There was a time when Black Republicans like Frederick Douglass championed the cause of racial justice. They were the “progressives” of their day. None were perfect, but most had a sense of integrity. Colin Powell comes to mind when I think of truly principled Republicans today.
And it was a Black Republican named Arthur Fletcher who was the “father of affirmative action.”
So the irony should not be lost on us as the current iteration of the Republican Party has been against affirmative action for decades. A ruling by the conservative-dominated U.S. Supreme Court in 2023 reinforced this position.
Joel Bowman
Under the stranglehold of former President Donald Trump, today’s Grand Old Party only elevates a particular kind of African American politician. Such a politician is in most cases a man, given the patriarchal nature of the party.
A Black man must be deemed “acceptable” by the GOP. It’s not coincidental that a number of aspirational Black Republican men have chosen to marry white women. I believe while some make this choice based purely on love, others do it so they can be seen as “white adjacent.”
‘Useful Negroes’
The Trump-led GOP deploys Black bodies as weapons of mass distraction to provide cover for its racism and anti-Black agenda. I’d like to list three examples of these “useful Negroes” in the GOP. Then, I will describe the anti-Black agenda that ties them all together as those Trump would patronizingly call “my African Americans.”
Sen. Tim Scott
Scott has denied the existence of systemic racism, in keeping with Trump’s position. Further, Scott has said “woke supremacy” is as bad as white supremacy.
“Scott did everything but tap dance and play a banjo to curry favor with Trump.”
In a shameful display of buffoonery, Scott did everything but tap dance and play a banjo to curry favor with Trump. He wrongly thought declaring his “love” for Trump would result in him becoming the vice presidential nominee.
Rep. Byron Donalds
Donalds is a loyal sycophant who routinely lies for the former president. In a recent appearance on CNN, Donalds told two bald-faced lies.
Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump talks with Rep. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., before speaking with Moms for Liberty co-founder Tiffany Justice during an event at the group’s annual convention in Washington, Friday, Aug. 30, 2024. (AP Photo/Mark Schiefelbein)
First, he falsely claimed Trump did not call for a day of violence to deal with crime.
Second, he made the erroneous assertion that crime is “massively up” in the country.
Both these lies were refuted by political commentator Keith Boykin and CNN host Abby Phillips.
Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson
Robinson is one of the worst GOP candidates in recent memory, running to be governor of North Carolina.
CNN uncovered (pun intended) shocking information concerning outrageous and graphic remarks he made on an online pornographic forum. These include self-identifying as a “perv,” calling himself a “Black Nazi” and expressing support for slavery.
Moreover, Robinson reportedly said if he were in the Ku Klux Klan, he would refer to Martin Luther King Jr. as “Martin Lucifer Koon.”
In a move of brazen hypocrisy, Robinson is now demanding Hurricane Helene relief he didn’t vote for.
He has defiantly refused to drop out of North Carolina’s gubernatorial race.
All three of these men are deeply flawed. That’s the way Trump likes his lackeys. And they have happily submitted their bodies to the GOP for weaponization.
Anti-Black agenda
An anti-Black agenda includes positions, policies, practices and propaganda that undermine the holistic flourishing of Black people. It should be noted that a political party can undermine a group’s flourishing even if that is not the stated intention of the party’s actions.
“A political party can undermine a group’s flourishing even if that is not the stated intention of the party’s actions.”
The Democratic Party certainly does not have clean hands with respect to actions that have made a racist impact on the Black community. The mass incarceration of Black men was fed by former President Bill Clinton’s signing of the 1994 Crime Bill.
However, the Trump-led GOP has openly embraced an anti-Black agenda throughout the entirety of its platform. This could have a deleterious impact on Black people and other people of color for years to come.
This agenda includes, but is not limited to:
- Outlawing Diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives
- Removing African American Studies programs
- Banning books by Black authors
- Resisting comprehensive student loan debt relief
- Opposing raising the minimum wage
- Cutting programs for people in poverty, such as AFDC, SNAP, WIC, TANF
- Suppressing votes and engaging in gerrymandering, as well as gutting the Voting Rights Act
- Wholesale deregulation leading to the removal of environmental protections
Black Republicans and The Grift
Clay Cane’s book The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of Trumptakes a deep dive into the phenomenon of grifting. According to Cane, a grifter is “somebody who is hustling and scheming that will say anything and do anything to get access to power, even if it means demeaning their own community.”
Cane makes the salient point that grifting on the part of Black Republicans goes beyond mere opportunism. Such grifters are strategic and calculating in crafting their message so as to remain in the good graces of the white power brokers in the party.
Lost souls
Former Representative J.C. Watts said: “I think the issue on the right is that they do not allow an African American to be Republican, conservative and Black. They say you’ve got to be one or the other.”
“The Republican Party of Donald Trump will not tolerate Black voices that address the evil of racism head on.”
Watts’ frank assessment has proved to be true, time and time again. Unlike the Republican Party of Abraham Lincoln, the Republican Party of Donald Trump will not tolerate Black voices that address the evil of racism head on. But there’s plenty of room within the GOP for opportunists, sell-outs and grifters.
Neither Frederick Douglass nor Colin Powell would find a home in Trump’s GOP. However, Tim Scott, Byron Donalds, Mark Robinson and some other self-serving Black men fit right in.
These men will not have left a legacy worth following. They will not have made a positive difference in the lives of people who look like them. All they will have gained is proximity to white power. But in the final analysis, they will never be white.
“For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?” — Mark 8:36
Joel A. Bowman Sr. is a native of Detroit who has served as a pastor in Louisville, Ky., for 25 years. He also is a licensed clinical social worker with 30 years of experience as a mental health clinician. Follow him @JoelABowmanSr and atacompellingvoice.com.
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