|
Did Hell just freeze over???
|
View this Thread in Original format
| Shakka |
Is the head of the Orange County NAACP and "Uncle Tom???"
Time for an Oreo party!
| quote: | NAACP chief makes switch to GOP
Scott Maxwell
TAKING NAMES
November 17, 2005
For decades, Republicans have struggled to reach out to black Americans. But now in Orange County, the GOP has to reach no further than the NAACP.
As of this week, Derrick Wallace, head of Orange County's NAACP, has switched parties -- to become a Republican.
"I've thought about this for two years," Wallace said Tuesday afternoon, just a few hours after returning from the elections office. "This is not a decision I made yesterday."
It is, however, a decision that rang out like a shot among political circles.
Republican Party leader Lew Oliver described himself as "extraordinarily pleased," while Democratic leader Tim Shea said he was disappointed.
Wallace, a construction-company exec, was candid about the fact that his business life was a big part of his decision to change.
"It's purely a business decision. Ninety percent of those I do business with are Republicans," he said. "Opportunities that have come to my firm have been brought by Republicans."
To that, Shea responded: "I'm a little confused. Are we talking about the National Association for the Advancement of Construction Professionals -- or Colored People?"
Wallace elaborated that his "business" line of thought also referred to the NAACP. Behind many of the power desks in this town sit Republicans. And he said he wants his organization to be part of that structure. Just as importantly, he said, he didn't want people to immediately brand -- or dismiss -- NAACP concerns as synonymous with those of liberal Democrats. "I want this branch to be respected," he said.
Oliver said they already are, noting that all of the members of the GOP executive board joined the NAACP a few years back to show that they were serious about outreach. "We have taken pains to do our very best to reach out," he said.
But Shea and other Democrats have long maintained that Republican talk about inclusion is little more than that: talk. They cite GOP policy after policy -- on everything from voting rights to health care -- that disproportionately negatively affects blacks.
Wallace's party switch may not be a complete surprise. After his own long-shot bid for mayor of Orlando fell short in 2003, he twice supported Republican candidates for the post.
Still, Wallace's new GOP standing is historic for the NAACP -- an organization that is vastly Democratic.
"I don't think my doing this hurts anything. In fact, I think it helps," Wallace said. "But we'll hear what others have to say. I'm sure I will." |
Of course, it's more of a headline shocker than anything, but it has to be a blow to the left, no less. |
|
|
| josh4 |
I'd say it means precisely, nothing. Its not the first time something like this has happened and Dems are much more likely to turn on the defector, renouncing them completely, than to even consider looking at the other side any differently. After all thats happened, I'd be willing to bet that goes double time for african americans in this case.
Anyway when something like this happens its usually a result of a color we all see the same: green. I'm sure that's what he meant when he says it was a "business" decision. |
|
|
| purplepenguin |
| i'll agree it really means nothing people just aren't used to something like this happening |
|
|
| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by purplepenguin
i'll agree it really means nothing people just aren't used to something like this happening |
Maybe, but in my experience something that is not expected means a lot more than nothing. |
|
|
| josh4 |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shakka
Maybe, but in my experience something that is not expected means a lot more than nothing. |
Even if it means something doesn't mean it'll change anything. |
|
|
| DrUg_Tit0 |
| Hmm, New Orange County? Is that where those American Chopper guys from Discovery channel are? |
|
|
| Renegade |
| quote: | | It's purely a business decision. |
:rolleyes:
Still, that's what - 23 African-Americans across the nation who'll be voting for the GOP at the next election now? |
|
|
| Shakka |
| quote: | Originally posted by Renegade
:rolleyes:
Still, that's what - 23 African-Americans across the nation who'll be voting for the GOP at the next election now? |
So why is it that blacks must always vote with Democrats? You do realize how racist that sounds, don't you? |
|
|
| Renegade |
| quote: | Originally posted by Shakka
So why is it that blacks must always vote with Democrats? You do realize how racist that sounds, don't you? |
I didn't say that they "must" vote Democrat, only that the overwhelming majority "will":
| quote: | Support for the majority Republican party in the United States is sagging as President George W. Bush's popularity continues to slide, according to a poll released on Wednesday.
[...]
The poll also revealed overwhelming opposition to Bush among African-Americans. Only two percent said they approved of his performance as president, the lowest level ever recorded in that category, NBC television reported. |
http://www.news24.com/News24/World/...1816160,00.html |
|
|
| Shakka |
Forgive me, it just sounded like you were implying that it was wrong of a person, regardless of skin color, to align himself with a specific group based on his own personal views, simply because the majority of his race has historically aligned itself with the other side. In any event, as Josh stated, what will be telling will be if the Democrats accept his decision willingly, or if they will turn on their own and turn their backs on him as they have done so many times before with members of their party who have dared to challenge them.
I can hear it now. "Oh he was never one of us anyway. The Republicans can have him. He was a spineless poser." The NAACP may even make him resign his post. How telling would that be? I bet they disown him like a red-headed step child. Friggin ginger kids. |
|
|
| Arbiter |
| How disappointing, I had always thought one of the few redeeming characteristics of the modern Republican party was their relative lack of racemongering. |
|
|
| Shakka |
| are you referring to me or to the subject matter at hand? |
|
|
|
|
