The GOP Urban Agenda: Tackling the Issue of Race and Politics by Akindele Akinyemi

Under a GOP Urban Agenda you must discuss the issues of racism. There is no way in the world you can discuss an urban agenda and NOT talk about race.

For example, in 2003, researchers identified a surprising price for being a Black woman in America. The study of 334 midlife women, published in the journal Health Psychology, examined links between different kinds of stress and risk factors for heart disease and stroke. Black women who pointed to racism as a source of stress in their lives, the researchers found, developed more plaque in their carotid arteries -- an early sign of heart disease -- than Black women who didn't. The difference was small but important -- making the report the first to link hardening of the arteries to racial discrimination.

The study was just one in a fast-growing field of research documenting how racism literally hurts the body. More than 100 studies -- most published since 2000 -- now document the effects of racial discrimination on physical health. Some link blood pressure to recollected encounters with bigotry. Others record the cardiovascular reactions of volunteers subjected to racist imagery in a lab.

Blacks today, despite a half century of economic and social progress since the Civil Rights Movement, face a higher risk than any other racial group of dying from heart disease, diabetes, stroke, and hypertension. In the United States, affluent Blacks suffer, on average, more health problems than the poorest Whites. Spurred by statistics like these, dozens of states and cities have been passing legislation intended to eliminate racial and ethnic disparities in health.

Racism is very serious in America. We see it every day. We see it on TV, radio and yes even on social utilities such as Facebook and MySpace.

To put things in greater perspective the rich-poor gap deepening and the number of unemployed increasing due to acceleration of the economic globalization, racial discrimination and other extremist activities have appeared to be on the rise not only in places such as South Africa (as if it ever left), but in Europe, here in the United States and other parts of the world, posing serious threats to the progress of the modern society. In other words this is not just a domestic problem but an international problem.

Racism, which has infiltrated into every aspect of the modern society, is a rather complicated problem influenced by political, economic and cultural factors; that no country can be immune from the costs inflicted by prejudice and intolerance; and that the battle against the plague is not a job for one single country or regional organization, but calls for a combination of actions by a coalition of actors.

The strangest thing when dealing with issues of race and gender is the silence from most conservatives. Liberals will try to take the lead on this issue for political shots, however, liberals can have racist attitudes also. I'm not taking about silent racism but in-your-face-racism.

Now conservatives are quick to point out how the Democratic Party has a historical track record of racism and how the Republican Party was founded in 1854 to abolish slavery. Conservatives are also quick to point out how the first Blacks were Republicans and how they held federal elected offices in the South. We are quick to point out how the Democratic Party founded the Ku Klux Klan in Pulaski, Tennessee in 1866 as a terrorist arm to the Democratic Party. We point out how the War on Poverty was stared by President Lyndon B.Johnson to systematically eliminate the Black family.

These facts are absolutely true.

But let's fast forward to today in 2009. The issue of race is STILL an issue in all communities. Racism is not just coming from the fringes; it's been deemed respectable and popular, and to me is being pushed by the mainstream corporate media. What's more, the storm is gaining strength at a time when the economy is in a crisis that is bound to make economic survival for those who are already impoverished more difficult, while tossing millions more, who thought they were getting along okay, out of their homes and jobs.

We love to play politics with voters when it comes to issues. However, are we getting to the meat of the problem? Insurance redlining, environmental disparities, inadequate health care, infant mortality, imprisonment, failing education, divorces and other factors need solutions to help everyday Americans.

To show you how long we have to go in our country every since 9/11 our country has made Muslims and people of Arab, African or South Asian origin fair game for harassment, persecution and torture. I love how we brag about people coming over to America because of the freedoms that we have but turn around and harass people that do not look like us. Mexicans are stereotyped as dirty and cannot speak English. Ridiculous.

The racial stereotypes just don't stop just at Black Americans. Africans from across the globe who come here are also hit with a dose of the racial disease as they are looked upon as bringing diseases from Africa, etc. Most people to this day think Africa is famine stricken, flies flying around children's heads and Sally Struthers is over there Saving the Children. Children TODAY in my class even ask me if my father is walking around naked, hunting lions, and live in a mud hut. Where did they learn this from?

Some sociologists have defined racism as a system of group privilege. In Portraits of White Racism David Wellman (1993) has defined racism as "culturally sanctioned beliefs, which, regardless of intentions involved, defend the advantages Whites have because of the subordinated position of racial minorities."

Sociologists Noël A. Cazenave and Darlene Alvarez Maddern define racism as "...a highly organized system of 'race'-based group privilege that operates at every level of society and is held together by a sophisticated ideology of color/'race' supremacy. Racist systems include, but cannot be reduced to, racial bigotry."

Barbara Trepagnier's research shows that virtually all Whites hold some negative stereotypes and assumptions about African Americans and other racial-ethnic minorities, what she calls silent racism. In her book, Silent Racism: How Well-Meaning White People Perpetuate the Racial Divide (2006), Trepagnier demonstrates how the negative stereotypes and assumptions of whites reproduce institutional racism, also known as systemic racism. She argues that the oppositional categories commonly used to think about racism-Racist and Not Racist-hide silent racism and other insidious forms such as color-blind racism.

Institutional racism is very prevalent in our society today. There are several factors that play into institutional racism that includes accumulated wealth/benefits from racial groups that have benefited from past discrimination, educational and occupational disadvantages faced by non-native English speakers in the United States, ingrained stereotypical images that still remain in the society (e.g. Black men are likely to be criminals).

Back to health care there are major racial differences in access to health care and in the quality of health care provided in urban communities. A study published in the American Journal of Public Health estimated that: "over 886,000 deaths could have been prevented from 1991 to 2000 if Blacks had received the same care as Whites." The key differences they cited were lack of insurance, inadequate insurance, poor service, and reluctance to seek care. A history of government-sponsored experimentation, such as the notorious Tuskegee Syphilis Study has left of legacy of African American distrust of the medical system.

Thirty years after the Civil Rights Era, the United States remains a residentially segregated society in which Blacks and Whites inhabit different neighborhoods of vastly different quality. Not only we are segregated but also the fear has gotten stronger since both Barack Obama and Michael Steele became President of the United States and RNC Chair respectively.

From my viewpoint I see two Black men running both Democratic and Republican Parties. I stressed BLACK for a reason...because that what we see also FIRST before we see men in our subconscious minds. I also read and see fear from many people who do not want to see either man succeed. Ultra conservatives want BOTH men to fail. If either men were killed tonight it would be a blessing to those on the religious right because neither men fit the profile of the religious/political agenda.

Outside of their positions and policies I always ask people what do you fear about these two men? I cannot count on my fingers the number of times I have read how Obama is not an American citizen, he is a socialist (a term that did not work during the Presidential elections...maybe this is how we got our asses kicked in the GOP), his wife (Michelle) is fat, he is an elitist, he is tearing America apart, and he is not even Black.

The not even Black part kills me.

Michael Steele is under fire also. He too, is a victim of being too soft, ineffective, "moderate", closet Democrat, etc. The whole RINO, Moderate, Patriot, freedom speeches is killing the GOP.

If I did not know any better I would say this is racism at work. However, all this stuff is being engineered by social constructs. They play the fear factor instead of looking at policies that Americans can benefit from. Church is the most segregated hour on Sunday in MOST communities. So if America is supposed to be a Judeo-Christian nation then why are we still practicing segregation on the Lord's Day? I applaud churches that are multi-cultural because people can learn from one another. However, the fastest way to control people and keep them in fear is by way of religion. It does not matter what race or political party you belong to or if you are preaching prosperity or social justice from the pulpit fear leads to racism.

Back to Obama and Steele. If you disagree with their policies then agree to disagree and devise a platform that would appeal to people or vote them out. To attack these men's character is silly and counterproductive. "Obama is a Muslim or Arab," I mean what the hell is wrong with Americans? Are Muslims evil? Are Zionists racists? I mean this is why we need HONEST, UNBIASED dialogue in our focus groups (on both sides of the aisle) to confront this evil that are hurting the political spectrum.

And I MUST BY ALL MEANS speak on this issue. Racism is just not Black on White and White on Black but we are practicing self-hatred in the Black community between Black liberals/moderates and conservatives. Never mind the light skinned/dark skinned issue (which still goes on in our community and dates back to slavery) I am speaking of the number of Blacks who gladly denounce their culture and heritage to be part of the American Dream. The dream part I do not mind. But I have never ran across any immigrant, any foreigner, or any native of America who denounce their culture. Never. For Blacks who want to see other Blacks to fail because of an ideology is dangerous. We, as Black people, are not a monolithic thinking group of people. We are very diverse in our thinking in our community.

For example, all Black Republicans are not going to have abortion as a platform issue or same sex marriage. Some may want to talk about reducing property taxes and putting abandoned homes back on the tax rolls. Some may want to talk about improving the environment through green technology.

But there are some Blacks who can and will easily turn the gun on other people from the African Diaspora and fire at will with hateful rhetoric to try to be mainstream Americans.

The problem is while we talk about freedom and our Founding Fathers what MOST Black Republicans forget is while those same Founding Fathers were signing the Declaration of Independence in 1776 most Blacks were enslaved until 1863 when our Declaration was signed (Emancipation Proclamation). So do Blacks celebrate their freedom from Great Britain (like most White Americans do during the Fourth of July..which I do not have a problem with) or do we celebrate our freedom from the Confederacy during the Civil War (Juneteenth) or both? And if we celebrate both then how come many are trying to obstruct the freedom of those Blacks today who may think a certain way? Black folks do not have to think alike like I said previously. But OUR issues in the inner-cities are MUCH different than our counterparts in the suburbs. So our language and presentation MUST be different when we deal with issues in our community.

I think the main problem for many mainstream conservatives trying to reach out to urbanites in the inner city most come in with two sets of messages. The first message is the limited government, privatize every damn thing, tax cuts and national defense. The second message is the social conservative message. If both of these messages worked in our community then the Democrats would be a permanent minority party in America. Apparently, there is something wrong here.

What's wrong is you do not need a cookie cutter message. You have to build relationships in areas where you may not feel comfortable. The image of the GOP as it relates to minorities is awful. If you think I'm joking look at last year's Republican National Convention in St. Paul, MN where out of 4,000 delegates only 34 were Black. Even with CPAC this past February the number of Blacks were significantly lower than in previous years.

Therefore, if the GOP wants to be a party of freedom then we need to free ourselves from the demons that are in our own closet by openly coming together in our GOP clubs and discuss the issues of race. We MUST have an honest dialogue on this issue if we are serious about winning elections from here on in. We cannot even talk about tax cuts if people are out of work and jobs are 30 miles outside the city limits where public transportation is non-existent because the White communities voted against a millage to allow bus service in their community. If this is an example of limited government then we have a serious problem. Government and business MUST work in conjunction with one another to build viable and safe communities. The only way we do this in 2009 is to break down the walls of racism and other phobia's that restrict us from doing our job.

The Democrats claim that they are the champion of race, yet, most urban communities look like war zones. To promote dependency on government programs constantly is no different than being dependent on a slave plantation. They too have demons in their closet and have to come clean.

I digress. Floor is open for discussion. I can be reached at 313-516-5704.

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Education is a passport to freedom.