Black Republicans: Grand Old Pawns

Author: Neal Broverman

Like the idea of LGBTQ+ Republicans, the concept of Black Republicans is hard to fathom. The party of Donald Trump and Ron DeSantis is hostile to affirmative action, reparations, and, perhaps most egregiously, the teaching of America’s long history of enslavement, exploitation, segregation, and casual racism. So, how does one square the idea of prominent Black Republicans like Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas and South Carolina senator (and former presidential candidate) Tim Scott? To gay journalist and documentarian Clay Cane, people like Thomas and Scott are simply scam artists, selling-out their communities for power. In his new book, The Grift: The Downward Spiral of Black Republicans from the Party of Lincoln to the Cult of TrumpI have been disgusted by how the Republican Party mangles our history with, “Frederick Douglass was a Republican” and “Lincoln freed the slaves!” I wanted to showcase how the original Black Republicans in the 19th century were the first progressives. They are rolling in their graves at the GOP of today. How did we go from the revolutionary spirit of Frederick Douglass to Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas? Not even going that far back, how did the GOP go from figures like General Colin Powell, who I didn’t agree with politically but he wasn’t a grifter or a con artist, to Herschel Walker? It’s turned into a full blown, perform for pay or power grift, which has a legislative impact on all communities, but especially marginalized communities.As I mentioned, the “ex-gay” movement, which was hugely profitable. But also, during the early days of the HIV epidemic, there were closeted gay people in government doing nothing or pushing for dangerous policies while their friends, or even sometimes partners, died. Thankfully, there were activists who exposed them. In the intro, I also discuss Black gay men suddenly making the transformation to becoming a Republican.