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GOP Chairman Visits Howard to Lure Blacks

By Kevin Harris
Black College Wire

Photo credit: The Hilltop Protesters said they were denied entrance to the speech by Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman after they asked why their questions had to be submitted beforehand.

Republican National Committee Chairman Ken Mehlman paid a visit to the Howard University campus and said his party must do more to attract African American voters. More than a dozen students assembled outside the event to protest.

"If the party of Lincoln does not have African Americans come back home, then we can't call ourselves a majority," Mehlman said. "The only way to do that is to listen and hold dialogue with the community."

Mehlman, who has been chairman of the Republican Party for less than a year, came to Howard the night of March 31 as a part of the Republican National Committee's "Conversations with the Community" series. The series aims to promote an open dialogue between the Republican Party and African Americans.

"His visit was necessary because it is very important for students to have a second look at the Republican Party and not go with the first thing they hear," College Republicans Chairman Brandon Brice, a senior international business major, said. "I wish that everyone could have heard the message tonight." The Howard University College Republicans hosted the event.

The protesters handed out literature to media outlets in attendance, as well as to students passing by, listing more than 20 instances dating to the 1980s in which the group claims African Americans' voting rights were infringed upon.

Some held signs that read, "Not On Our Campus, We Know Our History."

They said they were denied entrance into the event after they questioned why their questions for Mehlman had to be submitted beforehand. The Rev. Lennox Yearwood, chairman of the Hip Hop Caucus, managed to get by security and briefly disrupted the event when he charged in with a bullhorn yelling at Mehlman, "tell us the truth."

He was quickly apprehended by campus security and taken outside, where he continued to protest. "The RNC has had a history of intimidating black voters and now they want to come here, to Howard University and try to embrace African American voters," Yearwood said.

"They have had a history of this for over the last 20 years and we just want to make sure the trend stops . . . an acknowledgment or even just an apology would be fine."

Mehlman used his appearance to promote a host of issues important to African Americans on campus and across the country. He discussed HIV in the black community and Africa, education, the genocide ravaging Sudan, affirmative action and the need for economic empowerment for more African Americans.

Mehlman said the best way for more economic stability and for more African Americans to rise out of poverty was to support President Bush's plan for personal savings accounts. "Social security is not sustainable. It is the height of cynicism for liberal politicians to continue saying we will continue taking 12 cents out of every dollar you earn for a program that is unsustainable," Mehlman said.

"The best way to close the gap between whites and minorities is with personal savings accounts because that's the only way for people living paycheck to paycheck to make it." Mehlman added, "Not enough African Americans have the ability to acquire a nest egg and watch it grow. That is the key to creating more wealth in this country and personal savings accounts provide that."

Bush is halfway through a 60-city tour touting his plan to allow people to invest some of their Social Security taxes into personal savings accounts, Despite his efforts, some Republicans and many Americans remain skeptical. Mehlman said he was still confident that Bush would get a bill through Congress and garner more public support.

"Social Security reform was not even on the radar until President Bush made it a top priority," he said. "I am confident that the more the public understands that the program is not sustainable, the more support will come for the president's plan."

Yearwood, the chairman of the Hip Hop Caucus, said he agreed with black Republicans on the need for both parties to be more attentive to African American issues, but said he differs with Republicans on priorities.

"I come from the standpoint of the community, the poor, the voiceless rather than a select few," he said. "I have to stand up for them and voice what's right and what's wrong."

Yearwood said his group was nonpartisan and would work to encourage both Democrats and Republicans to do more in addressing African American needs.

Adam Hunter, co-chairman of the college Republicans, said questions were submitted beforehand to keep the event orderly. "If he would have stayed, he could have asked those questions," Hunter, a senior economics major, said of Yearwood.

Hunter said that protesters were wrong in alleging that the event was staged because the questions were submitted beforehand.

"All those questions that Ken Mehlman answered were openly asked and came from Howard University students. The questions reflected the concerns of students and if he would have stayed instead of being belligerent he would have heard that and known the questions reflected issues important to minorities."

Kevin Harris, a student at Howard University, writes for the Hilltop.

Posted April 4, 2005