Omarosa, Black Republicans, and the GOP
One had to think about what it was like for Omarosa the day that Trump blamed “both sides” for the violence that occurred at Charlottesville. You couldn’t help but wonder what she thought when Trump did nothing to help HBCUs as she made contradictory claims that he do so.
Whether Omarosa was thrown out of the administration or resigned is not yet known at the time of this writing. She claims that she resigned while other more credible sources dispute this. What we do know is that the administration didn’t go to bat for her as they did other individuals. What does that say to African Americans in the age of Trump?
Just ask Michael Steele, the first Black party spokesman for the RNC. He was once celebrated as the head of the party just to be blamed for the problems that occurred under his tenure. Black Republicans or even Black people in Republican administrations are always the first to be held accountable for all the issues that occurred and often fired more quickly than their White counterparts.
They are constantly in a tug of war with themselves, hoping to represent their party but staying true to their values. Just ask Paris Dennard, CNN spokesman and member of the Republican Party. He once stated that he is often jeered at by other African Americans who don’t believe that he speaks on their behalf. Do Black Republicans support the party, the people, or themselves personally? It’s a battle within themselves privately and publicly.
While those close to Omarosa state that she was a tireless supporter and advocated for funding historically Black colleges and universities, what is unclear is if she had a listening audience in the White House. Samuel Pierce, Condoleeza Rice, Colin Powell, and others have each faced the fire in the Black communities and in the media to face blame and ridicule in the public eye. Many times, these Black people aren’t given respect in the administrations that they work for and aren’t shown respect among Black people, who historically believe that the GOP is not the party that works in their best interest.
The GOP doesn’t have an outreach to Black people. Why should they? They believe that they don’t need to do anything special to capture the Black vote. They simply come up with words like “plantation politics” and tell Black people that they are foolish for still voting for the tired old Democratic policies that supposedly keeps them impoverished, jobless, and uneducated. However, the GOP does backflips to reach out to college educated White people and high school educated White people. So Blacks don’t need outreach but Whites are worth pandering to? This is one of the many reasons why Blacks don’t vote for the GOP. The GOP believes that when Black people tire of not getting anywhere, they’ll switch over to them.
This is astoundingly ignorant. With short memories, they forget that Black people traditionally voted Republican. It’s when their policies began to exclude us when the New Deal didn’t, we began voting Democrat in droves. In the 60’s, the tie that Black people had to the Republican Party appeared to be severed forever, with the Democrats taking the majority of the Black population.
With the small number of Blacks voting for the Republicans, they often find themselves on a lonely ledge. Sticking mostly with principle rather than policy, they tell themselves that they are pioneers in a party that speaks to the core of their beliefs. However, when Blacks in the Republican Party are placed in leadership positions, they are often made to do “outreach” to the Black community, turning that outreach into votes for the GOP. Instead of the White candidates running for office, they find these Black Republicans wherever they can and make them stump for the party, as if White Republicans are incapable of reaching out to people who don’t look like they do.
This is another reason why Democrats appeal to people of color. At least the Clintons look comfortable at a fish fry in Alabama. The Republicans just send Omarosa to the Black church in their place and Paris on CNN to defend them to Black people. The problem? Most of these Black Republicans have lost support within the Black community, so how exactly are they supposed to shore up support for the GOP when they can’t exactly show up at the Black cookout themselves? They can’t speak for or to us because they’ve lost their connection to the community. Blacks on Twitter recently made fun of Omarosa for saying that Trump was being “racial” and not “racist”.
Is Omarosa to blame for Trump not paying much attention to the funding of HBCUs? They state that when she was “resigning” she was also planning events for Black History Month. Should she be blamed for not doing enough for the culture? Should we blame her for not being tougher or stronger? Should we blame her for believing in a man who turned lying into an art form? Should she be blamed for falling under the spell of Trump when just a few years ago, she stumped for President Obama? Should she blame her own ignorance, stupidity, and hunger for power?
Can Black people be Republican and still earn the respect of their community? Absolutely. But Omarosa broke all the rules, losing the respect of Black people, the administration, and herself as she was tossed from the grounds of the White House. For all of her support of President Trump, she received a short tweet thanking her and that was it.
I’m sure there is a tell all just waiting to be written on her laptop. If Omarosa flips on Trump, it will be the classic revenge story with Omarosa is the star. The tragedy is, it’s just a little too late for her to regain the respect of her people and anyone else that may have looked up to her. She started off in reality television as playing the perfect stereotype of the Angry Black Woman.
Looks like she’ll end her career the same way.
