I did not know Ronald Reagan, but Sen. Barack Obama is no Reagan. If Obama were, he would not have the support of African Americans. Truth is, black voters were not “feeling” Reagan.
In his two presidential campaigns, Reagan received ten percent of the black vote. By contrast, Richard Nixon garnered 18 percent black support in 1968. The reason: Nixon was a “transformational political leader” for many black Americans, particularly black entrepreneurs.
Indeed, Nixon was known as the “father of black capitalism.” Nixon’s political appointees included Arthur Fletcher, the “father of affirmative action,” who drafted the Philadelphia Plan.
Other bloggers have already counted the ways in which Reagan changed the “trajectory” of black folks -- for the worse.
Still, Obama was right about Reagan “challenging conventional wisdom.” Before Reagan, no one had the bright idea to reclassify ketchup as a vegetable to save money while at the same time pushing tax cuts for the rich.
While Obama wants to lay claim to the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s mantle, leaders in “the party of ideas” tried to lay waste to King’s legacy. Reagan opposed the King holiday until he was shamed into signing the bill.
Sure, Reagan “was able to get Democrats to vote against their economic interests to form a majority to push through their agenda.” But he did it in tried and true GOP fashion: race-baiting. It bears repeating that Reagan launched his 1980 presidential campaign in Philadelphia, Miss., where three civil rights workers were killed.
I happened to be in DC during the paroxysm of grief and overwrought media coverage in the wake of Reagan’s death.
I walked around the National Mall as preparations were underway for the state funeral. People waited for hours to get a glimpse of the motorcade carrying Reagan’s body to the U.S. Capitol, where he lied in state in the Capitol Rotunda. While there were thousands of mourners lining the route, you could count the number of black folks.
One is not supposed to speak ill of the dead, but Reaganism is one of the reasons a “black Republican” remains an oxymoron.
