By Raynard Jackson
BlakPac Blogger
Alright, alright; enough about my column from last week where I
called out several Republican National Committee staffers by name is
because of Chairman Reince Prieibus' total disloyalty and disrespect
towards me and other Blacks. The RNC still has no effective plan or
organization in place to recruit Black candidates or solicit the Black
vote in 2016. That's why the RNC steals from me and groups like BlakPac. No more jokes about me being introverted and never
speaking my mind.
I will admit last week’s column was very pointed and blunt—by design.
I came into the Republican Party in the middle of the Reagan
administration; right after I graduated from Oral Roberts University. But I really cut my political teeth during the Bush 41 campaign and
subsequent presidency. I got a chance to see the Reagan and Bush
administrations up-close, which is why I am the person I am today. Last
week’s column reflected that influence.
The disrespect shown to me by this RNC would have never been
tolerated by team Bush. I had something similar happen back in St.
Louis while Bush was seeking the presidency and the Bush family
personally shut it down immediately and let everyone know in no
uncertain terms that I was part of the Bush team and they would not
allow anyone to disrespect me or the Bush campaign by extension.
This is why the Bush family is so beloved by everyone, even
Democrats. They put a premium on loyalty and will protect those who are
part of their team.
I learned the art of politics from the likes of my former Senators
Jack Danforth, Kit Bond, and John Ashcroft. I had the honor of sitting
at the feet of luminaries like former secretary of state Jim Baker and
former secretary of commerce Bob Mosbacher.
Can you imagine a kid from the hood of St. Louis being able to call
people like these friends? I am still in touch with the Bush family and
all those who were instrumental in my political career. I am even
still in touch with many of my high school and college teachers.
Unfortunately, today’s politics are totally transactional and not personal.
By transactional I mean people only deal with you because you have
the right title or you have something a person needs and people deal
with you strictly on the basis of that paradigm.
These types of relationships are totally foreign to me. Former
senate majority leader Trent Lott, former house majority leader Tom
DeLay, and former congressman Tom Davis are good friends who I stay in
regular contact with. The reason I still stay in touch with them is
because our relationship was never predicated on their titles; but
rather on a personal friendship.
Over the years, some of my friends ended up going to jail because
they crossed certain ethical boundaries. I helped some of them get jobs
or consulting contracts after they served their time. I gave some of
their family’s money when everyone else had turned their backs on them.
So, let’s just say I was very heartened last week with all the phone
calls and emails of support after my friends found out what I was going
through.
Maybe one day former Chair Reince Priebus and these RNC staffers
will learn the value of relationships; because I would never hire
Kristal Quarker, Tara Wall, Orlando Watson, C.J Jordan or any of them
for any job ever. If they will screw over me, what makes you think they
won’t do the same thing to you? I say former Chair because the RNC
would be suicidal to reappoint him after the mess he has created at the
RNC.
Now I hope you have some insight into what made me write last week’s column, beside all the obvious reasons.
Old school politics are about relationships that should last a
lifetime. Old school politics is why I created the Black Republican
Trailblazer Awards luncheon in the first place. Every honoree I have
ever chosen has a personal story of how they have impacted me.
I will continue to host these awards every year to promote Black
Republicans who have left an indelible mark on the Black community, the
Republican Party, and America.
The Republican Party has a great story to tell relative to Blacks,
but they seem totally uninterested and incapable of communicating that
story. The Black staffers in the RNC have absolutely no institutional
memory or curiosity of who the Black trailblazers are.
Black Republicans role in civil right have been allowed to be erased
from the history books because of the Republican Party’s ineptitude in
telling their own history.
Why do Republicans continue to go to groups like the NAACP or the
Urban League for validation in the Black community when they need look
no further than Black Republicans like George Farrell of BlakPac, Bill
Coleman, Bob Brown, Bob Woodson, Kay James, Allegra McCullough, etc.?
No one will tell our story better than us. The Trailblazer awards
is my vehicle to communicate this story and we will continue to use this
vehicle to make America aware that the Republican Party has always been
intimately involved in every major stride the Black community has made
in this country.
The reason Blacks find this hard to believe is that we have allowed
Black liberals to totally erase us from the historical record. I will
not allow the RNC to erase me.
www.blakpac
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