In his new book, Dr. Earl Hutchinson attempts to analyze and assess the successes and failures of the Republican Party to break the Democrats’ hold on the black vote.

The Emerging Black GOP Majority
by Earl Ofari Hutchinson
Middle Passage Press (July 19, 2006)
Hdbk., 204 pgs.
ISBN: 1881032191

It is no secret that the relationship between black Americans and the Republican Party has been rocky for decades.  Despite its history of ending slavery and getting civil rights legislation through Congress, the GOP’s standing within the black community over the past 40 years has not been positive.  At the same time, the Democratic Party, thanks in large part to the modern-day civil rights establishment, has maintained a virtual vice-like grip on the black vote throughout the entire post-civil rights era.  Since LBJ defeated Barry Goldwater in 1964, Democrats have won 80 to 95 percent of the black vote in every major election – but what have blacks received for their political loyalty in return?

Speaking at the National Urban League’s annual convention during his 2004 re-election campaign, President George W. Bush posed the audience the following question: “What have the Democrats done for you?”  As author and political commentator Earl Ofari Hutchinson notes in his new book, The Emerging Black GOP Majority, that question, bold and audacious as it was, served as a challenge to black America to re-evaluate its decades-long allegiance to the Democratic Party and give the GOP a fresh new look.

Dr. Hutchinson attempts to analyze and assess the successes and failures of the Republican Party to break the Democrats’ hold on the black vote.  The author delves into how both parties have tried to invoke the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in an effort to garner black support, particularly from black clergy.

Dr. Hutchinson discusses the political fallout for the GOP in general and the Bush administration in particular, from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.  In doing so, he implies that whatever gains that President Bush may have made in winning more of the black vote after his November 2004 re-election victory (earning an estimated 10 – 12% of the black vote, as opposed to less than 10% in 2000) may have been severely compromised given the perception of many blacks of how the president handled the Katrina situation.  This is the biggest problem I have with the book.

Hutchinson insinuates that most blacks (if not all) blame President Bush for what Hurricane Katrina did to poor black residents of New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, repeating the accusation by many (including rapper Kanye West) that Bush is insensitive to the needs of blacks.  Yet he makes virtually no mention of the incredible screw-ups committed by New Orleans’ Democratic mayor Ray Nagin, who is black, and Governor Kathleen Blanco, in the days and weeks leading up to Hurricane Katrina.  Such a glaring omission, I feel, will cause some readers to assume that Katrina was “Bush’s fault,” when in fact the lion’s share of the blame rests with Nagin and Blanco.

Another issue I have is that the author insinuates that Republicans have had to resort to “divisive racial rhetoric,” the 1988 GOP Willie Horton campaign ad being one example.  For one thing, Willie Horton, the serial killer serving life in prison in Massachusetts who escaped to ultimately kill again, was black!  During that year’s presidential election, Vice President George H.W. Bush’s campaign used the ad to show, rightly, that his Democratic opponent, Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, was soft on crime.  The ad wasn’t meant to be racially offensive, and the fact that many blacks were “offended” nonetheless just goes to show how many misguided blacks, in the name of “racial solidarity,” will make excuses for every murderous cretin that comes out of the black community who deserves to be behind bars (see Horton).

Secondly, in terms of racial pandering, the Democrats – with the help of the irrelevant civil rights “leadership” – wrote the book on it!  Which political party consistently paints anyone opposed to affirmative action as “racist?”  In fact, the main reason why the Democratic Party has succeeded in winning most of the black vote every election cycle is not because they have done anything to actually deserve it, but because they and their civil rights enablers have succeeded in pandering to the cult of eternal black victimhood and perpetual grievance upon which the modern-day civil rights establishment depends for its very survival. 

Dr. Hutchinson makes a laudable effort to be objective.  However, I get the impression that he goes just a little too easy on Democrats, while not giving the GOP and President Bush enough credit for how its platform and programs have resulted in concrete benefits for black America.  Remember: The Republican Party was founded as the anti-slavery party.  It was a majority of Republicans in Congress that helped pass landmark civil and voting rights legislation in the 1960s.  Black employment and homeownership increased substantially under President Bush.  Furthermore, unlike the Democrats, President Bush supports school choice programs which would overwhelmingly benefit poor black children trapped in failing public schools, and which a majority of black parents support. 

Can anyone point to anything similar in recent years from Democrats?  The author fails to elaborate on this very important point.

Despite its flaws, The Emerging Black GOP Majority serves as an interesting political commentary.

The Emerging Black GOP Majority is available on Amazon.com.