A recent Associated Press story says the Republican Party is making new efforts to reach out to African-American voters.
If that is true it would be a welcome development because African-Americans need to have representation and a voice at the table with the two major parties. But time will tell if the GOP is really serious or if it’s really another half-hearted attempt.
AP reports the GOP is starting up College Republican chapters at historically Black colleges and universities. Last month, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the Republican vice presidential nominee in 2012, met with a group of African-American journalists in an outreach effort.
Reaching out to more African-American voters makes pragmatic sense for the GOP.
The African-American vote has been steadily increasing.
The number of African-American voters stood at 12.9 million in 2000, rose to 14 million in 2004, 16 million in 2008 and to 17.8 million in 2012.
In fact, in 2012, African-Americans for the first time voted at a higher rate, 66.2 percent, than did Whites, with a rate of 64.1 percent, or Asians or Hispanics, with rates of about 48 percent each.
Getting more African-American and other minority votes in the future will become increasingly important as the birth rates among Whites continue to shrink. Within about 30 years, racial and ethnic minorities are expected to make up a majority of Americans.
Republicans often point to history as to why African-Americans should join the GOP. They point out that Republican President Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves, Republicans founded the NAACP and Republicans were critical in passing the Civil Rights Act.
This is all true. But the switch from the majority of Blacks being Republican to the majority being Democrats today came after the passage of the Civil Rights Act under the leadership of Democratic President Lyndon Baines Johnson.
After the passage of the Civil Rights Acts and Voting Rights Act, many Southern Whites left the Democratic Party and Blacks joined the party in droves.
Today, African-Americans vote overwhelmingly Democratic.
Still some African-Americans who normally vote Democratic may be willing to consider voting Republican if the party appeals to their interest and stops insulting them.
Republicans can’t expect African-Americans who may lean conservative to embrace a party whose leaders launch vitriolic attacks against President Barack Obama, the nation’s first African-American president, and appear to attract extremists who make negative racial comments about Blacks.
There are some African Americans who align with the Republican PartyÆs message on such social issues as abortion, gay rights, school choice and prayer in schools.
But African-American voters strongly differ with the conservative view on the federal government’s role in protecting civil rights and providing a social net.
With African-American voters, “economic issues always trump social issues,” said Frederick C. Harris, professor of political science at Columbia University.
(Reprinted From The Philadelphia Tribune)
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