Prometheus 6   

Republicans Criticized for �Token� Outreach Efforts
by Hazel Trice Edney
NNPA Washington Correspondent

WASHINGTON (NNPA)—A string of Republican-led initiatives aimed at impressing Black voters—including proposals to increase funding for AIDS prevention in Africa, add money for sickle cell anemia research, improve technology at historically Black colleges and universities and renovate the Frederick Douglass national historic site in the nation�s capital—are being dismissed by Black political observers as being all style and no substance.

�The Republican Party outreach is purely symbolic. For over 40 years, they have failed to stand up and fight for the inclusion of African-Americans in all walks of life, from civil rights to affirmative action to the appointment of judicial candidates who turn back the clock on voting rights,� says Donna Brazile…

… �There�s no question that it�s substance,� says Racicot, the GOP leader. �We are finding a great many of our fellow citizens who are African-Americans find the value and the ideals of this party and its policies very attractive. And I think that that presents a certain amount of fear and trepidation to those who have relied upon or taken them for granted for a long time.�

… Toni-Michelle Travis, a government professor at George Mason University, says the Republican efforts to recruit Blacks are more show than substance.

�Republicans tend to find a showpiece,� says Travis. �These are projects that show that someone remembers that there is an African-American community. They are positive steps, but they are not comprehensive programmatic initiatives.�

Travis says Republicans would be more attractive to Blacks if they supported affirmative action and stop supporting Right-wing judges.

[Texas Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchison] defends the GOP on both issues.

�There is not a question that President Bush and the party are nominating judges who are going to uphold civil rights. They have stellar records,� she says.