Trump can win the White House, if the GOP embraces Black Voters

Trump can win the White House, if the GOP embraces Black Voters

Raynard Jackson says that, historically, America has been at its greatest, when Blacks were actively embraced by the Republican Party.

By Raynard Jackson

(NNPA Newswire Columnist)

On Saturday, September 10, I had the pleasure of being one of the featured speakers for the inaugural Liberty Farm Festival hosted by my good friend Martha Boneta. It was the last gathering of the who’s who of Virginia politics before this year’s presidential election. Donald Trump’s vice presidential running mate, Indiana’s Governor Mike Pence, was the keynote speaker.

There were hundreds, if not thousands of Republicans from across Virginia in attendance. After my speech, I received a standing ovation for my remarks. My speech was, in essence, a recitation of many of the columns I have written over the years about the party needing to get serious about building relationships with the Black community.

Once I left the stage, the audience mobbed me; they wanted to talk with me and get my business card. Then I had a stunning revelation. The Republican Party’s base and rank and file members are not the problem; our leadership is the problem.

There is a huge disconnect between the base of our party and the leadership of our party. Everyone that wanted to speak with me after my speech all agreed that the party needed to engage more substantively with the Black community and they admitted that they needed help in this regards and asked could they meet with me to discuss further in the not too distant future; of course I told them all, “yes.”

These people represented the Republican Party of Virginia (RPV), as well as local and county parties.  Their thirst to increase the diversity within our party was heartfelt and real.

As I have stated many times before, the national party is totally incapable and uninterested in pursuing an honest engagement with the Black community. If it is to happen, it will happen from the ground up and from the outside in.

The base of the party is willing to be led down the path of engagement with the Black community by Blacks like me, as opposed to national party leaders who think they know more about the Black community than Blacks.

I often tell people: “never try to explain your vision to anyone, but rather invite them to stand beside you and to see for themselves.”