Ben Carson: Playing The Race Card

by GDN Shared Post September 10, 2015

Educate, Organize, Mobilize — Over the past two years I’ve written about Black Republicans that are aiding and abetting the voter suppression being carried out by the Republican Party. Republican Presidential candidate, Ben Carson continues in the long line of Black Republicans that are aiding and abetting voter suppression and attempting to kill and bury the 1965 Voting Rights Act.

This week I’m concentrating on the attack on voting rights by Black Republicans. However in the coming week I’ll address other ways that “Ben and the gang” are undermining the quest of Black people for freedom and equal opportunity in America.

Back in December of 2013 I wrote that today’s Black Republicans are hiding behind historical Republican 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 by doing this they’re implying that these and other historical Republican luminaries would stand mute in the face of the current 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 American democracy and Blacks lawful right to “one man and one vote” as guaranteed by the Constitution and secured by the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln. (See link No. 1 below).

In my article on June 26, 2014 I wrote that I was amazed that the Republican National Committee and the Republican Party of North Carolina announced that they have launched the North Carolina Black Advisory Board (BRAB) to strengthen the party’s ties with diverse communities and expand engagement efforts across the state. I presume that by diverse communities, they mean the Black communities. Surely they’ll need a Hispanic Advisory Board to help them with outreach to Hispanic Communities.

This launch amazed me because it took me somewhere that I’d been trying to go since the Republicans passed the Voter Suppression Act of 2013. It took me to an identifiable group of Black Republicans that I could ask why Black voters, whose votes aren’t suppressed, should vote for candidates of the party that is trying to prevent them for voting at all. I’ve yet to get a response to my question. (See link No. 2 below).

On January 30 of this year I wrote about Dr. Ben Carson being recruited to run for President and those who were recruiting him. I wrote that among others, there are Black Republicans involved in his recruitment. My concern then is my concern now, that he and other Black Republicans are aiding and abetting voter suppression and the curbing of Black voting rights. They do this by sitting quietly by as Republican legislatures around the country are enacting and promoting voter suppression laws. By remaining quiet on the issue of voting rights, the Black Republicans are giving their party the appearance of racial fairness and diversity. Why would Black voters support candidates that are hard at work trying to destroy Martin Luther King’s dream and greatest accomplishment, the Voting Rights Act of 1965? (See link No. 3 below).

Back in March I wrote a comment on the Facebook page of Vernon Robinson, my actual and Facebook friend. I wrote “you and Ben Carson sadden me. Instead of insisting that your conservatives support voting rights, you and Ben Carson are aiding and abetting, anti-Black voter suppression, White supremacy and a public policy that brought us the University of Oklahoma.”

Vernon, who is Black, is a right-wing Republican supporter of the presidential candidacy of Ben Carson. My comment caused an avalanche of responses by his White FB friends that attacked me and denied the veracity of my statement. (See link No. 4 below). However, Vernon never denied that his party was involved in voter suppression.

On June 11 of this year I wrote that on Saturday, June 6, 2015, Hasan Harnett was elected Chairman of the NC Republican Party, becoming the first Black person elected to that post. He asserts that his election will help him sell the Republican Party to Black voters. At the convention that elected Hasan, Gov. McCrory made the point that maintaining voter ID laws would remain a high priority for their party. Whether he’ll actually pull it off remains to be seen, but clearly he intends to sell voter suppression and if Black voters aren’t educated, organized and mobilized, Harnett may do it. (See link No. 4 below)

As we report, www.thethirdreconstruction.com is a blog. Our mission is to help build a non-racial, multi-ethnic network of organizations and individuals committed to political, economic, and social justice. Please register on our site and contribute to the development and teaching of the knowledge that is essential to empowering our communities.

Greater Diversity News sponsors www.TheThirdReconstruction.com and covers news that is vital to unrepresented and underserved communities. We need your financial support to help us remain viable.

Peter Grear, Esq. writes for Greater Diversity News and www.thethirdreconstruction.com with a primary focus on political, social and economic justice. To support our efforts, to unite our politics and economics, please “Like” and follow us at www.facebook.com/ThirdReconstruction. Please “Share” our articles and post your ideas and comments on Facebook or at our websites www.GreaterDiversity.com and www.thethirdreconstruction.com. Comments can also be sent to pgrear@thethirdreconstruction.com. Finally, please ask all of your Facebook “Friends” to like and follow our pages.