I have sat down to write a column on race four or five times, and each time a voice in my head has persuaded me not to. No one is interested in what a white Republican has to say about race in America. Having never experienced discrimination and having come from a predominantly white high school, it would be condescending of me to think I could contribute something to the debate. The ideas espoused by my party run contrary to the best interests of the African-American community and Republican strategists would be best served by spending more time trying to assemble a winning coalition of white voters.
The previous paragraph represents the very worst kind of thinking in America, the kind of rationale that hurts everybody. Given demographic trends, the Republican Party will not last long in the 21st century unless it begins to draw minority voters from the Democratic Party. Conversely, the Democrats cannot continue to cast all Republicans as racially insensitive or they will lose credibility with both white and black voters. Hurt most of all are blacks themselves, who will never be fully and effectively represented while one party ignores them and the other takes them for granted. President Bush received only eight percent of the black vote in 2000, a number that may actually shrink in 2004. Blacks continue to vote overwhelmingly for Democratic candidates at all levels of public office. This is a bad thing for the country because when unanimity in any part of the electorate is acceptable to both sides, ideas are stifled and voters are short-changed.
In the past few weeks several incidents have thrust this country back into a debate on race relations. First, Senator Trent Lott implicitly espoused nostalgia for the days of segregation by retroactively endorsing Thurmond's 1948 Dixiecrat presidential run. Just last week the Bush administration filed a brief on behalf of the plaintiffs in two Supreme Court cases on affirmative action at the University of Michigan. The plaintiffs, who are white, claim that a point-based system of admission discriminates against non-minorities. These two events allowed opponents of the Republican Party to label it as hostile toward black people. Whether or not this is true, it is undeniable that when it comes to race many Republicans continue to display an alarming degree of clumsiness, as if they sometimes fail to give careful thought to racial sensitivities when explaining their positions on the issues. This clumsiness is partially due to the presence of members in the party who may indeed look back on the days of segregation with fondness. As the last generation of segregationists begins to die out, however, it is incumbent upon the newest generation of Republicans to realize that they are going to begin to need black votes to survive.
To regain competitiveness, Republicans should begin by asking this one simple question: what have Democrats been doing for the black community over the past three decades? The American left needs to be exposed for what it is: a political relic with a paucity of new ideas and a propensity to sell out one group when it needs to pander to another. This is a fairly serious charge, one that merits some explanation.
School vouchers are a great example of Democrats not acting in the best interest of the black community. Black neighborhoods are home to a disproportionate number of failing public elementary and high schools. Vouchers are one way to allow low-income parents to pull their children out of these schools and send them elsewhere, either to a better public school or a private school of some kind. Democrats are quick to jump on these programs and insist that they will drain needed funds from public schools, but whenever a state or locality starts giving out vouchers there are black parents lined up around the block to get them. Perhaps coincidentally, the public school teachers' unions all over the country are huge contributors to the Democratic Party, and they obviously oppose voucher programs. Democrats insist that pouring more money into failing public schools is the real solution to America's education woes.
President Bush's faith-based initiative is another example of a Republican idea specifically geared to assist poor inner-city areas that was quickly shot down by Democrats. Since churches and religious charities often play important roles in poor neighborhoods, Bush proposed investing government funds in these organizations in an attempt to ensure the presence of a strong positive force for America's poorest families. Thanks to a lot of hand wringing from many shrill civil liberties groups, however, the plan was scrapped before it was even formally introduced. Democrats offer no alternative plan to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods.
My point is not that Republicans have all the answers to all of the problems confronting the black community in America. It is simply that based purely on the ideas put forth by both the party, Republicans should certainly be able to attract more than eight or 10 percent of the black vote. The only way the GOP will enhance its appeal is to have the courage to jettison the rest of its Trent Lott types. If it fails do so, not even promising plans for education and general social improvement will convince African-Americans that the Republican Party is sensitive to their interests.
