I am not an African American nor an historian. My views are based on a cursory knowledge of history, my experience both private and professional and my personal understanding of human nature. Any comments, corrections or contributions are welcome.

My recollection of history is that African Americans were vastly aligned with the Republican Party up until the Great Depression of the ‘30s. The depression was a time when America at large under the pain of economic suffrage abandoned Hoover and the Republican Party in mass to search for a new economic hope as they cast their support for FDR.

Although the Democratic Party was the party of the South and vehemently against the cause of liberty for African Americans, African Americans like most Americans were primarily in favor of economic stability first and foremost.

Under LBJ in the ‘60s and the Great Society, African Americans favored the Democrats for their support of the Civil Rights Movement, as well as, other government programs that promoted the welfare of African Americans at large.

The overwhelming support of the Democratic Party by the majority of African Americans makes perfect logical sense given the evidence.

For what does it mean to be free if at every turn you are denied in society by overt or quiet racism of the majority of white people? The economics of the situation dictate that you take what you can get and you take what you can.

In my opinion, this is the shortcoming of our society. As a Republican I can tell you that racism still lives. And as a Republican I can tell you that we Republicans see ourselves and everyone else as individuals first, not groups. This is where we Republicans have failed.
We have allowed our fellow citizens that are of African descent to be captured by the Democratic Party as subjects to the Limousine Democratic Party cause. I believe that the racism exists in both parties.
First, I see the Democrats that are white believing they are superior to African Americans and view them as perpetual loyalist plantation hands that have been bought and paid for. (forgive the analogy, this is what I see)

Second, historically (since the implementation of the Great Society) I see the white Republican Party members not wanting to support most African Americans in the professional or political world due to their unbending allegiance to the Democratic Party. We have passed many laws to force our society to accept African Americans into the mainstream professional world, but we have not been successful.

So, in short, America has failed our fellow African American citizens. Given that we cannot expect the limousine Democrat white people to change their racial superiority views of African Americans, we Republicans must react and reach out to our African American brothers and sisters and let them know that we are here, that we do care and that we are willing to open doors.

There is a dialogue afoot in the Republican underground regarding this very issue. African Americans have been stranded by slavery, overt racism, quiet racism, social isolation through Democratic dependency policies, and political rejection due to single party loyalty. The tone of the dialogue is that the Republican Party must initiate a private movement amongst corporations and the society at large to reach out to the African American community. Real success comes in the form of economic upward mobility. People want to take care of their families first. Unfortunately, for all of us, individual liberty is usually a distant second.

Regardless of our politics on liberty, we all tend to vote what is in our economic best interest. It is imperative in my opinion that we tear down the remaining barriers and hire more African Americans. More affluent African Americans, means a healthier society, more African American Republicans, and most certainly it means a competition for their vote between the two parties. Democrats could no longer assume to own the African vote.

Again, these are my personal views from what I have seen in my lifetime. My dream is that African Americans begin to look at the Republican Party as the party of individual rights and liberty. We cannot achieve this goal unless we do the hard work necessary to earn trust and reach out to bring them off the Democratic island plantation.

I hope this post is not offensive. If any part of it is, I apologize in advance. My only intent is to be honest.