Submitted by j tribble, Mar 22, 2008 10:43

Mr. Bartlett's article provided me a glimpse of how afraid white Republicans are to engage in dialogue with African Americans and their concerns. Senator Obama's candidacy is seen as a racially sensitive minefield which will be difficult for a white Republican candidate to deal with. For too long, members of the human race here in North America have been divided by race by legislation, violence, or by choice. Our country's sad history of slavery, legal Jim Crow segregation, lynching, and defacto segregation today in housing, in public schools, and in American congregations has produced a legacy of misunderstanding, mistrust, anger, and resentment. Senator Obama's recent speech on race offered a rare accounting of the anger and resentment of blacks as well as whites.

Mr. Bartlett correctly cited the New Deal legislation of the 1930's and Civil Rights legislation of the 1960's passed by Democratic presidents as crucial to cementing and maintaining the black vote. He also noted correctly that blacks do not vote Democratic without the expectation that they their concerns will be taken seriously and that they will be partners in shaping their future. It is significant that he cited no major legislative accomplishment of the Republican party since the emancipation of slaves done by President Lincoln who responded to heavy political pressure to preserve the union.

If Republicans are going to be serious about "outreach" to blacks, this requires more than a few profile appointments to be "more racially inclusive." They will need to seriously listen to black concerns, involve black leaders, and invest in strategies that make a material difference in the black community. It is the right thing for the Republican party to do--to represent the interests of all Americans, including those who vote against them.

I have voted for a Democratic presidential candidate in every election that I have been elgible to vote, going back to 1976. I have voted for Republicans on occasion, when I thought it was in my best political interest. For many Americans who bother to vote, it represents "voting for the lesser of two evils." As a black voter, the current political landscape usually only offers me two choices--voting for the evil of a Democratic poliltician who tepidly embraces some of my critical concerns and who involves some qualified black persons as partners in addressing these concerns or voting for the a Republican politician who clearly is scared to embrace my critical concerns and who clearly will not represent my interests. I do not vote for a candidate because he or she is black; I vote for a candidate who will address my political interests.

Democrats don't always get it "right on race." It's high time for Republicans to get in the race by seriously engaging black people and black issues in a substantive way. Indifference to any constitutent group says loud and clear that a political party is not interested in forging a great United States of America. The Republican party sadly remains the "Grand Old Party" of people who do not look like me and do not care about me.

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