HAMILTON COUNTY REPUBLICAN AFRICAN AMERICAN CAUCUS
Rev. Dr. Shirley Ray, Hamilton County Chair
TNRAAC's Websites:
March 1, 2011
Posted by: Dr. Jean Howard-Hill
NRAAC Nat'l Chair
Response to McGary Flirts with Party Switch
As African American Republicans, we are delighted to hear another minority is joining our ranks. This is what it is all about, recruiting African Americans who share some of the same core values of our party. However, in the case of Andrea McGary, we have serious reservations.
First of all, most of us have fought 20 to even 40 years or more to seek parity within the local Hamilton County GOP, and depending upon whose in leadership, we are either welcomed or deliberately ignored. Not to mention being blackballed if we are intelligent enough to speak out or be a threat. Access to a place at the table has been a hard and long battle. Still we are not there! Those of us at the forefront, such as myself have taken the hits from the African American community because they have failed to understand why we would wear the label and join the GOP ranks. We also have had to endure the abusive treatment within our local GOP, because there are some in the local party who despite our numbers, work hard to ignore our presence and to shut us out.
We also have watched as some Republicans have reached over us, to take the hand of someone who it turns out isn't the Republican they say they are, only to find that once they cannot use the GOP to get elected, have returned to their true democratic roots. Now we read in the Chattanooga Times Free Press, February 27, 2011 article that Andrea McGary is flirting with the notion of switching parties. We cannot help but ask why and question his motives, and look to see what else might be behind this, lurking within the GOP.
Perhaps Mr. McGary has heard that our Hamilton County chair has announced that he will be targeting the 28th and 29th legislative districts, seeking someone to run against Representative Brown and Representative Favors. To this our Hamilton County Republican African American Caucus says, none of us are interested. Because if the only way a qualified African American Republican can be elected in Hamilton County is to be elected out of districts that are comprised of people of our own race; and this is the only way in which the local party seeks parity and opportunities for African American Republicans, then it is discrimination and we say no thank you.
Also, there seems to be some kind of trend in our party of ignoring those African American Republicans who truly are Republicans, by reaching out to others to see if they can find an opportunist to keep us in check, while at the same time mistreating or ignoring those blacks they already have.
We have qualified candidates who as Republicans ought to be able to run out of any Republican district and win. That is, if the local GOP is color blind and there truly is no racial issue, as some have suggested. So either you give us the same rights as others within the party or you don't do it at all.
While we welcome you Mr. McGary, we will not allow you or those who play these kinds of games within our party to use you to add a fly in the bowl of buttermilk, just for the sake of saying that the local Republican Party is doing its part in being inclusive in elected leadership.
We will watch this one with a careful eye. Because if the local Hamilton County Republican Party or Mr. McGary think for a second that we will sit back and allow someone who has not paid the dues and taken the hits, to waltz in and take precedence over those who have fought so hard and long for true and meaningful inclusion, with many political bruises to show for it, just to make some kind of distorted GOP statement of inclusion, then both had better think twice.
The days of ignored, abused and excluded African American Republicans in Hamilton County are over! This includes the games as well.
