African American Activists and Politicians On the Right Find Support in the Black Community

Venturing into Republican politics did not begin with an abrupt awakening to conservatism for Brad Mole. It was his way of life and his religious upbringing which brought him into the Republican party.

Mole, the son of a preacher inside the Lowcountry area of SC, is currently taking his politics a huge leap forward, challenging (D) Joe Cunningham for his United States congressional seat.

As experts debunk the myth of the African American voter monolith, a crowd of black Republicans are stepping up to counter stereotypes, as well as assert a political identity that is different from the typical assumption that every black American is Democrat, particularly in the Trump era.

Mole, as 1 of 7 Republicans running for that seat, credits his religious upbringing for his motivations to join up with the crowded race. These same traditions frequently are related to centrist black political leanings. But for blacks like Brad Mole, their conservatism triggers questions as to whether their political preferences and party really match their worldview.

According to Mole, he is the typical black individual who voted for Obama, but then he voted for Donald Trump. He adds that during some point you start thinking for yourself and wonder: ‘You know what? I am not voting this individual or this ticket only because my parents or grandmother did.’

Ahead of the 2020 presidential election and a June Republican primary, Mole claims he’s connecting with fellow voters in a way that he said speaks more to the nuance of conservative traditions.

And he isn’t alone. Black Conservatives for Truth president, Kaaryn Walker, founded the group as an outlet for blacks in America to connect with each other and draw attention to conservative policies.

According to Walker, sometimes you’ll find that folks share the same politics as you; however, because of backlash or fear, black folks do not discuss it. She adds that if you want to witness the Republican party being more diverse, you must see them being active within the party.

Walker identified as a conservative for over 25 years, pointing to her support for free market economics and her pro-life leanings. Just like Mole, a background steeped in tradition led Walker to a closer affiliation with Repubs than the Dem party her family usually supported.

In Walker’s outreach, she frequently challenges other people to reevaluate how Dem platforms represent African American values.

In the years since the well-known Southern Strategy witnessed Caucasian southerners flock to the Republican party in the dawn of the successes of the civil rights movement, African American voters maintained close ties with Dems which has remained consistent all throughout most of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Tim Scott, the South Carolina senator, has stepped forward recently as one of Trump’s top supporters and has been at the forefront of Trump’s efforts to appeal to African American voters.

As the Republican party started to lean further to the right in the 2010s, blacks moved left. The statistics bear out the dominance of the Dems. In 2016, over 88 percent of blacks in America voted for (D) Hillary Clinton. However, Walker insisted that pundits should not rule out African American support for Trump this time around.

She said that Trump helped to narrow the wage gap, passed the First Step Act for prison reform, and invested in black colleges. 

Pew information in 2017 found that even though black voters remain Democratic, that identification “modestly declined in recent years”.

Around 2/3 of blacks identified as Democrats, which was down from the first half of Obama’s presidency. During that time, approximately 75 percent of blacks in America were affiliated with the Dem party.

Pew also reported that a mere 8 percent of African American voters identify as Republican, the exact same percentage as voted for President Trump in the year 2016. Overall, blacks are 11 percent of the American electorate.

As Dem campaigns are faced with a higher demand to center African American voter diversity, Trump’s administration took notice, and invested in extra campaign funds on aggressive outreach to black communities.

These initiatives involve campaign advertisements in black media outlets and a series of rallies on “Black Voices for Trump” at makeshift neighborhood storefronts in critical battleground states.

In a press release that announced the initiative, Trump’s campaign discussed ‘historically-low minority unemployment rates’ as well as investments in traditionally black universities and colleges, as proof of Trump’s continuous dedication to African American communities.

Racism doesn’t discriminate by party, and you’ll see this currently playing out in the Dem primaries with misstep upon misstep.

Others weigh in and say that Trump has a record of results for blacks, and our party is dedicated to sharing this winning message.

They add that if the only reason you are a Democrat is because you believe the Repubs are racist, you should go back and discover why you really are a Democrat.

Mole, even though he’s the underdog, it is these kitchen-table talks on shared traditional values he hopes will draw out voters in June, and once again in November, irrespective of his placing within the state primary.

Walker says what is at stake is larger than any single polarizing president or election.

She adds that we are a community whose convictions and principles get silenced in the broader narrative of African American voters. However, we are fighting to preserve our conservative culture while we vote Repub around the country.

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