Black Republicans Aim to Offset Dems' 'Disinformation' About GOP
by Ed Thomas
August 16, 2005
(AgapePress) - Black Republican activists from around the U.S. met in Washington, DC, on Monday for the organizational meeting of a new grassroots coalition. One of the goals of the National Black Republican Association is to counter what it calls "disinformation" about Republicans that is "being perpetuated" by the Democratic Party.The new interim chairperson of the NBRA is Frances Rice, a former Army lieutenant colonel, lawyer, and businesswoman. Rice says the black vote has been taken for granted by Democrats at the same time that their policies have controlled urban black areas for 40 years. Yet those voters, she says, still have the same complaints about their communities and opportunities.
"So the NBRA wants to empower the people to control their own destiny," Rice explains, "to hold politicians accountable for their promises, and to vote for candidates for the content of their policies -- not the label of their party."
According to Rice, one of the NBRA's tools will be to show that the approach of the Democratic Party toward social change for African Americans does not have a successful track record.
"The programs that the Democratic Party pushes in black communities are really socialist programs -- and socialism has failed wherever it's been tried," the Georgia native says. "Being dependent upon government social programs stifles the entrepreneurial spirit and keeps blacks mired in poverty."
Rice says the new group is to be a resource that shows the connection between the goals and needs of black America and the principles of the GOP. The NBRA aims to register black voters, as well as to identify, support, and finance prospective African-American candidates for political office through an affiliated Section 527 organization, the National Black Republicans for Freedom. According to the NBRA website, issues it will champion include school choice scholarships and increased funding for charter schools.
Ed Thomas, a regular contributor to AgapePress, is a reporter for American Family Radio News, which can be heard online.
