Is America ready for a black president? Absolutely; it has
been for some time. We probably would have had one by now if the
black community had ever supported a conservative the way they
are now supporting one of the most liberal. More than likely the
first black president will be a Republican. Consider the quality
of the party’s candidates and this is a no-brainer.
On August 5th, the New York Young Republican Club had a
fundraiser in Manhattan for Colonel Allen West who is running for
congress. The irony is that Col. West is running for Congress in
Florida and therefore has a chance. The black community in New
York only supports Democrats.
I followed the link to his campaign site www.allenwestforcongress.com
and wasn’t the least bit surprised to read his superb bio.
Col. West has a BS and MS in political science, spent 22 years in
the military and won a Bronze Star, three Meritorious Service
Medals, three Army Commendation Medals (one with Valor) and yes,
he’s black. Best recommendation for his candidacy is that
Keith Olbermann put him on his Worst Person in the World list.
Here in Staten Island, the Democrat Party has never had a black
as a candidate. Republicans had Al Curtis and Terry Player run
for local New York offices in 2002 but the black community
supported the white Democrats instead of two very fine candidates
so that Staten Island’s record for having only elected white
candidates still stands.
CEO Al Curtis was a superb candidate but he made the mistake of
running a color blind race the first time he ran for State Senate
in 2002. A real African-American (born in Liberia) Curtis was
commissioner for New York City Department of Youth Services under
Mayor Rudolph Giuliani. He has served as the president and chief
executive officer of the United Nations Development Corporation
and was a former president of the Staten Island Branch of the
NAACP.
I met him for coffee some time after the 2002 loss and asked him
why he didn’t put his picture on the campaign posters. I
live in Stapleton, a predominantly Democrat district with a large
minority population and felt if the community knew he was a black
man, he would have received more support. I also thought he lost
because he did not have much support from the state GOP. He told
me he wanted to run on the issues not the color of his skin.
The next time around in 2004, Curtis’ campaign was more
pragmatic and had help from the Republicans in Albany but he
accepted the endorsement of the NY Independent Party headed by
black leadership. Unfortunately that leadership deliberately
sabotaged his candidacy by distributing a homophobic letter
against Diane Savino, Curtis’ opponent, which cost him the
race.
Terry Player, another strong candidate ran for the Assembly in
the 61st District, a Democratic North Shore stronghold. Oh did I
mention he’s black and a Republican. Naturally he lost.
New York is not the only state which dooms black conservatives.
In 2006, Michael Steel, the former Lt. Governor of Maryland and a
man many Republicans would vote for president, ran for the U.S.
Senate and almost won. He managed to win the support of prominent
blacks like Russell Simmons and Michael Mfume. He even had a
group called Democrats for Steele organize large turnouts at
events. Steele almost won against Ben Cardin until Parkinson
sufferer Michael J. Fox came to town and played the sympathy card
falsely alleging that Steele was against stem cell research. To
this day many voters still do not understand the difference
between embryonic and adult stem cell research. Had Steele had
the full support of his community, however, this tactic would not
have succeeded but as usual, many blacks still vote straight down
the Democrat ticket.
One would think that a Hall of Famer football star like Lynn
Swann would have aced his run for Pennsylvania governor but once
again, he lost because he ran as a Republican.
The blacks who have attained the strongest national leadership
roles have been Republicans. The first post-reconstruction black
senator was Ralph Bunch; first black Secretary of State, Colin
Powell; first female black Secretary of State, Condoleezza Rice.
It’s insulting to target ethnic groups for their votes as if
we’re not capable of distinguishing the skin color from the
“contents of their character.” Let’s not forget
which party Jim Crow, Bull Connor, George Wallace and Lester
Maddox belonged to.
Fact: Republicans have been ready for a black president since
Lincoln.