By Raynard Jackson
Columnist
A few weeks ago I wrote a column titled, “Republican Presidential Candidates Lack Diversity.” I called out Republican presidential campaigns for not having any Blacks on staff or as consultants. I
received several phone calls from various campaigns with them
expressing their “disappointment” in my piece; they didn’t deny the
facts of my piece, just the fact that I criticized Republicans.
These campaigns and the party, as usual, are missing the point. While diversity within a presidential campaign is extremely important; the optics are even more important for 2016. In
the immortal words of my good friend John Travolta from the movie
Swordfish, “What the eyes see, and the ears hear; the mind believes.” I have dubbed this the eyes, ear, and mind principle (E.E.M.).
Can you name me one Black who has been publically validated by the leaders of the Republican Party? I
am speaking in terms of a Black who is known and respected both in the
Black community, as well as the White community; a Black who is well
regarded in both communities simultaneous.
Have you seen one Black get out of the car or off the plane with any of our candidates for president? Have you ever seen one Black with House Speaker John Boehner or Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell?
Since
Blacks are not seen in the party, nor heard in the party; it is
understandable why in the mind of Blacks we believe there is no place in
the Republican Party for us; the E.E.M. principle in effect.
Issues
of race will be one of the top three issues going into next year’s
elections and the Republican Party is totally unprepared to deal with
anything with a racial component. Look no further
than the anemic response our presidential candidates have given to
issues like Ferguson, Baltimore, or South Carolina. How
do you expect these campaigns to adequately respond to these issues
when they have all White staffs, consultants, and pollsters?
The
National Urban League’s annual convention last week provided a great
teachable moment for Republicans; but I doubt very seriously that they
will learn from it.
I
have been telling Republicans for years that they should never attend
or speak to any of the major Black organizations unless they are given
certain concessions. I am speaking about groups like the National Urban League, the NAACP, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ), etc.
These
Black groups are all very liberal in their orientation and rarely if
ever have Black Republicans on any panels during their conventions. So
why would any Republican go there and give a speech, only to have the
group’s members constantly criticize the Republican messages; if there
are no Black Republicans on various panels to push back on this
criticism then the speech is a total waste of time?
JEB
Bush spoke at the Urban League’s conference last week only have Hillary
Clinton thoroughly eviscerate Bush and Republicans and we had no one to
refute Hillary’s bogus speech. Bush’s speech
said absolutely nothing of relevance to the audience or the Black
community; and I can guarantee you that the speech was written by a
white staffer with no input from any Blacks that understand
communications and the Black community. So Bush got what he deserved.
Republicans go to these groups simply out of fear. They
are terrified of being called a racist, so they go to these groups with
hat in hand because they have no Blacks around them who are willing to
take a hard line with these liberal Black groups. If these groups refuse to have Black Republicans participate in their conferences, why would party leaders agree to speak?
The
Black community is not hearing anything of any relevance to them from
these presidential candidates specifically or the party in general.
If
Blacks don’t see anything, or hear anything of relevance to us; then
the mind will tell us Republicans don’t give a damn about our vote. The
Republican Party has a brand problem within the Black community and
until they decide to deal with the eyes, ears, and mind they will never
make any gains in our community.
Rand
Paul deserves some credit for attempting to engage with the Black
community, but his execution was horrible at best; incompetent at worst.
Isn’t it amazing that Republicans have done absolutely nothing to build relationships with the Black business community? Not
only are they an invaluable source for policy input; but they are also a
great source for potential political contributions.
Even with the upcoming presidential debate on Thursday with FOX News, you have all white journalists asking the questions. Why
would FOX not at least have Kelly Wright (my fellow Oral Roberts alum)
or Juan Williams as one of the questioners since they both work for FOX?
To
my knowledge, I don’t think either party has ever had a journalist from
a Black newspaper ever participate in a presidential debate.
Why? There are over 200 Black newspapers in the U.S. I
hope the Republican Party will mandate a least one journalist from a
Black newspaper be chosen to participate during one of the many upcoming
Republican debates.
I will continue to write about these issues of diversity until the party finally begins to look like America. But too often Republicans try to do the right thing; but they do it the wrong way.
Raynard
Jackson & Associates, LLC is an internationally recognized
political consulting, government affairs, and PR firm based in
Washington, DC. Jackson is an internationally recognized radio talk show host and TV commentator. He has coined the phrase “straticist.” As a straticist, he has merged strategic planning with public relations. Visit is website at: www.raynardjackson.com.
My book is now available for purchase on my website: www.raynardjackson.com
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