The Republican Party: A Minority Viewpoint...
A frequent contributor to my site (and a stanch Republican) recently left a discussion point question why Black Americans and other minorities find it hard to back the "party of Lincoln"; i.e. the Republican Party. Herein lies his answer.
I cannot even began to speak for some 35 million Black Americans, but will instead impart this Black man's reasons for not throwing the full weight of my support behind the Republican Party, here after known as RP.
First, let me state that I am an Independent, a swear allegiance to no Party, and I voted as an Independent in the last general election. Although it may appear as though I lean toward the Democratic Party on most issues, rest assured that I have grave differences with them as well, but not as many as I seem to have with the Republican Party.
Conservative Image: My image of the RP, rightly or wrongly, is shaped by the Party's actions and membership over the last 25 years. In my view the party is made up of mostly well to do, conservative white men and women who lack compassion, understanding, and empathy for the average American. They have nothing in common with me other than our shared citizenship; they don't like me and I by-and-large do not like them, and they are content to keep it that way. They were born into privilege by virtue of their money, skin color, or both. I understand all to well that this image is somewhat flawed, that the Republican Party has other members, but even those are mostly white males who share the same values and or principles as their Republicans contemporaries. But it is the elite and rich few of the RP—the ultra rich, and ultra conservatives—that seem to be setting the agenda for the Party. They have devised a platform that I find less than compelling, and designed to exclude minorities by virtue of the Party platform rather than include.
Intolerance: Perhaps it is because I hold our Constitution and Declaration of Independence in such high regard, that I believe in the principles set forth in those famous documents and try to live them everyday, that I cannot in good conscience, support the RP. I truly believe that EVERY man is create equal, and that every man—and woman—has a right to pursue live, liberty, and happiness on an equal footing before the law. And I believe that the government has an obligation to the people from which it is composed and derives its power, to see to it that every citizen is given a chance to pursue the forgoing free—insofar as possible—from it interference.
Latest Articles