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The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party

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Exclusive Interview With Shay Riley

David Fowler

Managing Editor

 

Shay is the managing editor Booker Rising, a news and commentary site that targets black moderates and conservatives. She is also a freelance writer who has worked on electoral and voter registration campaigns in addition to having been a communications director and events planner for a national non-profit social services organization.  She has a B.A. and M.A. in political science from the University of Illinois. 

Shay Riley (Center, Red Shirt) After An Interview. She Was One Of The Bloggers In Attendance At This Year's RNC.

Shay Riley (Center, Red Shirt) After An Interview. She Was A Blogger At The 2008 RNC

 http://www.bookerrising.net/

DF: WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO START BOOKER RISING, AND HOW DID YOU GET THE NAME?

I started the blog in 2004 to showcase the diverse ideological thought that exists among black moderates and conservatives. Being a moderate-conservative - I’m about 2/3 conservative and 1/3 liberal in my policy views, with a strong libertarian streak - I don’t quite fit into the moderate category or conservative category. There wasn’t a place where people could go and get regular commentary from the black center-right in one place. Many people also assume that people within the black moderate sphere or black conservative sphere agree with each other all of the time. That is not the case as my blog shows.
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My blog is named in honor of the late Booker T. Washington. “Booker” of course, was Washington’s first name. “Rising” is about putting Booker T. Washington and his ideas back into the public realm: self-help, education, enterprise, character education, work ethic, general black uplift. Both Washington and his ideas have been too much in the background for some decades.
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DF: YOU DESCRIBE YOURSELF AS FISCALLY CONSERVATIVE. WHAT ARE YOUR FEELINGS ON THE CURRENT STATE OF THE ECONOMY AND THE BLAME THAT CAPITALISM AND THE FREE-MARKET SYSTEM HAS TAKEN AS A RESULT?
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First of all, the U.S. is not a capitalist economy but a mixed economy. Our economy’s current state is the inevitable result of government intervention that rewards political pull and not merit, instead of us moving more towards free-market capitalism. Take the various bailouts that have either passed or are being discussed right now. Government bailouts rewards bad business decisions and merely delays movement toward sound fiscal fundamentals. Bailouts beget even more bailouts, as we can see with all of these industries wanting a bailout after the Wall Street deal.
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On a related note, we can also look at how the Community Reinvestment Act basically forced banks to lend to folks with not-optimal credit. When you add that banks who do risky lending know that they will be bailed out by government - which means us taxpayers - by leaning upon their political pull, these banks don’t reap the full repercussions of their actions and it leads to our current result. Borrowers also share some blame, in taking mortgages that they knew that they could not afford when the adjustable rate went up.
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It is only the free market - coupled with liberty and individual rights - which promotes economic growth and keeps things from going out of control.
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DF: YOU POSTED ON YOUR SITE THAT YOU DIDN’T VOTE ON THE ‘PRESIDENT’ PORTION OF THE BALLOT, EXPLAIN WHY:
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I chose to skip over the President portion of the ballot and vote down-ballot for several reasons. A major reason was McCain’s and Obama’s support of the Wall Street bailout, which I strongly oppose. Although I agreed with about 70% of McCain’s positions, his selection of Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was problematic. I wasn’t impressed at all by her. She was not ready to be vice president, and certainly not president if something unfortunately happened to the not-young McCain. As a political independent, I also didn’t believe that the GOP should be rewarded for its work over recent years, particularly Big Government spending, which undermined limited government principles.
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I did very briefly flirt with voting for Obama - the idea of a black president appealed to me, for black progress reasons - but his socialist fiscal views and links to various Marxists were a turnoff. As an Illinois resident who voted for him to be a U.S. Senator, I haven’t seen the moderatism or even moderate-liberalism that he promised us voters. He’s been straight up liberal, so I didn’t buy his claims of unifying the country through bipartisanship. A person with whom I only agree about 30% of the time, even a fellow black person from my hometown, is not enough to get my vote.
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I looked at the minor party candidates and ruled them out either because I thought they were posing as libertarian, they were too conservative and religious-oriented for my taste, or socialist.
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DF: HOW DO YOU THINK THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA WILL AFFECT THE AFRICAN AMERICAN COMMUNITY IN REGARDS TO CURRENT AND FUTURE POLITICAL LEANINGS? DO YOU SEE IT SOLIDIFYING THE BLACK VOTE FOR DEMOCRATS?
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I’ve read commentary from folks who argue that like President Kennedy did for Catholics, President-Elect Obama’s election will politically diversify the black vote across the major political parties. I disagree. Catholics and blacks have a very different history. Because of our unique experience in America, there is a “black card” psychological dynamic - despite black progress - that is just not the case with Catholics and that will continue to heavily influence black voting behavior. Other than about a twenty-year period in the mid-20th century, blacks (including the few blacks in the South who were able to vote before the Voting Rights Act) have always had lopsided voting, be it for the Republicans or for the Democrats. I predict that like Jews - a group that still votes overwhelmingly Democratic regardless of the group’s progress - blacks will continue to overwhelmingly vote for one political party.
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DF: LET’S PUT YOU IN THE ROLE OF REPUBLICAN STRATEGIST FOR A MINUTE, WHAT DOES THE GOP NEED TO DO TO MORE EFFECTIVELY REACH OUT TO A BROADER RANGE OF RACES GENERALLY, AND THE AFRICAN-AMERICAN SUB-SECT SPECIFICALLY IN ORDER TO BETTER CONVEY SHARED VALUES?
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The GOP definitely needs to follow through on its claims of being the party of limited government and freedom. When Big Government and de facto government takeover of industry occurs under a Republican administration, that hurts the GOP’s argument.
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In terns of black voters, the Republican Party needs to be a lot more aggressive in promoting its message in the media outlets that black voters actually utilize, and in its on-the-ground operation in black communities. When the GOP is mentioned on black radio or other black media, it is overwhelmingly not a message defined by the GOP but by Democrats. While 69% of black voters support a larger role for government, 22% favor limited government and the remainder are unsure. That is certainly a pool of black voters from which to draw yet most of those folks are not voting Republican on a regular basis because they perceive the GOP to be against black progress. Outline how Republican policies will help upwardly mobile blacks achieve their dreams. This part is work that pretty much only black Republicans can do, because they are the Republicans who would probably be the most persuasive to prospects. And when something racist does go down, the GOP needs to be vocal. That would help change perceptions.
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DF: DO YOU THINK WE WILL SEE A RISE IN THE DEMAND FOR CONSERVATIVE BLACK POLITICIANS WITH THE ELECTION OF BARACK OBAMA?
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If you mean conservative Republicans, then no. If you mean conservative Democrats, perhaps. According to the latest poll by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think-tank which specializes in black American opinion, 31% of black American adults identify as conservative. 44% identify as liberal, 24% as moderate, and the remaining few were unsure. That same survey found that 73% of black American adults identify as Democrats, which is up. Only 4% identify as Republican, when it was 10% four years ago. Black independents are also on the decline. 
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Given the conflict over the Proposition 8 results and the fact that blacks are more opposed to abortion than the roster of black elected officials would suggest, I can envision more people carving out an electoral spot on the social conservatism front. Somebody in the black Blue Dog Democrat mold of Rep. Sanford Bishop of Georgia, but more conservative. However, economic issues tend to be primary among black voters and I don’t see most blacks being fiscally conservative policy-wise anytime soon.
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DF: HAVE YOU EVER SEEN YOURSELF RUNNING FOR OFFICE?
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My father’s side has a history of holding political office. My grandfather’s cousin, Charles Chew, was Chicago’s first independent black alderman who challenged then-Mayor Richard J. Daley and he was later assistant majority leader of the Illinois Senate. My grandfather didn’t hold political office, but he was a behind-the-scenes guy in various campaigns. While politics is in my blood, I have absolutely no plans to run for political office. For one, I’m too reserved to be a politician. My views are also too maverick to run for office. If I could wave a wand, I’d slash federal government revenues by at least 50%, legalize drugs and prostitution, and institute school choice. I’d have the states deal with issues like abortion - I’m pro-choice - and gay marriage - which I support - which is where these issues should lie. I doubt I can get elected on that platform from Chicago’s South suburbs.
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DF: LASTLY, WHAT DO YOU ENVISION FOR THE FUTURE OF BOOKER RISING?
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It’s a one-woman operation right now. It would be great if I could turn it from a hobby into a full-fledged news & commentary website that was the center-right counterpoint to well-known black newsites that are ideologically left but claim to be neutral.   

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DF: THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME AWAY FROM BOOKER RISING FOR THE INTERVIEW, IT WAS A PLEASURE HAVING YOU. 

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Posted on December 2nd, 2008 under Capitalist View Exclusives • Tags: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , . • RSS 2.0 feed • Leave a response, or trackback

7 Responses to “The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party”

  1. 1
    The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 9:41 pm

    [...] The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party I predict that like Jews - a group that still votes overwhelmingly Democratic regardless of the group’s progress - blacks will continue to overwhelmingly vote for one political party. DF: LET’S PUT YOU IN THE ROLE OF REPUBLICAN … [...]

  2. 2
    The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party:
    December 2nd, 2008 at 10:06 pm

    [...] The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party In terns of black voters, the Republican Party needs to be a lot more aggressive in promoting its message in the media outlets that black voters actually utilize, and in its on-the-ground operation in black communities. … [...]

  3. 3
    Collecting Movie Posters:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 5:58 pm

    [...] The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican … [...]

  4. 4
    Booker Rising:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 6:11 pm

    Capitalist View Interviews Your Girl…

    Capitalist View blog interviewed me about my ideological views, why I started Booker Rising, my vote in the presidential election, the U.S. economy, whether I plan to run for political office, whether Barack Obama’s ascension to the presidency will d….

  5. 5
    JohnB:
    December 3rd, 2008 at 6:47 pm

    Great interview! Shay is obviously a very focused and determined individual. It takes guts to go against the grain, as abuse is sure to follow, kudos to her for sticking to her guns and vision.

  6. 6
    Olechka-persik:
    December 8th, 2008 at 4:32 pm

    Огромное спасибо за потрясающие идеи!!! Буду следить за блогом, много всего интересного. А мой блог о науке, надеюсь, тоже понравится ;)

  7. 7
    The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican …:
    December 10th, 2008 at 8:47 pm

    [...] The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican … The Present And Future Of Black Conservatives And The Republican Party I predict that like Jews - a group that still votes overwhelmingly Democratic regardless of the group’s progress - blacks will continue to overwhelmingly vote for … [...]

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