Silence of Modern Day Black Republicans – Aiding and Abetting Voter Suppression
by Peter Grear, GreaterDiversity.com 03/14/2018
There is a deafening silence in the ranks of modern black Republicans who stand mute as their party of choice relentlessly attacks the civil right that is most responsible for the rights and privileges of democracy, the right to vote. There is a group of them that gather with the President, Sean Hannity and other Republican right wingers to denounce so-called liberal democrats as representing everything that is bad for blacks in America and accusing them of race exploitation. I watched them in amazement as they claimed to defend the constitution and said that Obama ignored it. They are very unbalanced in their zeal to demean black Democrats as they ignore the constitutional guarantee of “one man and one vote” and the massive voter suppression efforts of their Republican party.
I have tried to reach these black Republicans on Facebook, their http://blackrepublican.blogspot.com blog and at http://www.nbra.info/ Internet site without success. However, they do have a snail mail address. I do want to respond directly to them regarding their hypocrisy and would appreciate it if someone can help us contact one another electronically. One that I take particular exception to is the author of http://www.bookpublishersnetwork.com/democratic-coma Democratic Coma, Virgil Brannon. He is heavily promoted by the National Black Republican Association. He cites numerous historical facts that he suggests show that Republicans are historically better on black issues than Democrats and asked readers to investigate. I did my investigation and will address some of them, but with all due respect, he’s taken most of them out of context and not provided readers, such as myself, reasonable access to respond either by blog or email. He rightfully points out that Abraham Lincoln and fellow Republicans freed blacks from slavery and, I might add, secured their rights as citizens, including “one man one vote.” He doesn’t use this in context to explain the appropriate allegiance of many blacks to the Republicans from Lincoln up to the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and the “Southern Strategy.” See http://www.forwardprogressives.com/the-truth-about-republican-racism-and-the-southern-strategy “The Truth About Republican Racism and the Southern Strategy” by Allen Clifton.
Brannon cites as facts that Martin Luther King and President Dwight Eisenhower, who sent troops into the South to desegregate the schools were Republicans. He also noted that (white) Democrats opposed Republican, Dr. Martin Luther King and the 1964 Civil Rights Act. He is very intellectually dishonest by not mentioning the fact that the Republican Party prior to passage of the Voting Rights Act was advocating for rights fair and beneficial to blacks and that their historical opposition was in fact the Democrats. He should make it clear that the Democrat Party was in transition and when Democrat President Johnson, signed the Civil Rights legislation in the 1960’s, that the bigoted right wing Democrats bolted the Democrat party, took over what is now, the modern day Republican Party and implemented the “Southern Strategy.” This is the party that they’re aiding and abetting in the disenfranchisement of black voters.
This is the truth that black Republicans will not discuss. To understand the historical Republican Party, President Lincoln and Frederick Douglas, see Doris Kearns Goodwin’s http://www.doriskearnsgoodwin.com/books.html “Team of Rivals.”
The modern black Republicans are hiding behind historical luminaries such as Abraham Lincoln, Frederick Douglas, Booker T. Washington and Dr. Martin Luther King, who played pivotal progressive roles in blacks’ long struggle for freedom and equality in America. But in doing this they’re implying that these and other luminaries would stand mute in the face of the Republican onslaught to disenfranchise black voters. They know full well that this shameful implication is grossly inaccurate and in doing so they aid and abet the destruction of democracy and blacks right to “one man and one vote” as guaranteed by the Constitution and secured by the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln..
The reality is that black Americans are much better served with a vibrant, competitive two-party political system where each party seeks black support based upon the strength of their policies and platforms. Earlier in 2013, Democratic State Sen. Elbert Guillory re-registered as a Republican http://hotair.com/greenroom/archives/2013/05/31/black-louisiana-democrat-assails-party-joins-gop/ He was given the Frederick Douglas Award and quoted as saying “They have left us behind on crucial issues like abortion, vouchers, 2nd Amendment right, union control of public jobs, school prayer and family issues.” These issues that he listed are fair and appropriate for debate and should be debated. However, the implication that these were issues for Frederick Douglas and that he would remain silent as blacks are being disenfranchised by his party is a gross denial of the essence of Frederick Douglas and of course Guillory knows this. This modern Republican Party outreach is readily exposed as hypocritical and elusive when their black emissaries are unable to rationally defend one of the most immoral, un-American attacks on blacks since the Civil War. I’ve had this discussion with black Republicans that don’t dispute voter suppression and admit that they’re unable to address the issue publicly for fear of losing their preferred status as examples of modern Republican Party diversity. These are the same black Republicans that accuse black Democrats of “Pimping on the Poverty of Black Folks.” They deny that they are aiding and abetting the disenfranchisement of black people but the reality is that they give cover to the evil deeds of the Republicans by being their symbols of diversity.
The reality is that modern day black Republicans are promoting a fantasy of a bygone Republican Party and will have to publicly address the massive voter suppression by their modern Republican Party if they’re ever going to appeal to ordinary black voters.
Peter Grear writes for Greater Diversity News with a primary focus on voter suppression. Please subscribe to our weekly newsletters. Lastly, to promote our campaign to defeat voter suppression please ask all of your Facebook “Friends” to follow the above-referenced recommendations. •
No Comments so far
Jump into a conversationNo Comments Yet!
You can be the one to start a conversation.Only registered users can comment.