(ThyBlackMan.com) There’s an old adage that says, “What goes around, comes around.” I couldn’t help but think about this adage when I saw the response of many congressional Republicans, after President Trump cut a deal with the congressional Democrats on raising the debt ceiling, Hurricane Harvey relief, and funding for the federal government.
Republican lawmakers were not only highly upset and insulted, they lost their damned minds. They were all over radio, television and newspapers whining and complaining. Many were too afraid to voice their outrage publicly, so they reverted to what all weak people do: they gave the media anonymous quotes.
“Real” Black Republicans go through this all the time and the party leadership doesn’t seem to give a damn. I have a record in my columns and in my other media platforms of publicly and privately expressing my displeasure with the party when they cut deals with Black Democrats at the expense of “real” Black Republicans.
To my congressional Republican friends and major party operatives: Now you know how “real” Black Republicans feel.
Now you know how “real” Black Republicans felt when you hired Roland Martin, a liberal Black Democrat journalist, to emcee my Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon. Roland, who is a good friend, never misses an opportunity to denigrate and diminish all things Republican with his liberal vitriol.
But hey, if Democrats were stupid enough to pay me to call them names, hell, I’d take the money too!
Now you know how “real” Black Republicans felt when Attorney General Jeff Sessions met with Al Sharpton and Marc Morial two weeks after he was sworn into office. To this day, he has never met with any Black Republicans. I worked on Session’s first senate campaign in 1996. Sessions is a great person, but I still wonder which White House staffer set up this disastrous meeting.
Sharpton and Morial have called Sessions everything, but a child of God since their meeting. So, what was the purpose of their meeting—race insurance? Enquiring minds want to know.
Now you know how “real” Black Republicans feel when in 2009, former Speaker of the House, Newt Gingrich cut a deal to go on a national speaking tour with Sharpton promoting educational reform.
Three years later, when Gingrich decided to run for president in 2012, Sharpton used some of the most vicious language to attack Gingrich in his efforts to diminish his presidential aspirations.
So much for thinking you can buy your enemy’s loyalty and affection by getting in bed with them.
So, to all the Republicans who are angry at President Trump: we “real” Black Republicans feel your pain.
It’s not fun, is it?
So, just maybe, next time you will think twice when you want to engage with the Black community by courting Black Democrats at the expense of Black Republicans.
Maybe, just maybe, your experience with Trump will make you a little more sensitive to our plight.
Nothing positive has ever come out of Republicans meeting with Black, liberal Democrats. But yet, you continue to meet with these liberal individuals and groups like the NAACP and the National Urban League. Why?
It reminds me of the movie classic, “The Wizard of Oz.” What you were looking for was right before you all along. The Tinman already had a heart, the Lion already had courage, the Scarecrow already had a brain; they just simply needed to be reminded of that which they already had.
The Black community already supports the policies of the Republican Party, but the party needs to awaken from their slumber and recognize that which they already have.
Historically, Blacks have spent more time in the Republican Party than they have in the Democratic Party. In the immortal words of my grandmother, “your actions speak so loud, I can’t hear a damn thing you are saying.”
The message is not the problem. The messengers that congressional Republicans use are the problem. The Blacks you try to promote have absolutely no standing in the Black community.
But congressional Republicans are comfortable with liberal, Black Democrats, because Republican lawmakers know that the Black Democrats will simply do whatever they’re told to do. Congressional Republicans, in essence, tell the Black Democrats how to be Black like the Black acting school scene in Robert Townsend’s classic movie “Hollywood Shuffle.”
So, to my Republican friends: come on back home to the Black community. You don’t have to continue to live in the fake world of Oz. To my Republican friends: if you awaken from your sleep, you will find a whole new world of possibilities waiting for you in the Black community.
Staff Writer; Raynard Jackson
Mr. Jackson is also founder of a political and industrial consultant firm which is based in Washington, DC; Raynard Jackson & Associates.
