Acting White: Michael Steele to Chair the RNC

I have no disparaging retorts for Republican and former Lt. Governor of Maryland, Michael Steele, as he takes over the lead of the Republican National Committee. There are those who would call Steele Uncle Tom-like and question his blackness, but not me. Opinions aside, his desire to lead is not, in itself, an indicator of selling out. The Committee’s antics, in this election, hurt John McCain more than helped. Steele may be just what they need, an excuse to behave like mature stewards of the GOP.

In part, I attribute Steele’s victory to the Obama Effect, the contagious belief, by voting majorities, that a black person can do more than simply bid his racial interest. I was tired of white leaders and voters pretending that they are the only people who can look after everybody’s well-being. Hogwash!

However, I will not be turning in my independent voter card to Republicans, just as I stayed sober with the Democrats, before and after Obama won. My vote goes to the person, not the party, that I believe has America’s best interest at heart. Obama’s win, and similar wins like Deval Patrick of Massachusetts, and even Steele’s RNC win, remind me that black interests and that of all Americans is not, nor can it be, separate or exclusive of each other. It is political race-cardsmanship to believe only Democrats or Republicans can represent a particular group.

Conservative blacks need a welcoming political home, a place that they can belong. Our 2+ political party system is stronger on all sides of the aisle because black conservatives will have a greater voice in their party. I have high hope that this participation will put a reversal to the divisive Republican antics that have ruled the party for too long. Many Republicans have looked the other way when people like Saltsman dis-invited badly needed non-white support, purely on the basis of skin color, rather than political ideology. Perhaps Obama’s win will provide the Republican faithful with the needed backbone to separate conservative and race politics.

James C. Collier

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