Cultural Cuisinart

The Washington Post has an observation about the overwhelming homogenous-looking Republican convention. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to look at the convention videos and think "Wow, there's nothing but white people there.".

The article then discusses the Republican Party's troubles recruiting minorities to their party. They talk about how there's not enough "role models" in the party, and if ONLY they had gotten their 3 African American candidates elected in 2006, that would have really "turned the tide" for the party. The article mentions how they attempted to reach out to voters at the 2000 convention by featuring Colin Powell, along with a preacher and a gospel choir as well.

This all misses the point. You can't just make token gestures once every 4 years and expect minority voters to just change their minds. In fact, stunts like the Powell appearance smack of that classic "But some of my best friends are black!" statement. They don't seem to realize that giving up on the black vote because the Democrats happen to have a black candidate this year is, in itself, pandering and insulting. It implies that black voters will choose race above the issues.

Frankly, just look at the conduct of the Republican party this year alone. Their VP nominee openly mocks community organizers, as if it's incredibly hilarious that people (particularly in poor urban communities) would take time out of their day to help their neighbors and create better communities to live in. Yesterday, Georgia Republican Rep. Westmoreland called Barack Obama "uppity". And here's the terrible part: as of this blog posting, not a single Republican has had the courage to condemn him for that. These are just a few examples of the incredibly tone deaf nature of the party of late, so it doesn't take a big leap of logic to guess why minorities are pretty much avoiding this party like the plague.