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
My friends ask me, "How in the world can you be a Republican? You're turning your back on the political party that has been so good to the black community." My answers usually surprise my friends.
I firmly believe the Republican Party offers the economic solutions the black community needs to gain economic parity in this country. I also believe that, with the notable exception of several state and national leaders who suffer from Foot-in-Mouth Disease and a new disease called Race-Baiting-to-Win-an-Election, the Republican Party offers the black community the best chance to gain political parity, as well.
My friends then ask, "How can you support a racist political party?" I tell them the Republican Party is no more racist than the Democratic Party, especially on the state and local levels. History tells us that the forerunners of the Democratic Party did nothing to end the institution of slavery. Its members were, in fact, slave owners.
The Democratic Party gave us the black codes.
The Democratic Party went to war for the preservation of the Southern way of life, which also meant going to war for the preservation of slavery.
The Democratic Party gave us Jim Crow. The Democratic Party gave us massive resistance, and the closing of entire public-school districts in an effort to keep black children from being educated with white children.
The Democratic Party knowingly allowed the Ku Klux Klan to perform terrorist act after terrorist act to support racism and segregation, especially in the state of Mississippi.
I advise my friends to be careful whom they refer to as friends of the black community.
My friends ask about Presidents Truman, Kennedy and Johnson.
I tell them Truman's feelings about the black community are well-known. He was no friend. Kennedy became concerned about civil rights only after the issue became a national embarrassment, and even then appointed segregationist judges to the federal court system who worked to gut civil-rights legislation. Johnson became interested in civil rights only because he saw civil rights as a means of securing his place in the history books.
None of these men had any great love for those in the black community.
However, my biggest problem with the Democratic Party deals with its attitude towards the black community. Maybe the word I should use here is arrogance, an arrogance that almost borders on a master/slave relationship, with the black community being the slave.
This is especially true on the state and local levels of the party. In every election, the black community votes overwhelmingly Democratic. For this, the Democratic Party pats us on the head and says, "Good boy, good girl." After the election, the black community is largely forgotten, while other constituents who supported the Democratic Party's election efforts are remembered.
If members of the black community want to become involved in the Democratic Party, we must first kiss "Massa's" ring before he lets us in the door. Then, we must sit in the corner and keep our mouths shut while our suggestions are largely ignored. I don't sit in anyone's corner. Nor, will I kiss anyone's ring or anything else.
Of all the things that were said in this year's Virginia Senate race, nothing was more true than Oliver North's assessment of the relationship between the black community and the Virginia Democratic Party. North essentially said that the Virginia Democratic Party plays the black community for suckers. I agree with his assessment 100 percent.
The Republican Party is certainly not perfect. It desperately needs to get away from the politics of exclusion and practice the politics of inclusion. On the national level, some party leaders need to stop fishing for sound bites and see a doctor to cure the diseases I mentioned earlier.
But, one thing is certain. I will vote Republican in the next election and, if needed, I will work for Republican candidates, unless it isn't in the best interest of the black community to do so. And I won't feel like a sucker for doing so.
Jeff Artis of Roanoke publishes The Black Conservative Newsletter.
by CNB