Conservative

Jackson: Republicans should stop use of coded language, alienates minority voters

As a black conservative, I already have a hard enough time convincing members of my community why they should consider a conservative point of view. I’m in the business of opening up the GOP, and taking away the major weapon the Democrats have over us: diversity. I will not be in the business of supporting any talk that makes black Americans the poster children of everything wrong with the U.S.

Last week, Paul Ryan added this ignorant gem to the already burning Republican fire: “We have got this tailspin of culture, in our inner cities in particular, of men not working and just generations of men not even thinking about working or learning the value and the culture of work, and so there is a real culture problem here that has to be dealt with,” he said, according to a March 23 Chicago Tribune article.

Listen, I know that as a black male, when some politician makes a crack at “thug culture,” “laziness,” “inner-city kids” or “communities with no fathers,” they’re talking about me and black people, especially black males.

The racism in this coded language is incredibly obvious. It paints a picture of black Americans as a desperate and needy people who simply need some “good old-fashioned morals” in order to become “good” Americans. This use of black Americans as the poster children for everything wrong with the society only serves as a deflection of the real issues affecting the U.S.

As a black conservative, it can be pretty hard to get behind a party that tries to allude to the supposed inferiority of my people in order to gain votes with bigoted social conservatives. How can I vote for a party that sees me as a lazy, shiftless criminal who does nothing but pump out kids? Stop using coded language as a way to say black people are somehow morally inferior; we’re not stupid—the racists you’re trying to appeal to know you’re talking about us and we do as well.



Let’s change that, let’s become positive. Instead of bringing minorities down to rise the GOP up, let’s focus on really getting out there and into minority communities. Instead of using Chicago as a negative, use Chicago as an example of what positive changes could be made with intelligent conservative policy. We all want safer cities, better schools and ways to help people make a living.

However, many in our party must remember that minorities are our partners, not the issue. Cut the white supremacy and the code words—it hurts everyone.

Rami Jackson is a sophomore entrepreneurship major. His column appears weekly. He can be reached at [email protected]and followed on Twitter @IsRamicJ





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