(from the archives, June 2004)
I have been appointed to startup the new Southwest Los Angeles chapter of the CCR, the California College of Republicans. This chapter's territory is the 47th Assembly district which encompasses, among many other neighborhoods, Ladera Heights, View Park, Baldwin Hills and 'the Dons' which comprise, next to PG County in Maryland, one of the largest upscale African American communities in the nation. It's where I grew up.
The CCR is one of about 7 grass roots statewide Republican feeder organizations. Each has its own charter and character. I have only met a few of the CCR officers, but I do know that the statewide chair is of Arab descent. (The other two CCR folks I have met are black including the president for LA County, and the president of the South Central chapter.)
This Thursday, I will be attending my first meeting, headed by Austin Dragon, the South Central president. Julia McGinty (I believe is her name) will be the featured speaker. She is an officer in the Schwartzeneggar camp.
My purpose in Republican activism is to establish an independent grass roots black conservative voice which constitutes a credible and practical threat to the status quo. This should affect Democratic complacency, black political fence-sitting, Republican disrespect and the overall domestic dialog on black progress. My goal was to increase black Republican registration threefold over the next 7 years. My expectation was to move from 5 to 15%, and I expected that the constituency in question would be comprised largely of upscale white collar blacks as well as small businesmen and Independents. However I am finding that there is even a broader spectrum of blacks that the GOP might appeal to.
Along the way I expect to do a lot of mythbusting and basically see for myself what's up with the Republican Party. I am especially concerned at the distance and difference between Ward Connerly and a black constituent base, and my inspection of Thomas Wood, a coauthor of prop 209 (CCRI), demonstrates that there is some real sense of responsibility to anti-discrimination. In otherwords, smart Republicans are calling Ward on his ahistorical shit.
I have been impressed with Republicans in local politics, especially Steve Soberoff, for whom I voted in the last LA mayoral campaign.
Online is crap. And that includes Project 21 which although I don't find suspect in its motives, I find lacking in its sophistication. Still, I think my own prejudices about people needing to come Correct makes me more critical than I need to be. I don't think that the average voter needs a 10 page thesis on why they should vote Republican (or just register Republican), I think they just need a few good reasons. And I find the reasons against such a move to be generally stereotypical ranting.
My focus in Republican politics is local, local, local. While I may be a strategic thinker, I am really interested in patronage. What do I get for delivering votes? Who do I get to know? What plans am I made aware of? This isn't rocket science. Half of the people in government are having conversations that African Americans are not a part of and that has largely been by African American choice. I choose to find out. Nobody's stopping me, and so far I've been encouraged and welcomed.
There is only a limited amount of *anything* that's going to get done through politics. And I think that the reason the Sharpton and Jackson et al still get credibility is because blackfolks haven't chosen anyone else. What do we want from politics? What do we want from government? And if the whole universe of black demands are more health care, more civil rights, more decriminalization of drugs, then Sharpton is the answer. If your political agenda comes from the civil rights movement exclusively, then Sharpton has you covered. But if you want something else then you have to turn to somebody else. So part of this is about finding what else is available, because black patronage has been very narrowly defined. That may have been enough for daddy, but it ain't enough for me, and it won't suffice for my children.
The Conservative Brotherhood is working. We may decide to do a group blog but for now, we're all independent voices on the right. And since these are people who already are self-motivated, credible and popular, we don't worry about falling off. I think this is the kind of organization we need to build. Just networking people who, like Cosby, have always been doing the same old thing. It's just a little bit higher profile - because people don't know.
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