I have a dream. I have a dream that one day, the voice of the ethnic minorities will be heard and represented in all political parties, whether it is red, green, or blue. For years, there were promises from the GOP that it would once again uphold Lincoln's legacy and become the party of racial inclusion. This year, the GOP finally appears to be putting real substance behind their promise, recruiting several Afro-Americans to run for competitive political races.
The question remains whether these Afro-American candidates will bring forth genuine change in the message of the Republican Party this year. In the past, the GOP has ostentatiously displayed its faithful black party members, namely Thomas Sowell, Alan Keyes, Herman Cain, and Justice Clarence Thomas, to prove its ethnic diversity. Yet, a majority of the Afro-Americans found it quite repelling that many of these "black conservatives" seemed more like spokesmen for the "White Republicans," than representatives of the Afro-American community's interest. Blasting their fellow kinsmen for being "Uncle Toms" and suspecting the GOP's outstretched hand to be a deceptive ploy to get their votes, the Afro-American community has remained one of the most loyal voting blocs for the Democratic Party.
Ken Blackwell, the Secretary of State of Ohio, is well on his way to be the GOP's gubernatorial candidate. Yet, Blackwell faces a huge obstacle in proving (especially to his own Afro-American community) that he is not a party ideologue. Blackwell's push for a referendum on TEL (the Tax and Expenditure Amendment that would drastically reduce government spending) has been met with stiff resistance. Blackwell's involvement with the Ohio Restoration Project, which seeks to register 500,000 new "Christian" voters, could easily cause a firestorm, particularly when one of the project organizer is advocating for war on "secular jihadists" that "hijacked America." In addition, the fact that the Ohio state website deliberately revealed social security numbers will probably infuriate the voters concerned with the protection of their personal information.
Lynn Swann, the former sports broadcaster for ABC is the presumed GOP candidate for the Pennsylvania gubernatorial race. While best known for winning four Super Bowls with the Pittsburgh Steelers, even Republicans are divided over whether Swann is qualified to serve. His only political experience is as the chairman of Bush's Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, compared to the solid political profile of the former Philadelphia mayor and incumbent governor, Ed Rendell.
Michael Steele, the Lieutenant Governor of Maryland, is running for the US Senate, advocating for the interests of the minority-run businesses and five historical black colleges, Steele strives to prove he is no "Uncle Tom". Yet Maryland happens to be one of the five most Democratic states in the US, with Bush's popularity at 33%. "Displeased" with Bush's apparent ineptness in handling the Hurricane Katrina disaster, the Afro-American community may not appreciate that Bush raised $500,000 to support Steele's campaign last year. His affiliation with Maryland's GOP governor Robert Ehrlich, (who supports a 40 percent increase in state college tuition and approves the use of the death penalty for an Afro-American convict, Wesley Baker) could only make Steele more vulnerable against the voters' current displeasure with his party.
Accused of being primarily the party of the white community, the GOP now struggles to reshape its image as a multi-ethnic party. Yet the GOP's symbolic black candidates would simply be just symbolic if the party and its candidates fail to prove their capability and willingness to address the concerns of the black community. The high profile black GOP candidates mentioned earlier all have the right skin color, yet can they really prove that they will bring their party to promote a meaningful connection with the values of the Afro-American community? Perhaps it is time for the Republican Party to shift its focus from "How can we get the ethnic minorities on our side" to "How we can be on the side of the ethnic minorities."
Jong Eun Lee is a freshman in the College of Arts and Sciences, and a liberal columnist for the Eagle.
