One of the few good things that have come out of Barack Obama’s presidency is the self reflection that is going on in the Republican party. I think that one of the problems that white Republicans face is that they are looking at the “race” issue from a perspective that makes no sense to black Americans. Most white Republicans look at the numbers and see that most black Americans, particularly younger black Americans, are more conservative on the issues. For years, conservatives have used this statistic as something of a security blanket. They mistakenly believe that one day, Black America will wake up and realize that conservatives have been right all along! And they’ll start voting Republican!

The problem with that is that black Americans don’t ever hear the conservative side of the issues because Republicans, for the most part, have been avoiding the African American political communities. It isn’t surprising, of course. They hear the rabid accusations made against conservatives by leaders in the community, both during the conventions and independently, and they mistakenly believe that it is pointless to engage in conversation with people so narrow minded. Never mind that it is the audience that we’re really addressing in these issues, and not the stubborn liberal Democrats flooding the auditorium. (or the airwaves.)

The result? 95% of Black Americans vote Democrat every election cycle.

And, yes, there is much frustration on the Republican side with the black community… but PEOPLE. We cannot continue to do what we’ve been doing for the past several decades and just expect that one day! Black Democrats will “wake up” and “see the light”.

If we don’t participate in the conversation, they will never hear another point of view. The status quo will not change because we want it to.

So that’s the first step. There’s more to it then that, of course.

And actually, that long-winded rant was really supposed to be an introduction to this video (which I’m not embedding because I really want you to check out the site it’s on).

How do we start the conversation? My preferred method is to listen first.

UPDATE:

Jeff Swanson articulates this issue far better than I.