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RNC Convention Missed Several Opportunities To Attract Blacks And Other Minorities To The Party

By Quiana Fulton
Published on: 13:00 PST, Jul 24, 2016

Despite what recent reports claim, minorities aren’t flocking to Republican candidate Donald Trump. That’s a huge problem for Trump and the Republican Party considering the diverse electorate they will face in 2016.

In 2012, CNN exit poll revealed President Obama won 93 percent of the black vote, 71 percent of the Hispanic vote, 3 percent of the Asian vote, and 76 percent of the LGBTQ vote. There’s no doubt about it: minorities helped to reelect President Obama. Knowing this, one would think the Republican Party, whose voting base remains predominately white and male, would reorganize, reshape, and reform their images of inclusively to inclusiveness — especially with the presidency on the line.

A November 2012 Pew Research Center analysis reported GOP’s predominately white voting block is declining in the United States. Thus, as the November 2016 presidential election approaches, it’s imperative (and has been since the primary ) that the GOP branch out to other subgroups other than white males and white women.

In fact, after the Republicans lost the 2012 president election, RNC Chairman Reince Priebus committed to broadening the Republican base by creating an outreach program after their autopsy report revealed minorities had no interest in conservativism. In fact, they disdained and despised it.

“The report notes the way we communicate our principles isn’t resonating widely enough,” said RNC Chairman Reince Priebus to CNN.

Many black Americans feel Republicans have created, clung, and resorted to often hostile and insulting stereotypes about the black community, whether it’s referring to blacks as welfare queens, lazy, fatherless, and criminals. Not to mention, the black community feels Republicans hate and want to dismantle any achievements blacks have made and secured in the country, from the Voting Rights Act to the Civil Rights Movement — often referring to these laws as “handouts.”

Then there’s the issue of police brutality against mostly African-American men and women. For whatever reason, Republicans have chosen to side with the police, instead of admitting there are issues regarding Constitutional rights violations, police targeting, and physical violence against the black community by people sworn to protect and serve. Admitting this doesn’t equate to hating all police but recognizes there are problems within the force. Many Republicans refuse to take part in this conversation. Thus, it sets a precedence in the minds of black folks that Republicans don’t care about their lives.

Republicans fair no better with the Hispanic community. When it comes to immigration, Republicans have pivoted further to the far right. In fact, Donald Trump had the gall to state he would make Mexico build a wall on the southern border (which already exists by the way) to prevent Mexican “rapists and drug dealers” from entering the country. Hispanics, for obvious reasons, were horrified by Trump’s policy idea, but here’s what’s more insulting: The majority of the Republican base supports Trump on this issue.

On homosexuality, Republicans have been relentlessly against the repeal of the Defense of Marriage Act and Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell from the Constitution. Republicans were livid with the Supreme Court for legalizing same-sex marriage. In fact, the 2016 Republican platform continues to support the traditional definition of marriage and includes a clause to repeal the Supreme Court’s marriage equality ruling. The party is also hyping an anti-movement against transgender citizens, known as the Bathroom Bill. This law prevents a person from using a bathroom not assigned to their gender at birth. Republicans also are clinging to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which states a business can discriminate against a gay person, citing freedom of religion.

Don’t even get me started on Trump’s plan to ban Muslims from the country and his plan to kill all family members of alleged Islamic terrorists. Trump also wants to bring back Operation Wetback and waterboarding — because now, Trump is the “law and order” candidate.

That said, the RNC convention was a perfect opportunity for the party to provide feasible plans to Trump’s proposals to remove the racism, Islamophobia, and empty promises from the platform. Instead, Trump and the Republican party doubled down, solidifying the death of the “outreach plan.”

Democracy Now reports that Sheriff David Clarke called the Black Lives Matter movement “anarchist” after the tragic slaying of police officers in Baton Rouge and Dallas in response to police brutality against minorities, who were mostly black. Nevermind, BLM doesn’t condone any form of violence. Unlike Clarke, BLM holds the individual responsible for their behavior. When Clarke announced that another officer would not face charges for the tragic death of Freddy Gray, the crowd celebrated. Nevermind Gray had committed no crime on the day of his arrest, and while in the custody of the police, Gray’s spine was broken in half.

But Clare’s speech was par for the course.

Former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani threatened BLM, saying, “You know who you are, and we are coming to get you,” the Los Angeles Times reported.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_4le1nuk9BA

Then Trump spoke and only made matters worse.

As ABC News reported, Trump talked about America as if it’s drowning in the utopia of violence, blood, and communism.

“Not only have our citizens endured domestic disaster, but they have lived through one international humiliation after another. We all remember the images of our sailors being forced to their knees by their Iranian captors at gunpoint.”

He railed on about the growth of crime, although, crime is at an all-time low during Obama’s presidency. He rallied cried the economy is depleting — it’s not.

“This Administration has failed America’s inner cities. It’s failed them on education. It’s failed them on jobs. It’s failed them on crime. It’s failed them at every level.”

After 75 minutes of outlining a country of supposed darkness, Trump shockingly said he supported the gay community against terrorism. Unfortunately, the party platform continues to oppress that same community Trump supposedly would protect. Mostly, Trump’s “promises” speech was based on fear, Islamophobia, black phobia, anti-immigrants, pro-militarization, pro-isolation. Indeed, it was very much a Nixoncodian affair.

[Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images]

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