symposium

0 Comments | Insight on the News, Jan 8, 2001 | by J.C. Watts, Jr., | Paul Gottfried

I always have believed the Republican Party will not truly become the majority party until we regain our legacy as the party of minority Americans. To do so, we must continue to bring our message and our ideals to people who in recent history have not traditionally supported the Republican Party.

We don't have to abandon our principles to reach out to minorities; we only have to rediscover them. The principles we stand for -- morality, integrity, personal responsibility -- are universal. Those traits are demanded of all God's creatures, and we have a historic and spiritual responsibility to return the party and our brothers and sisters to those values.

As my friend Jack Kemp has so eloquently stated, it would be a tragic mistake for the party of Lincoln and Douglass to concede the support of minority Americans to the Democrats. It would be more than a tragic mistake. It would be a betrayal of our party's history.

During this past election, Republicans aggressively competed for votes in the black community. Unfortunately, Democrats once again resorted to using the old tactics of fear and racism in shameless attempts to defend their old political regime. But in the long run, those tactics will be short-lived if we stick to our principles and remain diligent in communicating our ideas of freedom and the American Dream.

This year's vote percentages may not reflect any measured progress in the presidential race and some other races, but George W. Bush's message of compassion, individual responsibility and opportunity for all posed a greater threat this year to the professional black politician than ever before. Their all-out vote-turnout effort this year proves that losing ground in the black community is possible. It may be some time before Republican efforts in black communities are fully realized, perhaps long after I've leg politics or not even within my lifetime, but the odds are truly on our side.

Our country's freedom was paid for with the blood of both white and black men. At this important juncture in our history, this party must reach out to its natural philosophic constituency. Our party's growth depends on it. More importantly, our nation's heart depends on it.

BY REP. J.C. WATTS JR.

Watts, an Oklahoma Republican and chairman of the House Republican Conference, is a sponsor of the American Community Renewal Act.

No: Republicans shouldn't sacrifice principle to get into a bidding war with Democrats.

Despite all the outreach displayed by Republicans, including the omnipresent theme of diversity at the Republican National Convention, the Republicans' New Majority Council, established in 1998 to interface with the black community, Bush's persistent refusal to oppose affirmative action in presidential debates and his showcasing of Republican advisers, 93 percent of black voters gave their support to Al Gore and to other Democratic office-seekers.

Adding insult to injury, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), which Bush courted during the campaign, produced shameless TV ads that attempted to link his resistance to hate-crime legislation in Texas to the grisly murder of James Byrd. Notwithstanding his conspicuous outreach, Bush fell almost 8 points behind the percentage of the black vote obtained by Bob Dole in 1996, 9 points behind Reagan's in 1984 and 6 points behind the totals received by the conservative Barry Goldwater in 1964. In the 1950s Dwight Eisenhower carried a majority of the black vote in his presidential campaigns. Syndicated columnist Sam Francis surmised from these figures that an inverse relation exists between the amount of Republican catering to black voters and the results achieved.