Jay Bookman @AJC:Brooks is doing more than voicing his own idiosyncracies here. He is candidly expressing a widespread belief in parts of the GOP that their reputation as unwelcoming to minority Americans is totally undeserved. And because they see it as totally undeserved, they think that there is nothing that they can or should do to change it. OK, fine. However, those conservatives who are interested in something other than wallowing in victimhood might want to try to see how their words and actions are perceived outside their own circles. For example: Forced deportation of millions of people, many of whom have lived here for two decades or longer, will not be perceived by outsiders as a rational solution to our immigration challenge, because it is not. It is neither practical nor humane. And if that policy is not being driven by rational thought, then yes, something else must be at work. Likewise, claims of a war on whites will be greeted with eye-rolling by anybody conversant with the realities of the world in which we live, from the demographics of Fortune 500 CEOs -- 1.2 percent are black, 1.8 percent are Asian, 2 percent are Latino and 4.8 percent are women, which means the rest look very much like me and Rep. Brooks -- to the glaring disparities in drug-crime sentencing. Finally, if youre going to argue that the reason that more minorities arent being attracted to the Republican Party is because minorities arent smart enough to know whats good for them, then ... then I cannot be of any further assistance and I apologize for taking up so much of your time.
Posted on: Tue, 05 Aug 2014 01:24:17 +0000