Rand Paul goes where few Republicans have gone: Howard University

I still don't like him being a Republican, but damn, the guy has stones!

Here's the article:

What was Rand Paul, a white Republican senator from Kentucky, doing at Howard University, a mostly black campus in Washington DC? Asking black Americans to give conservatism a second look.

Paul acknowledged that some people thought he was crazy to speak to a largely democratic group, who were probably part of the 93% of blacks who re-elected President Barack Obama in 2012. He joked:

"My response is that my trip will be a success if the Hilltop [the campus newspaper] will simply print that a Republican came to Howard, but he came in peace."

The rest of his speech wasn't a joke. It was a bold move for a party looking to re-connect with minorities. Founded in 1867, Howard University was one of the few schools where blacks could receive degrees after the Civil War ended. The school also played an integral part of the Civil Rights movement, and its student population remains predominately black today.

At the beginning of his remarks, Paul exhibited grace and humor when two students carrying a sign saying "Howard University doesn't support white supremacy" stormed the front of the auditorium. He said he wasn't sure the speech was going to be entertaining, but now it was. Paul told the students he didn't come to "preach" or "prescribe" a political point of view, but to ask each of them to write their own story in life and perhaps make conservatism a part of it. In other words: develop their own views of him, the Republican Party and their own political beliefs.

Few young minorities know the history of the Republican Party "chock full of emancipation and black history". He talked about his passion for ending mandatory minimum federal sentencing for non-violent possession of drugs because they ruin the lives of kids who just make bad decisions. It was one of the most heavily tweeted and applauded lines of his speech.

Paul tackled some 30 minutes of tough questioning ranging from Malcolm X to the Environmental Protection Agency. When asked by a former Obama intern how he felt about voter ID laws, Paul said he didn't think it was a burden for people to show a driver's license to maintain the integrity of the polls, but didn't approve of 100-page literacy tests Democrats forced blacks to take during reconstruction to suppress their vote.

To put this in context: many white Republicans would have given their speech, refused questions and run for the hills. George W Bush famously rejected an invite to speak at Howard in 2000. But Paul faced this tough crowd. A student told asked him to clarify his comments about the 1964 Civil Rights Act during his 2010 campaign in which he seemed to imply he wasn't supportive of the act. "I have never questioned the Civil Rights Act," he said, but he questioned if the law's application now requiring restaurants to ban smoking and provide standardized menus with food calorie counts.

Most striking was Paul's response to a question from a young man who said he "wanted a government that helps him and pays for his school". Paul used this opportunity to emphasize his belief of the hazard of government over-reach. Paul warned the student that when government spends money it doesn't have and sells our debt to China, this limits school loans and creates an economy where people can't get jobs when they become college graduates.

Going backwards in time, Paul reminded the crowd the GOP has always been the party of civil rights and voting rights, but also the party of limited government. "When some people hear that, they tune us out and say: he's just using code words for the state's right to discriminate, for the state's right to segregate and abuse. But that's simply not true." Paul used the 14th amendment guaranteeing all Americans citizenship and equal rights regardless of race as an example of such egregious injustice that requires federal involvement.

Paul asked a hushed audience:

"How did the party that elected the first black US Senator, the party that elected the first 20 African-American congressmen become a party that now loses 95% of the black vote?"

He said after the Great Depression and Civil Rights Act, blacks wanted "economic emancipation" and began voting Democrat because Democrats promised "unlimited federal assistance". He added: Republicans offered something that seemed less tangible-the promise of equalizing opportunity through free markets. After nearly 50 years of Democrat policies, Paul argued the evidence shows that big government is not a friend to African Americans. He pointed to persistent high unemployment among blacks, presently 13.3%, nearly twice the national average, blacks trapped in failing schools and their declining wealth.

Before the speech, I asked a young man, who was a sophomore, why he was there. He said to listen but he didn't feel Paul "was in his best interests". He never articulated what those interests were, but when I asked him when was the last time President Obama had spoken on campus since he became a student, he replied: never. Obama hasn't spoken to Howard students since 2007, when he was campaigning for the Democrat nomination and Hillary was leading in the polls among black Americans. Howard students should ask themselves who's showing up and asking for their vote, and who's assuming they have it.

"Maybe it's about time we all reassess blind allegiance to ideas that are failing our children," said Paul. While the senator was referencing America's education system and the benefits of school choice, I think that was the theme of his speech. "As Toni Morrison said, 'write your own story. Challenge mainstream thought,'" concluded Paul.

By just showing up, Paul challenged blacks to give the Republican party a chance. While the RNC keeps pouring over plans and navel gazing about how to win minority votes in 2016, people like Rand Paul are showing up. It's really that simple.

He really is looking better all the time, but I doubt if he can transform the Republican party. Too many old, rich white guys. But I can't blame him for trying. I hope it works.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisf...ck-vote-appeal

"How did the party that elected the first black US Senator, the party that elected the first 20 African-American congressmen become a party that now loses 95% of the black vote?"

This is a good question the Republicans neeed to ask themselves. They probably won't like the answer though.

Maybe they need to stop living in the past ... Like 1776.

"How did the party that elected the first black US Senator, the party that elected the first 20 African-American congressmen become a party that now loses 95% of the black vote?"

This is a good question the Republicans neeed to ask themselves. They probably won't like the answer though. Originally Posted by jbravo_123

Below is the answer as to how they lost the black vote......
Let us see what our resident Tea Tards say about it. My guess is they will deny it!



http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy

In American politics, the Southern strategy refers to the Republican Party strategy of gaining political support or winning elections in the Southern section of the country by appealing to racism against African Americans.[1][2][3][4][5]
Though the "Solid South" had been a longtime Democratic Party stronghold due to the Democratic Party's defense of slavery before the American Civil War and segregation for a century thereafter, many white Southern Democrats stopped supporting the party following the civil rights plank of the Democratic campaign in 1948 (triggering the Dixiecrats), the African-American Civil Rights Movement, the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965, and desegregation.
The strategy was first adopted under future Republican President Richard Nixon and Republican Senator Barry Goldwater[6][7] in the late 1960s.[8] The strategy was successful in many regards. It contributed to the electoral realignment of Southern states to the Republican Party, but at the expense of losing more than 90 percent of black voters to the Democratic Party. As the twentieth century came to a close, the Republican Party began trying to appeal again to black voters, though with little success.[8]

This is how the Democrats did it.

http://www.fdfny.org/blog/2011/09/18...ty-negroes-lbj

There is one thing that always amazes me. Polititians seem to just accept that any "minority", such as Hispanics, Asians, etc, that are now growing in numbers will just automatically jump onto the Democrat Bandwagon.

I don't understand why. In the Black Community, we have a perfect example of what the Democrats can do for you. 5TH generation welfare famillies, herded into run down government "projects", massive unemployment, and a complete disentegration of the familly unit.

Why would anybody choose that over a Party that preaches self initiative, hard work, and individulism.

+1

This is how the Democrats did it.

http://www.fdfny.org/blog/2011/09/18...ty-negroes-lbj

There is one thing that always amazes me. Polititians seem to just accept that any "minority", such as Hispanics, Asians, etc, that are now growing in numbers will just automatically jump onto the Democrat Bandwagon.

I don't understand why. In the Black Community, we have a perfect example of what the Democrats can do for you. 5TH generation welfare famillies, herded into run down government "projects", massive unemployment, and a complete disentegration of the familly unit.

Why would anybody choose that over a Party that preaches self initiative, hard work, and individulism. Originally Posted by Jackie S

the right side of the aisle ostracizes minority groups, go back as many generations as you want to, including this one

This is how the Democrats did it.

http://www.fdfny.org/blog/2011/09/18...ty-negroes-lbj

There is one thing that always amazes me. Polititians seem to just accept that any "minority", such as Hispanics, Asians, etc, that are now growing in numbers will just automatically jump onto the Democrat Bandwagon.

I don't understand why. In the Black Community, we have a perfect example of what the Democrats can do for you. 5TH generation welfare famillies, herded into run down government "projects", massive unemployment, and a complete disentegration of the familly unit.

Why would anybody choose that over a Party that preaches self initiative, hard work, and individulism. Originally Posted by Jackie S

I honestly don't think it's the values of the political parties that is causing minorities to turn away. You have minority groups that range from very successful (Asians) to not as successful (Blacks) all voting very heavily for Democrats. In 2012, Asians actually voted more heavily Democrat than even Hispanics.

I believe it's more of the image the Republican party portrays of itself as the party of old white men that really turns off everyone else they've excluded. It doesn't matter if you share values with them - if you don't want them included due to their race, they're going to the other guy.

As to the problems the black community has, I think it's in part a cultural thing. No offense intended to the black community, but in general, they do things like glorify the prison culture, are more accepting of males who spawn many kids and leave them, don't focus on education as a route to economic success (they glorify athletes more than most other minority groups). This also seems to be an issue specifically with the black community in the US (I don't think you really see this in Europe).

I'm not sure I agree with you all the way there jbravo.

The "prison culture" you describe is a tough stereotype fo shake, but I don't think it's the sole province of the black community in the US. I believe that's more a socioeconomic issue than a racial one here in the US. Cultural, maybe, but strictly black, no way. There's lots of that "prison mentality" on display in other ethnic and racial segments of our melting pot of a society over here.

My observation of the black communities, youth, etc., I've seen in Europe are that they're as representative of the overall culture of each nation as any other group. (And they revere their athletes, too ... even if they don't play real football!)

Can't really say that the black people in Germany, for example, have a similar history/culture to the black people in the US, except maybe for second or possibly third generation immigrants from Africa who live here now. Former imperial powers like England, France, Holland and Belgium have much older, more established black communities dating back centuries. Czech Republic or any of the former Soviet Bloc countries? Not so.

My point is that it's really hard to generalize, but I believe people's attitudes, political leanings, aspirations, etc., may be influenced by the national culture in which they live as much as by their personal race or ethnicity.

why do you worry so much about the black communities so much, hell in todays world they have everything giving to them Free phones, food stamps, and a welfare check then you have the ones that want to be the next American Gangster sell drugs and kill one another like in Chicago, the white man has done everything possible to help them to better them selfs

Silly old man, as usual, you are an idiot. Rand was received respectfully by the folks at the university....but, the idea that he was educating them about the true relationship between republicans and African Americans, and that it was well received by the audience, is a fucking joke. Just like everything else you post. We'll see how the black vote goes in 2014 and 2016. Anybody want to take bets? African americans know who has their back. And it isn't the fucking white-boy big business republicans.

Silly old man, as usual, you are an idiot. Rand was received respectfully by the folks at the university....but, the idea that he was educating them about the true relationship between republicans and African Americans, and that it was well received by the audience, is a fucking joke. Just like everything else you post. We'll see how the black vote goes in 2014 and 2016. Anybody want to take bets? African americans know who has their back. And it isn't the fucking white-boy big business republicans. Originally Posted by timpage

typical left wing loon, any AA that lives the good life don't vote Democrat

common sense ... do you speak for all AA that lives a good life

common sense ... do you speak for all AA that lives a good life Originally Posted by CJOHN

not really I just like giving the left wingers a hard time, I'm just one of them old rich white rednecks they all love to hate
he should ask the people in Detroit how much they like the Democrat party

Paul made an ass of himself in front of the university students.

Hysterical, condescending shit that turned the crowd against him. He actually looked uncomfortable in a room full of college students...

Funny. Saw it on TV tonight.

BTW -- Gary, you're a shithead.