The Partisan Paradox of Black Republicans
This paradox is not just about the party’s platform. Republicans still struggle with the perception that their party is indifferent to the particular experience of blacks in America. There’s nothing exotic about black people who believe in free markets and small government, who oppose abortion, same-sex marriage, or affirmative action, whose views on immigration and foreign policy are imbued with a strong security-first mindset, or who ascribe to respectability politics and the concept of rugged individualism. They are black conservatives, and they are in ample supply. However, it is unusual to find black people who, in addition to holding these conservative principles, also oppose the Great Society-era statutes outlawing racial discrimination and deem them unnecessary, like many in the Republican Party. Taken together, black Republicans appear to espouse the party platform and accept the party’s view that structural racism does not play a role in denying black America access to today’s meritocratic society.
Black Republicans are outliers in the two camps to which they belong—the elephants in any room they enter. The friction between much of black America and the Republican Party, particularly regarding civil-rights legislation and social programs, makes the position of the black Republican all the more difficult. Recent polling provides evidence of the dissonance. For example, 66 percent of white Republicans believe blacks receive equal treatment in the criminal justice system compared to only 10 percent of blacks. On more controversial matters such as an apology for slavery and reparations, nearly 60% of black Americans support these measures whereas only 10 and 4 percent of Republicans do, respectively. Though racial polarization exists on these issues, the gap is widest between black Americans and Republicans. As a result, black Republicans find themselves as precarious conciliators between two groups that seem uninterested in reconciliation.
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If the Republican Party wants to attract black voters, the path starts with reconciling its past and recognizing the primacy of civil rights. A century of racially driven electoral strategies cannot be undone in one election cycle. From the state-level “lily-white” movement after Reconstruction to the post-civil rights era Southern strategy that realigned the two parties on race, the Republican Party made conscious decisions at the state and federal levels to court the white vote at the expense of the black vote. Reversing this process begins with guaranteeing black Americans that the party won’t undo hard-won federal civil-rights legislation. With the permanence of these laws assured, black Americans would be free to prioritize other policy issues. Conservatives could then find significant numbers of welcoming ears for their economic and domestic policy initiatives.
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