(Editor's Note: The following opinion column does not constitute an endorsement of any political party, or candidate, on the part of Newsmax.)
When Amber Rose took the stage at the Republican National Convention, I was perplexed.
Like many other conservatives, we battled with whether a forehead-tatted television personality, model, actress, and “SlutWalk” host should be given such a prominent platform to represent us.
Black conservatives are oft-maligned unicorns; we stick out and take on a special level of vitriol. We wear the pejorative name "Uncle Tom" with a badge of honor because we know the true story.
The former slave known as Uncle Tom was not a snitch, he actually freed his brothers and sisters from physical and mental captivity.
Figures such as Condoleezza Rice, Thomas Sowell, and Walter Willams enlightened Americans on how conservatism advances economic prosperity, family values, and personal liberty for all.
Today’s leading Black conservatives like Lt. Governor Winsome Sears, R-Va., and Reps. Byron Donalds, R-Fla., John James, R-Mich., and Wesley Hunt, R-Texas, give shelter to those fleeing a radical liberal movement built on lies, control, and emotional manipulation.
Beyond grabbing the attention of those who would have otherwise tuned out or dismissed the RNC convention, Rose’s appearance signaled that the trend keeping liberal gatekeepers awake at night is not abating.
One of the Democrats’ most reliable voting blocs is continuing to migrate away from the party, something this column has covered for years.
This shift among Blacks could make the difference in swing states.
New polling confirms this.
A Suffolk University/USA Today survey conducted Sept. 21 to 24 in Arizona finds that Black voters are contributing to Republican nominee Donald Trump topping Kamala Harris in their state-based polls.
Blacks back him by a margin of 29%.
While Harris leads among Blacks, garnering 67% of their support among the group, Joe Biden won a considerably larger share. And since Biden won the state overall, by just over 10,000 votes in 2020, a few thousand more Blacks to the Republican column could be consequential.
In Michigan, battleground polling conducted last month placed Trump just a head of Harris by two points (within the margin of error).
His growth in Black voter support there is just as startling. By hitting a 20% threshold, eight points from the 12% he garnered in 2020, Trump is making meaningfully inroads.
The pollster surmises it "may be an aberration, or a reflection of higher African-American numbers seen in recent national surveys such as The New York Times survey."
The support of Blacks, especially Black men, is up for grabs this year, and Republicans have launched a concerted effort to court this demographic.
Limited edition gold sneakers, cigar sessions, and rapper endorsements are flashy outreach tools, but the best appeal still remains something that Rep. Donalds told the Black culture radio show, "The Breakfast Club," hosted by Charlamangne tha God, this week: When Donald Trump was President, "I was making more money, and money was going further."
Whatever the results of Nov. 5, now just weeks away, the conservative movement can't afford to pat itself on the back and think the job is done.
Far from it.
We must educate new converts on the core values of conservatism and how those values connect to our core beliefs.
Tax cuts, deregulation, school choice, support for police, protection of life, and a border wall are not mere end goals. These are strategies leading to prosperity, safety, personal freedom, and national sovereignty.
Recently, U.S. Speaker of the House Rep. Mike Johnson, R-La., spoke about this.
He asked:
- "What does it mean to be an American conservative today?
- "What is it we're trying to conserve?”
He then outlined "the seven core principles of American conservatism":
- "Individual freedom"
- "Limited government"
- "The rule of law"
- "Peace through strength"
- "Fiscal responsibility"
- "Free markets," and . . .
- "Human dignity."
Policies are undoubtedly important, but so is painting a vision of life under a different set of values and strategies.
Conservatives often find themselves on defense, fending off false allegations and misrepresentations of their view of America and Americans’ lives.
We are painted as against progress, science, minorities, and experts.
The stronger offensive position for us to play is telling the lived experiences of those let down or harmed by the ill-advised — even if well-intended — policies conceived by experts and implemented by the government.
We have decades of examples. And then we need to explain what the better way forward is.
The left fundamentally believes that technocrats are best positioned to determine the good for society and how to achieve it.
The left wants to control what people do, how they think, what information they have access to, what choices they make, and what outcomes they achieve.
For example, look at COVID-19 lockdowns and mandates, censorship, and equity pushes.
Conservatives believe that individuals operate on common sense, even if they don’t have an alphabet beside their name.
Individuals are best suited to make the right choices for themselves or their families.
Government works best when it removes barriers and allows people to pursue their ambitions, dreams, and goals, rather than draining them of their hard-earned resources; and when it’s focused on upholding the laws that create equality for all.
So as we sprint into the final stretch of the 2024 election season, we must realize that Nov. 5 is not the end of the race but a handoff.
The next leg of the race to win is to impart the values that unite us with our newly liberated brothers and sisters.
Patrice Lee Onwuka is a political commentator and director of the Center for Economic Opportunity at the Independent Women’s Forum. She is also an adjunct senior fellow with the Philanthropy Roundtable and a Tony Blankley Fellow at The Steamboat Institute. Follow her on Twitter: @PatricePinkFile Read Patrice Lee Onwuka's Reports — More Here.