Fear of a Black Republican
Fear of a Black Republican
Unrated
Running time: 111 Minutes
Studio: Shamrock Stine Productions
DVD Review by Kam Williams
Excellent (4 stars)
Have you ever noticed how few African-American Republicans there are? At any
Grand Old Party gathering you see on TV, there are generally so few blacks
in attendance that they tend to stand out like a sore thumb.
That sorry state of affairs inspired Tavis Smiley to remark that "You can
fit all the black Republicans with any clout into a phone booth." And
they’re probably also about as hard to find as a phone booth is nowadays.
This phenomenon was not lost on Kevin Williams, a white Republican from
Trenton, New Jersey, who felt frustrated by the fact that the Democrats had
a stranglehold on all the political positions in his predominantly
African-American hometown. So, as a filmmaker, he decided to shoot a
documentary getting to the bottom of why blacks aren’t represented in the
Republican Party.
Is it that the GOP would prefer to remain lily-white or are
African-Americans simply short-changing themselves by remaining so loyal to
the Democratic Party? That fundamental question rests at the heart of Fear
of a Black Republican, an eye-opening expose’ supplying a variety of
intriguing answers.
In order to unravel the mystery, Williams approached some of the black
Republicans crammed into the aforementioned phone booth, from
recently-deposed RNC Chairman Michael Steele to former U.S. Senator from
Massachusetts Ed Brooke who warns of "corruption where there’s no two-party
system." Yes, there’s that danger in districts where a Democratic nomination
assures a candidate of victory. Still, there’s probably truth to Tavis’
suggestion that once the Republican Party figured out that it could win
national and statewide elections without blacks "then the needs of that
constituency never rose to the top of its agenda."
Among the other pundits weighing-in here are Princeton Professor Dr. Cornel
West, right-wing journalists Michelle Malkin and
Ann Coulter, and possible
Presidential candidates Mitt Romney and Mike Huckabee. Yet, the most
meaningful interviews are with rank and file black Republicans, average
folks who make heartfelt pitches for their fellow African-Americans to
abandon the Democrat Party which they indict for taking the black vote for
granted.
Whether it’s up to white Republicans or jaded black Democrats looking for an
alternative to make the first overture, Fear of a Black Republican might
serve as a great conversation breaker to encourage both camps to bury the
hatchet and to give each other serious consideration as a viable political
partner. However, I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for the GOP to reflect
the all-inclusive rainbow the Party envisioned during more enlightened times
when Abraham Lincoln freed the slaves and a plethora of black Republican
candidates ran successful campaign for political office.