Are Blacks the Republican Party’s future?

Up until the 1930s, the majority of Black Americans were Republican, proud to be in the Party of Lincoln.

The song that would become known as the Black national anthem, “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” was written by James Weldon Johnson — a black Republican — in 1900, and was sung in celebration of President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

Nine years later, on Lincoln’s 100th birthday, the NAACP was formed.

Fast forward to the modernday presidential elections.

From Ronald Reagan to the Bushes, and John McCain to Mitt Romney, the percentage of Black voters pulling for Republican candidates has been meager, from low single digits to around 12%.

Notably, Donald Trump, who garnered 8% in 2016, increased his share of the Black vote by 50% four years later, including winning nearly 20% of Black males.

To succeed, the Republican Party needs articulate leaders who can communicate why their solutions make the most sense for all Americans, especially the Black community.

Trump came close, but as was often the case throughout his presidency, his controversial behavior ended up overshadowing much of what was achieved.

And quite a lot was achieved prior to the pandemic: recordlow unemployment in the Black community, and a huge gain in Black household wealth.

Per the Federal Reserve: “Between 2016 and 2019, median wealth rose for all race and ethnicity groups. Growth rates for the 2016—19 period were faster for Black and Hispanic families, rising 33 and 65 percent, respectively.”

Yet despite that track record, the GOP still lags far behind Democrats in winning support from the Black community, in large part because it lacks leaders who can heal wounds and be uniters. Over the years, not enough Republicans spent substantial time in Black communities during elections, likely figuring that their time was better spent elsewhere.

That shortsightedness — not planting seeds for success in later years — continues to haunt the GOP, as the Black vote has arguably never been as important as it is today.

And given how many elections are nail-bitingly close, every vote from every constituency matters more than ever.

According to the Pew Research Center, fewer than one in three Black Democrats identified as being liberal: “In 2019, 43% of black Democrats called themselves moderate, 29% called themselves liberal and 25% called themselves conservative.”

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. espoused ideals more eloquently than most.

Look at the words in his most famous statement “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

That is a Republican-oriented sentiment, as the GOP platform advocates a color-blind society, where people are judged by their deeds, not skin pigment.

Another guiding principle of the GOP is personal responsibility, and no one epitomized that value more than King, as he never ran from the law during a protest.

Knowing how high the risks were, he took full responsibility anyway, innately understanding that the way to achieve freedom was to work within the American system, changing it from the inside by winning the hearts and minds of the American people. And that’s exactly what he did.

Ironically, however, despite many Blacks today holding beliefs that reflect the Republican platform, the majority still vote Democratic, even when that party’s positions are contrary to their own interests. Consider: • Who is most affected by violent crime, and desperately needs fully-staffed police departments?

• Who gains tremendous benefit from the ability to defend oneself with a gun?

• Who is severely impacted by exorbitant taxes and high public transportation fees?

• Whose jobs are affected by an influx in illegal immigration?

• Who strives for a solid family unit, knowing the often-catastrophic results of children growing up without a father in the household?

• And who better understands the reality that many of our failed public schools, especially those in the inner cities, have become literal battle zones — and that the only way to achieve a quality education, and with it one’s dreams, is through parental choice in education? Black Americans. If the GOP finds the right leader, and stays true to the platform that will lift all boats, it will finally give the Black community all the reasons it needs to return to its political roots.

And that’s as simple as black and white — or, more accurately, Republican Red.