One of my favorite movies of all-time is “Deep Cover,” starring Laurence Fishburne. The movie debuted in 1992. Fishburne plays Russell Stevens Jr., an undercover Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) agent. During his initial interview with the DEA, Fishburne’s character was asked: “So, Officer Stevens, tell me, do you know the difference between a Black man and a n–ger?”
Fishburne’s reply was epic: “The n–ger’s the one that would even answer that question.”
Likewise, I have a similar question for Black Republicans: Do you know the difference between the real Black Republicans, the ones who rightfully called out President Trump on his statements about Charlottesville, and the sellouts?
The sellouts are the ones who tried to justify Trump’s tepid response.
I am stunned and thoroughly embarrassed by Black Republicans, who have actually tried to justify and explain away Trump’s statements about Charlottesville. It’s hard enough being Black and Republican under the best of circumstances, but when you have fools spewing all manner of ignorance in the media in hope of “massa” patting them on the head and saying “good boy,” it makes it much more difficult to get Blacks engaged in our party.
Bill Douglas and Anita Kumar, from the McClatchy news service, wrote an interesting piece on this issue.
I rarely call people out by name, but with the issue of Charlottesville being so serious, I am compelled to do so. I am intentionally not giving background information on these embarrassing characters; you can google them on your own.
Ward Connerly, Paris Dennard, Tracy Winbush, Glen McCall, Mark Burns, Darrell Scott and Bruce LeVell were just a few of the so-called Trump surrogates that made outrageous statements. They should not only have their Black cards revoked permanently, they should also hand over their Republican cards, as well.
In the McClatchy article, Connerly said that, “President Trump suffers from a style that many Americans are turned off by. People should give him a chance.”
What the hell does that have to do with what the president said? Absolutely nothing.
Dennard continues to spew White House talking points like, “The president said very strongly…that he condemns all forms of violence, bigotry, and hatred.” Dennard chose to ignore the president’s tone and “violence on many sides, on many sides” rhetoric.
In a statement about the protests and violence in Charlottesville, Va., Winbush, the president of the Ohio Black Republicans Association said that, “If our media had not promoted the scheduled White supremacist rally, it is our belief the violent activities would not have risen to the level it did and we would not be having this discussion.”
Now, juxtapose those buffoonish comments with the statements made by Senator Tim Scott (R-S.C.), Representative Will Hurd (R-Texas), and Representative Mia Love (R-Utah)
In an interview with VICE News, Scott said, “I’m not going to defend the indefensible…[Trump’s] comments on Monday were strong. His comments on Tuesday started erasing the comments that were strong. What we want to see from our president is clarity and moral authority. And that moral authority is compromised when Tuesday happened. There’s no question about that.”
During an interview on CNN, Congressman Hurd said, “I don’t think anybody should be looking at getting props from a grand dragon of the KKK as any kind of sign of success.”
Congressman Love tweeted, “The violence & hatred in Charlottesville is repulsive. This is not who we are as a nation. We must be united against this bigotry.”
Compare the comments from Connerly, Dennard and Winbush with the statement from my friends in the Jewish community. There is not one Jewish Republican, who has remotely tried to justify the president’s comments about Charlottesville, nor has any Jewish person attempted to blame the liberal media; nor has any Jewish person blamed Trump’s comments on his lack of political experience.
They have all, without exception, been of the same mind: that the president needs to be more clear about his total repudiation of the White nationalists, Neo-Nazis and anti-Semites that rallied in Charlottesville. Period!
The Republican Jewish Coalition is a very influential group and they made a very blunt, powerful statement directed at President Trump. Their statement said in part, “We join with our political and religious brethren in calling upon President Trump to provide greater moral clarity in rejecting racism, bigotry, and antisemitism.”
So, let me get this straight, you have prominent Blacks and Jews, with impeccable integrity and unquestioned party credentials, denouncing Trump, a sitting president, but then you have some no-name, Black sycophants making excuses for the commander-in-chief.
You have all four joint chiefs of staffs denouncing the president, but these weak Blacks volunteered to go to the media to support this president. They were not asked by the White House to do this. They have been well trained to do “massa’s” bidding unprompted.
I hope you are beginning to see the picture.
Isn’t it amazing that neither the president nor his staff have reached out to the only three Black Republican members of Congress?
In the immortal words of my homeboy from St. Louis, Michael McDonald of the famed Doobie Brothers: “But what a fool believes, he sees/No wise man has the power to reason away/What seems to be/Is always better than nothing.”
Raynard Jackson is founder and chairman of Black Americans for a Better Future (BAFBF), a federally registered 527 Super PAC established to get more Blacks involved in the Republican Party. BAFBF focuses on the Black entrepreneur. For more information about BAFBF, visit www.bafbf.org. You can follow Raynard on Twitter @Raynard1223.