By Blacks Should Side With Republicans
The relationship between the black community and the Republican Party is like that of a young couple that has a bad break-up. They used to love each other, but something came between them and they may never reconcile. What a shame that will be if it comes to pass.
The Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln is the party of Emancipation. In the years after the Civil War, Republicans passed the 14th and 15th Amendments legally mandating freedom and equality for every American regardless of race.
From that point on, every political racial milestone was accomplished by the Republican Party. Every black congressman and senator was Republican until 1935. Republican Dwight D. Eisenhower introduced the Civil Rights Act in 1957 after decades of inaction on the parts of Roosevelt and Truman.
Republicans fought a Democratic filibuster attempt by the likes of former Klansman and current Senator Robert Byrd of West Virginia to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964. In the House and Senate, about 80 percent of Republicans voted in favor, while only about 60 percent of Democrats supported the bill.
Even today, Republicans continue the tradition of tearing down racial walls by appointing Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court, Colin Powell as Secretary of State, and Condoleezza Rice as National Security Advisor.
So, why did the Black community turn away from the Republican Party en masse? Republicans still believe in the insignificance of skin color and the necessity of equal opportunity for all people. In fact, the Republican platform is of special benefit to those in the black community.
On education, the Republicans seek to level the playing field with school choice. By allowing parents to choose where their child will go to school, school choice introduces market forces into the education field. Good schools will be rewarded with more students and poor schools will suffer dwindling enrollment until they ultimately change or close. Black families benefit disproportionately from school choice reform because of the high percentage of black children that live in fatherless homes in lawless neighborhoods. Providing money to these families will enable these children to attend a good school regardless of where they live.
Most important issue facing the black community, Republicans have a near monopoly on taking crime seriously. Ronald Reagan’s War on Drugs (regardless of its effectiveness) led to an increased effort to get drug dealers off the streets and protect American children.
Conservative reforms that took place in big cities like New York led by Rudy Giuliani’s helped with a massive decline of lawlessness experienced in the 90s. Republicans also continually fight against liberal judges that give violent criminals a slap on the wrist and put dangerous people back onto our streets, where they usually end up terrorizing black neighborhoods. The liberal ideal of rehabilitation instead of incarceration puts all of our families at risk, but especially affects poor black areas where crime is more prevalent.
The area that Republicans can help the Black community most is breaking the cycle of dependence that the Democrats have imposed beginning with Lyndon Johnson’s Great Society program.
Welfare has enabled lifestyle choices that result in fatherless homes by making a long-term program out of what should be a short-term measure. Once their programs have made individuals dependent on the federal government for handouts, liberals then focus on any apparent racism (whether significant or not) which blinds minorities to important issues.
By focusing on the creation of opportunity for all Americans regardless of race instead of focusing on real oppression of minorities by the upper class, Republicans offer a whole new vision for the black community.
