A
farmer doesn't plant and harvest in the same season. So why would we expect
political parties to do the same? Progress takes time and investment, which is
why the Republican National Committee (RNC) got started right away with
engaging black voters around the country after the 2012 presidential election.
Since 2013, the RNC, under the leadership of Chairman Reince Priebus, has
developed and executed a strategy to compete for the black vote, a strategy
with results that point to a brighter future for the Republican Party and the
country.
Republicans
earned double digit support from black voters in the 2014 midterm elections,
which was an increase from 2012. While there is more work to be done, we cannot
ignore the successes that have been achieved. To put it simply, the vision of
how the Republican Party can best connect with black voters through the places
where they live, work, watch and worship has been working. The RNC has listened
and learned, and is inviting black voters to join us in 2016.
This
past year was critical to our commitment to engaging with black communities
across the country and responding to their issues of concern. We listened
through efforts such as the #CommittedToCommunity campaign and learned that
issues of expanding economic opportunities, empowering families through choice
in education, and promoting strong families and safe communities were of utmost
importance. It was also important that the Republican Party work to rebuild
relationships with voters who wanted to see their concerns demonstrated in
action.
Last
March, Chairman Priebus traveled to Selma, Alabama to mark the 50th Anniversary
of the "Bloody Sunday" march across Edmund Pettus Bridge, honoring
the bravery and sacrifice of the men and women who stood up for their
constitutional rights. Months later, Chairman Priebus stood with South Carolina
governor Nikki Haley in calling for the Confederate flag to be removed from the
state Capitol grounds. And just this year, a few days before Dr. Martin Luther
King Jr. Day, I had the opportunity to join Chairman Priebus on a visit to the
Mother Emanuel church in Charleston, South Carolina, the site of the vicious
racially-motivated shooting last year.
The
RNC is building trust by establishing a committed presence in black communities
across the country on a year-round basis.
One
of the RNC's signature events for four years running has been the RNC Black
Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon. In keeping with our mission of reaching
voters in their communities, the RNC decided to host this year's luncheon
during Black History Month on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University, a
historically black college in Daytona Beach, FL. It was at this event that I
had the opportunity to share my family's history and relationship to the school's
founder, Mary McLeod Bethune, as well as the value my family places on
education.
We
hosted our event on the campus of an HBCU in Florida because the presidential
election won't be decided in Washington, DC, but rather in the battleground
states that Republicans are determined to win. That is also why Chairman
Priebus showed up at Central State University in Wilberforce, Ohio to help
launch a college Republicans chapter in 2015.
Our
goal is to compete for every black voter. This means retaining our strongest
supporters, welcoming back those who have voted Republican in the past but not
recently, and persuading new voters as well. We aren't where we want to be, but
we are moving in the right direction.
One
of the key ways we have doubled down on our commitment to rebuild relationships
and establish new ones is the Republican Leadership Initiative. RLI is the
program we started to train volunteers of all backgrounds who will make up the
core of our ground game in 2016. RLI is a six-week program where everyday
people from diverse backgrounds learn the nuts and bolts of political
campaigning, from developing strategy to registering voters to community
organizing. We are building a new generation of leaders in the RNC's permanent
field program.
Our
rededication to black voters in communities across the country is catching on
in the media as well. Black media outlets have more access to RNC officials
than ever before, resulting in an increased presence in black press stories. In
2014 and 2015, Chairman Priebus addressed key stakeholders, including the
National Urban League and the National Association for Black Journalists. And
the Republican Party has a new chorus of black American voices serving as
surrogates for our party in national and local media outlets because no matter
how significant the RNC efforts to get our message out are, it can't be done
alone.
Since
2013, the Republican Party has opened doors and created opportunity and
dialogue where it didn't exist before. And we will continue to grow our party
by building on new relationships and strengthening old ones. In 2016, we are a
party dedicated to more meaningful engagement than ever before. Join us.
James
Evans is chairman of the Republican Party of Utah and a graduate of Tuskegee
University, a historically black University (HBCU).
The RNC began the tradition of the Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon with a promise to always host an event during Black History Month to recognize our leaders, activists, and rising stars. RNC Chairman Reince Priebus has kept that promise. Republicans continue to build new relationships and strengthen old ones as they engage voters across the country in communities of color. Click HERE or below for a video recap of the standing-room only event on the campus of Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Florida.
