Shannon Reeves gives this account in an open letter.
When I travel to speak at Republican conferences and events around the country, wandering through hotels, convention centers and social clubs, as I approach the rooms where I'm scheduled to speak, I am often told by Republicans that I must be in the wrong place. While boarding a shuttle bus to a national convention a few years ago, an attendee who was already on the bus introduced himself to another white guest who was boarding, took one look at me and, in an attempt to be helpful, told me I was on the wrong bus. As a Bush delegate at the 2000 convention in Philadelphia, I proudly wore my delegate's badge and RNC lapel pin as I worked the convention. Regardless of the fact that I was obviously a delegate prominently displaying my credentials, no less than six times did white delegates dismissively tell me to fetch them a taxi or carry their luggage.Imagine how our Republican women would have felt if they had been mistaken for hotel maids. These people didn't see that I wasn't wearing a uniform; all they saw was a black face and they made an assumption. I am a proud Republican, one who has traveled this great country from Harlem to Honolulu to promote the Republican message. I've campaigned from Inyo to Siskiyou. Wherever I've been asked to go, I've shown up for this party, speaking to literally thousands of groups. And through it all, I've met thousands upon thousands of grassroots volunteers who have welcomed me, given me good advice, prayers, love, and support. They've taught me a lot, and I've always been grateful for their support. No one has treated me better than Thaddeus Taylor, Inyo County's chairman, who opened his home and treated me with such love. This is not another inter-party squabble of moderates versus conservatives, or rural versus urban. These are grassroots Republicans for whom the principles of inclusion and the big tent are an intrinsic part of their very fiber.
Dean was wrong for what he said. The Black Democrats who were at that meeting were stupid to laugh, in my opinion.
Michael Steele needs to back up a bit. I called into a radio show where Steele was the guest of the hour. I raised the comment by Shannon Reeve. He knows Reeve and said he was a good man. Steele did not address the comment by Reeve. He went off on a tangent.
Show me the document.
Mike, here's the open letter. He appears to have made it available.
http://www.chronwatch.com/site_search.asp?auth=63
Is this what you seek?
Next...
I wonder how much credibility we are to assign to someone who actually loses sleep about being called an Uncle Tom.
It appears that there are a few Black people who lose sleep over it or holds grudges over it. We can start with Clarence Thomas.
Posted by: EBrown at February 20, 2005 03:54 PMA couple of things:
1. Shannon is a MAN. A que in fact...and I know him second hand.
2. Shannon has hustler-like instincts, but he doesn't lie, and he isn't small. He wasn't the tail on his line, but he wasn't the ace either.
3. Your central argument--that no one should make a decision based on the experience of a single individual is on point. But Shannon isn't forsaking his decision to be a Republican. He's simply acknowledging the hurdles involved with the decision.
And here's where Ed gets it wrong. I'm willing to bet that there are more people with Shannon's experience, and Faye's experience, then there are with your experience. So what Dean said may have been impolite...but it is accurate. Acknowledge the truth, and move on.
Posted by: Lester Spence at February 20, 2005 04:02 PMYour central argument--that no one should make a decision based on the experience of a single individual is on point.
True, it is on point. I've heard other Black Republicans say they get a double take when in all Republican events not explictly targeting minorities. But they don't have news articles to "document" what happened.
I acknowledge the outreach that Mike discussed. There's more going on in Maryland, being spearheaded by Michael Steele.
But even he says there aren't that many.
Posted by: EBrown at February 20, 2005 04:25 PMI was going to post this on Cobb, but I was met by the posting delay. So here it goes:
1. Shannon Reeves is a man.
2. From my point, what was "important" in the entry you track backed was what he said he faced at the GOP convention.
3. Steele was right, IMO, to say that Dean was wrong for his comments. But, for me, when he started going the "plantation" route, he crossed the line. If Reeves is saying he was treated as hired help at the GOP convention, who is Steele to pull the "plantation" card? Especially when the same man is saying that the GOP was wrong to implement the Southern Strategy.
Posted by: EBrown at February 20, 2005 05:08 PMSomething has recently occured, that I can't really talk about right yet, which makes me very sympathetic to what Reeves may be implying by raising the question. To the extent that there is the question of whether or not black top dogs get 100% trust and respect in the GOP (then what would they do to us?) this is a very real issue.
I don't know about Dean specifically had to say other than what the Day to Day cartoon implies.
But there is a double standard here, I think. It is that we should understand that the political parties with all of their power and influence don't really respect individuals and they don't particularly need to. So party functionaries and other leaders do have some justification in talking down to us and raising questions about 'plantation mentalities'. If we let matters of perceived respect take us out of the mainstream, then sometimes we are being foolish for no good reason. That's what I was talking about in 'The Coalition of the Damned'.
Man, I posted something I think was good and it got eaten.
Take II:
To the extent that there is the question of whether or not black top dogs get 100% trust and respect in the GOP (then what would they do to us?) this is a very real issue.
I think this is something that J.C. Watts faced. It came to the public when Tom Delay "started doing Watts' job because Watts wasn't doing it".
It is that we should understand that the political parties with all of their power and influence don't really respect individuals and they don't particularly need to.
True.
I think that white Dems on the national stage don't respect Blacks. Black Dems on the national stage don't know how to use their power and they don't know how to build coalitions, so they wind up being close to useless.
So party functionaries and other leaders do have some justification in talking down to us and raising questions about 'plantation mentalities'.
That's Steele's take and I think it's wrong. He linked it with paternalism.
Right now, it appears that the GOP, because of George Bush, is trying to get more non-white Repubs face time. If I'm right, isn't that paternalism GOP style and thus the plantation mentality?
There were questions concerning J.C. Watts' effectiveness. It was coming on the d.l. from within the D.C. beltway. It first became public when Robert Novak wrote about it and then later when Delay stomped on Watts' toes.
It's a hard spot to be in right now. I understand the damned if you do....
Posted by: EBrown at February 20, 2005 07:04 PM
I've been hearing about this buggabear since about 3 months or so after it first broke. I have yet to see a single quote from it. All I hear is Reeves open letter, two years after the fact. I wonder how much credibility we are to assign to someone who actually loses sleep about being called an Uncle Tom.
I cannot remember the last time anybody asked me to fetch their luggage. In fact, I'm willing to say that it has never happened, while I acknowledge that the fact of such a stupid mistake would no more phase me than getting my new shoes stepped on by some ignorant clod. In other words, I'm just not that sensitive, plus I look like the kind of man I am. So the question is whether or not the future of African American politics with California or any other branch of the Republican Party should turn soley based on the opinions of one particularly offended individual.
Show me the document. To hell with the 'recent media reports' and to hell with Shannon Reeves as the sole arbiter as to what is and is not offensive to blackfolks. I didn't elect her to that position.
Show me the document.
Posted by: Cobb at February 20, 2005 03:28 PM