I have long-since characterized Black History Month as outdated and insulting — African American journalists Cynthia Tucker and Rochelle Riley have offered similar sentiments — because it continues to support the idea of two Americas, rather than honoring the breadth of our nation’s upward climb toward civil rights and cultural solidarity.
Nonetheless, in the GOP’s latest move to try to shore up support among groups of people they have spent decades disparaging, the Republican National Committee has rolled out a series of Black History Month ads honoring blacks leaders of the party, like Condi Rice, Colin Powell, Allen West, Louis Sullivan etc.
Here is one of the ads:
CNN opinion writer Andra Gillespie makes a couple important points about how the GOP’s strategy to cater to the black vote lacks perspective and an understanding about why black and Latino voters tend to vote liberal:
Some Republicans rightfully point out that during the civil rights movement, Southern Democrats tried to block passage of the Civil and Voting Rights Acts. They forget, however, that in the past 50 years, white Southern Democrats (both racists and non-racists) have gradually shifted their party identification to the Republican Party. They don’t account for the fact that GOP has admitted to (and apologized for) purposely using racially coded language to win over racially resentful whites in the wake of the civil rights movement.
And they ignore data that confirm that while black political views have moderated in the past generation, blacks still tend to prefer a stronger federal state and greater governmental intervention, in large part because they perceive the federal government to have done a better job than state and local officials at protecting civil rights.
Take Scott’s statement in the video above, in which he tells us, in his best affluent white person voice, about some sage advice he received from an unnamed “individual that came along”
who taught me that you have to earn success. He taught me to think my way out of poverty. He taught me that in America all things are possible.
And the GOP wonders why they can’t get support from the black and Latino communities? Asinine statements like this should provide a clue. I wonder what would happen if Scott took his luxury vehicle down to the ghetto or barrio and told an 18-year-old kid on the street that he should just think his way out of poverty.
Personally, I don’t understand what people like Scott are doing. Really, I don’t understand how a black person comes to identify with a party that has done so little to bolster inner cities or make health care accessible for poor people. Historically, the conservative party in America has never really had black people’s best interests at heart, and the GOP only seems to feign interest when election time rolls around by adding a few token folks of color to their ranks or blowing out hot air about helping people help themselves. You know why more blacks and Latinos don’t support the GOP? Because they aren’t credulous enough to take the bait.