RealClearPolitics posts some of RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman's July 14 speech before the NAACP. We repost bits n' pieces approvingly.
The party of Lincoln and the African American community have a proud history together.
Our party was founded to eliminate slavery, and our first Republican President was Abraham Lincoln, the Great Emancipator.
It was the Republican Party that led the effort to pass the 13th, 14th and 15th amendments.
We spearheaded the Homestead Act of 1862 and the Morrill Land Grant College Act, which recognized that education and opportunity and property ownership were all essential to the American Dream.
(snip) The history of the other party is a different one. Democrats were the party of Jim Crow and Democratic filibusters blocked progress for decades.
Despite this history, the Democratic Party by the 1960s had something real and tangible to overcome this legacy. Lyndon Johnson, a Democratic President, signed what in my opinion were the most important laws of the 20th century: the civil rights act, voting rights act, open housing law.
By the 70s and into the 80s and 90s, the Democratic Party solidified its gains in the African American community, and we Republicans did not effectively reach out.
Some Republicans gave up on winning the African American vote, looking the other way or trying to benefit politically from racial polarization. I am here today as the Republican Chairman to tell you we were wrong.
But if my party benefited from racial polarization in the past, it is the Democratic Party that benefits from it today.
I know it is not in my interest as chairman of the Republican Party for close to 90% of African-Americans to vote for the Democrat every election. But more important, it’s not in the interest of African-Americans for 90% to vote for the Democrat every election.
And it’s not healthy for the country for our political parties to be so racially polarized.
African-American voters should have the benefit of a two-party system. In recent years, the Democratic Party, in my judgment, has come to take many African American voters for granted.
Just as the Democrats came to this community in 1964 with something real to offer, today we Republicans have something that should cause you to take another look at the party of Lincoln.
Just last month, Bruce Gordon talked about a wider vision of civil rights. "We've got to get the right emphasis placed on economic equality," he said. "I happen to think that when you have economic stability and equality that often becomes an enabler for social equality."
I couldn’t agree more.
The next step in civil rights is to build on equal treatment under the law to ensure equal opportunity to pursue the American Dream -- equal opportunity in education, equal opportunity in where you live, equal opportunity in making a living, equal opportunity for a secure retirement.
To all Americans who want equal opportunity in America, give us a chance, and we’ll give you a choice.
This message -- give us a chance and we’ll give you a choice—should sound familiar. It’s the same theme that 50 years ago inspired decent Americans like Joe Mehlman to support the work of the NAACP. We’re not asking for folks to embrace all of our policies or to vote for all of our candidates. We’re not asking for agreement on everything or endorsement of our platform. All we’re asking for is a fair hearing, the chance to make our case, the benefit of the doubt that we’re sincere in wanting to renew our historic bonds.(snip) Renewing our common bonds is important for the African American community. As my law school classmate and friend and now Senator Barak Obama says, there’s a reason that the farmers usually get what they want in politics. All Americans – white, black, Asian, Hispanic – are better served by having two parties competing for their attention and their support.
The NAACP is too important, your mission too urgent, to be identified with one political party. As we go forward, let’s talk more, and look for more opportunities where we can work together. And when we do disagree—and we will—let’s remember our proud past and what we can accomplish when we work together.
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