Black conservative: GOP needs to appeal to minority voters

Black conservative KCarl Smith grew up a Democrat in Pine Bluff, Arkansas.

Today, he is the founder and president of the Frederick Douglass Republicans in Birmingham, Alabama, named after the famous black abolitionist.

His message: The words “conservative” and “Republican Party” are political attack words in the black community and slam the door on efforts to win over minority voters to their cause.

“They are words of oppression in the black community,” he said.

The solution is to master “the language of liberty,” Smith told a crowd of about 30 people at a meeting Tuesday night of the Cape County Tea Party.

Conservatives need to bring their message of “freedom and progress” to all minorities, he said.

“If we don’t bring more diversity to the conservative movement, we are toast,” he said to the tea party group at the Cape Girardeau Public Library.

Smith argued many black Americans hold conservative values but view Republicans as racists. Smith said conservatives must use the words of Douglass, a former slave, to explain why conservative values will help blacks and Latinos.

Smith said Douglass, born in 1818, spent the first 20 years of his life as a slave. He escaped from slavery in 1838. Although he had no formal education, he served as an adviser to five U.S. presidents, Smith said.

When Douglass died in 1895, he had amassed a fortune of $300,000, which is equal to $20 million today, Smith said.

He contended Douglass’ experiences and writings refute the “lies and propaganda of the left.”

Liberals argue the Founding Fathers are tainted because some of them were slave owners. But Smith said Douglass viewed the Constitution itself as a liberating document.

“The Constitution reads ‘we the people’; it does not say ‘we the white people,’” Smith said.

Smith said his organization is not a black movement.

“It’s a liberty movement,” he said. “It is based on values, not based on color.”

He told the group “a lot of blacks” have voted Democratic since 1964 because Republicans were perceived as supporting segregation. Smith argued that historically the Democratic Party was the party of segregationists and the Ku Klux Klan.

Smith said the life and philosophy of Douglass provides a way to counter the arguments of liberals and “trumps the race card.”

Smith said his organization is not blindly loyal to any political party.

“We need some truth-tellers in both parties,” he said. “It’s not about the label; it’s about your principles.”

Conservatives can’t successfully make their case to minorities by shouting at them.

“You’ve got to do it in love,” he said.

Leechia Wilder, a black conservative who lives in Sikeston, Missouri, came to hear Smith’s speech. Wilder said Smith’s talk gave her “a few more arguments” to explain her political philosophy to others.

Wilder said it is difficult being a black conservative in Southeast Missouri. Family, friends and relatives find her political views hard to understand.

“My mom is a cultural Democrat,” she added.

Wilder, who grew up in the Chicago area, said she became a conservative in 2001 after listening to conservative radio shows.

But she said liberals have a harsh view of her and other conservative blacks.

“To them, we are sellouts,” she said.

mbliss@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3641

Pertinent address:

711 N. Clark Ave., Cape Girardeau, Mo.