The Plight of the Black Republican

I feel slightly ashamed to admit this, but my respect for the modern Black Republican has dwindled to disgust and disdain, and please believe me, it's not for the reason that you might think.

I was raised in a liberal, Midwestern household and can recall spending summers as a youth on my grandparents' farm in Alabama, where evoking the name of Ronald Reagan was similar to using the Lord's name in vain. As I matured into the individual that I am today, I realized that my ideologies aligned with those of the Democratic Party. I also grew to revere and admire African-American conservatives for being able to stand up against their own people while professing their beliefs. While I fundamentally disagreed with their positions, I recognized their audacity for going against the status quo. But in our modern society, the representation of the black Republican has evolved into one of habitual whining and obliviousness.

In every discussion that I have with black Republicans, there is a persistent gripe that they are tired of being ridden by people in their own community for belonging to the Republican Party. My simple response has remained consistent: when you are a person of color, especially a black person, and you are resistant to the idea of a qualified black man being the leader of our nation, you need to understand and accept the fact that you are going to come under quite a substantial amount of scrutiny. 

I agree with the sentiment that there are too many in our community who simply throw blind support behind Democratic candidates time and time again without educating themselves on where those candidates stand on the issues, but I am sickened when I see black conservatives fall in line with the ploys of the Republican Party. 

Take conservative radio host, James T. Harris, for example. Harris, at a McCain-Palin rally weeks ago, literally begged John McCain to "take it to Obama" over his past associations.  When he was attacked and criticized for pleading with McCain to make personal attacks on Barack Obama as opposed to discussing relevant issues, he went on a press tour of all the cable news networks, whining about how black people were sending him hateful emails and calling him out for stooping to the Republican's guilt by association name game.

During a discussion on CNN, Harris actually stormed off the set when a fellow black conservative, who just so happens to be supporting Barack Obama, took him to task not for selling out his race, but his conservative values. I was left wondering if he would have been so abrasive if it was Ann Coulter or Sean Hannity that sat in opposition, because McCain's lack of conservatism is an argument that both have raised many, many times.

If you ask a Black Republican why they identify with their party, they always give the same arguments, practically ignoring the atrocities of the last 40 years. I get it, the Republican Party is the party that fought in the Civil War and abolished slavery, along with writing much of the legislation during the civil rights movement. But at some point the tide changed. 

The party that fought for freedom became the party that fought against integration, justice, and equality. They became the party that ignored the issues that are paramount to our community: inequality in education, police brutality in our neighborhoods, affirmative action in the workplace, and the economic imbalances that exist amongst the ethnicities.

Black Republicans accuse the Democratic Party of monopolizing the black vote while essentially not improving much. They need to realize that that will never change until the Republican Party acknowledges that we are not a monolithic group that has been brainwashed by liberalism, but a community of diverse individuals that has issues plaguing them that extend far beyond the trading floors of Wall Street and the affluent neighborhoods of White America.    

While I certainly respect someone who, regardless of the repercussions, will stand up for what they believe in, that respect will always transform into contempt when you personally turn your back on your own people, and our history, to show a blind allegiance to a political party that has essentially turned its back on you as well.