Conservative urban agenda
By blackrepublican Posted in Policy — Comments (35) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
Note: I posted this as a comment and wanted to expand on it a little bit.
- Charter schools and school vouchers
- Faith-based initiatives to support inner city churches providing social services (should be accompanied by the elimination of government programs as these church/nonprofit initiatives bear fruit and become completely self-sufficient)
- Financial literacy courses required prior to graduating high school or college and grants steered towards successful financial literacy programs
- Eliminate unnecessary regulation on small businesses as blacks are experiencing high rates of enterpreneurship and frivolous regulations add costs that choke businesses before they can take off
- Expansion of urban enterprise zones as part of a larger strategy to provide more avenue to capital for small businesses in the inner city (trickle down effect)
- More incentives for home ownership (Bush has already shown progress here)
- Percentage of income taxes on lower class individuals reserved in savings accounts or investment accounts that can be put to use for college or down payments
- Mentoring tax credits for middle class and upper class Americans who donate their time in mentoring lower income Americans - teaching literacy and basic skills that will enable self-sufficiency. This can provide father figures and role models in areas where the family structure has collapsed contributing to the cycle of poverty.
- Continued emphasis on the Marriage Tax Credit and Child Tax Credits
- Funding for HBCUs that are generating productive members of the black middle class
I'm sure I'm missing some. Comments and disagreements are welcome. We need to formulate this strategy and repeat the hell out of it with credible messaging - causing lower income black Americans to take a second look at how conservative policies can benefit them. This has the added impact, as I mentioned in my earlier posts, of reaching middle class blacks who often have family members that have not made it yet.
I plan on contacting the major Republican presidential candidates after incorporating your feedback. I'd love for them to roll something like this out and explicitly message to this group of voters. Think Contract with America with an urban twist.
...would be for a major urban area be allowed to institute a "Fair Tax" pilot program too. Just imagine the people who won't have to pay taxes, and the business expenses that won't have to involve accountants and lawyers to file income tax every year.
It would get the bureaucracy off the backs of the people there. I don't know how practical that is, but it would be nice to try. I think the economic boom would speak for itself.
"Wubbies World" - MSgt, U.S. Air Force (Retired): "Call to Me and I will answer you, and I will tell you great and mighty things, which you do not know." -Jer 33:3-
That's a good idea. I know they were pushing for a pilot voucher program in D.C. Perhaps a fair tax program could be tried as well.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
Would you like to get out of Boston and come with me to New Hampshire to cover some Republican candidates at an actual Presidential debate? See this blog entry and send emails if you're interested.
FYI I felt the same way about being a Republican (of any skin color or ethnicity) living where I used to in Chicago, Il.
Someone, please close it. Put it on my tab to Clayton. I think I now owe him about 400 cases of primo stuff.
I’ll gladly recommend your diary as soon as you unrecommend it. I think its common redstate etiquette to not recommend your own diary.
- Mentoring tax credits for middle class and upper class Americans who donate their time in mentoring lower income Americans - teaching literacy and basic skills that will enable self-sufficiency. This can provide father figures and role models in areas where the family structure has collapsed contributing to the cycle of poverty.
I like your issues but this one for some reason rubs me the wrong way.
IMO
1. It is unlikely on a cost benefit basis that for most people a tax credit would not be worth the time required to put into a volenteer program.
2. I’m not sure what kind of message that would send to the mentoree.( I get paid to be your father figure)
I think it is inveative and adresses a real need but I don’t think it would accomplish the goal.
"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance"-Socrates(the real one ;)
Funding for HBCUs that are generating productive members of the black middle class
I can see some definate advantages to this but also I wonder how this is really different then funding scholorships for minorities? I am not convinced it is the roll of government to equalize the nation but if I were to support something like this it would be more along the line of indiviual scholorships for minorities rather then picking a university and funding it because of its hertiage. I think if these collages got together with the states that they reside in and become state sponsored that might be worthwhile.
"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance"-Socrates(the real one ;)
What is an HBCU? n/t
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
"A man can never have too much red wine, too many books, or too much ammunition." -- Rudyard Kipling
HBCU stands for historically black colleges and universities. These are your Tuskegee type schools that were mostly founded in the 1800s or so and have continued to show promise even today. Furthermore, they are not limited to black students though mostly black students attend.
Here are a few statistics from the United Negro College Fund on the effectiveness of HBCUs:
"Over half of all African American professionals are graduates of HBCUs.
Nine of the top ten colleges that graduate the most African Americans who go on to earn Ph.D.s are HBCUs.
More than 50% of the nation’s African American public school teachers and 70% of African American dentists earned degrees at HBCUs.
UNCF members Spelman College and Bennett College produce over half of the nation’s African American female doctorates in all science fields.
As ranked by Black Enterprise in 2003, seven of the top ten “Top Colleges and Universities for African Americans,” including the top six, were HBCUs.
HBCU Xavier University is #1 nationally in placing African-Americans into medical school.
The first Time Magazine/ Princeton Review College of the Year, Florida A&M University, is an HBCU. It is the #1 producer of African Americans with baccalaureate degrees."
These schools are filling a critical role by enlarging the black middle class thereby reducing those who would be susceptible to calls for increased government assistance.
For more info on them, please see http://www.uncf.org/aboutus/hbcus.asp
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
I like BR's overall approach, but I have real problems with the idea of special grants for HBCU's, minority scholarship programs, and race-based admissions standards. I'd really like to keep things color-blind.
Hold on. I said nothing about minority scholarship programs or race-based admission standards. I'm talking about funding HBCUs which are open to people of all colors but traditionally attract African-Americans and produce stellar results. We fund other community colleges and 4-year institutions - why not HBCU community colleges and 4-year institutions? This allows us to be consistent ideologically.
Minority scholarship programs are the rightful domain of private enterprise and the privately-funded United Negro College Fund is doing an excellent job there. I think where we have opportunity is at the institional level.
I agree we need to be as colorblind as possible but I think we also need to address the reality of current racial disparities and propose conservative solutions to solve them. Unless we do that, Democrats make it seem like we're ignoring the problems and use that as an excuse to smear white conservatives in particular.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
that private initiatives such as the UNCF typically outperform government programs, and they forget the history and values of a people pulling themselves up by their bootstraps, so to speak. Those are things to be proud of.
I stumbled on this blog entry late. Institutional funding of HBCUs is an idea that I hadn't heard before, but which deserves a further hearing. It may be great. I like your other ideas as well, and would add that continued dispertion of low-income folks from public housing hi-rises to privately-maintained Section 8 housing is paying dividends and should continue. E.g.: Trapping poor black folks between the Dan Ryan and the Lake, as was originally done in Chicago, is not a recipe for a healthy community or economic development and success.
One can aspire to a colorblind society without being ignorant (or ignoring the past).
Best of luck with your endeavors. Email me at vonofobsidianwings[at]hotmail.com if I can be of help: Aside from the merit of your proposals, which are substantial, I would like to see the Republican party start competing for the entire electorate, rather than merely rely on "turn out the base" efforts.
For we have a peculiar power of thinking before we act, and of acting, too, whereas other men are courageous from ignorance but hesitate upon reflection.
I apologize. I'm still learning the etiquette and was perhaps overzealous.
My comments about father figures was more of an attempt to portray the benefits. I wouldn't actually message it that way but I think that would be one of the positive side effects. Similar to how we are able to deduct contributions to nonprofit organizations, it might be useful to create a deduction or credit of some sort for time donated as I think the relationships built will have an outsized positive impact. Your point is well-taken though. Are there other ways to incentivize an army of volunteers rather than creating a new government program?
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
Wow that is the billion dollar question isn't it. Really the best way is to touch the hearts of others. Have pastors, priests and politiciens calling on people to serve.
Goverment program wise of course is by its nature a non-conservitive aproach. However perhaps giving companies tax credits to allow employees (paid) time off to provide service in the community would work.
Some large companies do this already on there own though.
"I know nothing except the fact of my ignorance"-Socrates(the real one ;)
The best services that most people can provide for their communities are to start businesses, or be productive workers.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
True but there is also great need for volunteers as well in areas where a profit cannot be made (excluding government intervention). This need is greater than the current volunteer pool especially in cities. This is what blackrepublican is addressing.
How do you suggest “we” encourage people to volunteer?
“It is not the possession of truth, but the success which attends the seeking after it, that enriches the seeker and brings happiness to him.”"-Max Planck
Thank you for the HBCU link. I am not convinced that there is a need for volunteers. Every established "volunteer" program that I have ever had any contact with has either been insanely pointless, or some type of scam (resume puffing, free labor we could otherwise pay for, etc.). I am also not a big fan of encouraged volunteerism such as compulsory volunteerism, which is used by a lot of public school systems (where in students are required to volunteer to work for leftist causes in order to graduate).
P.S. I have excluded political volunteers from my above comments, because political volunteers are attempting to purchase something through their labors (better government)
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
Our church does a lot of community outreach/services. Everything I've helped with has been reasonably well organized, desperately needed, and 'waste not, want not' is the theme for everything we do. Furthermore, it's not the kind of thing that is a resume puffer.
For example, the men who help fix cars for the poor and elderly on a Saturday, the people manning the food pantry, babysitting for kids while the parents are in counseling, support services for alcohol/drug addition recovery groups, organizing clothing exchanges, and gifts to the needy are all important, but I've never considered putting any of the above on my resume'. Most prospective employers just look down their noses at churchy do-gooders. It has other rewards though.
I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful 100 percent.
You might be right. My experience with volunteers is limited to working with students (who have been told by college counselors that they need to volunteer more to get into college), career advisors (who have advised me to volunteer in order to broaden my resume), contact with hospital/ hospice employees who are employed to recruit volunteers to perform unskilled/ semi-skilled labor, and various elements with in the public education establishment, which advocate compulsory volunteerism.
...a long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right...
---Thomas Paine---
There are a lot of successful nonprofits that need volunteers (Big Brothers Big Sisters, Junior Achievement, etc.). In my opinion, one of the failings of the Faith Based Initiative is that it didn't address the people issue. So if a church has a great program and could benefit from more people being available to implement it, how do we get the word out there and incentivize people to move out of their comfort zones? Through volunteerism, I'm trying to "purchase" the eradication of an underclass through relational empowerment, new avenues for sharing conservative ideology with credibility instead of parachuting in during election time, and solutions to large problems at the individual level rather than through government bureaucracy. I really like Corben's idea because 1) it doesn't create a new program only tax incentives for corporations 2) corporations are closer to their communities and are able to better identify non-profits that could use assistance and are reputable 3) companies can promote awareness of volunteering opportunities which is part of the reason why we don't have more volunteers 4) they also have enough scale to demand accountability for labor given and track progress over time with these non-profits 5) paid days off is probably a more attractive carrot than a mentoring tax credit 6) corporations already look for opportunities to generate goodwill and this would align perfectly 7) this first step of engagement leads to other ideas and opportunities.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
That's a better idea actually. Corporations can monitor and promote it within their employee base especially if they get tax credits pegged to the amount of employee participation in volunteer efforts. That avoids any perceived need for a government program.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
Gamecock DeVine in
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www.race42008.com
www.hinzsightreport.com
"One man with courage makes a majority" - Andrew Jackson
I like a lot of what you have here. I'd like to add that we remove all laws that give favoritism to Minority Business Enterprises. The laws are unnecessary and they are abused. It makes my head explode every time I learn of a business getting a contract based on their MBE status when I know that the person with 51% of the stock, usually the real owner's wife, was put there as a figure-head.
Having used to live in South Florida, I found it laughable that Hispanics could get MBE status when they represented the vast majority of bidders on many government contracts. If we're really going to be serious about these programs truly benefiting people in the "minority," MBE status in places like Miami should apply to businesses owned by white, native-born males who do not speak spanish.
Recently, when I started a new company, I had people advise me to put my wife as the head of the company and give her a 51% stake in the company. But she has nothing to do with it. I'm sorry, but I will not put forth a lie just to get a contract. That is no way for anyone with good business ethics to start a new venture.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
Stop illegal immigration!
Labor economist George Borjas has repeatedly reported that the poor are hardest hit by competition from cheap illegal labor. They have a harder time finding jobs and get paid less and treated worse when they do find jobs.
T. Willard Fair, a conservative, Miami based, black civil rights activist and an ally of former Gov. Jeb Bush recently ran an advertisement that:
"The ad quotes Fair saying black Americans have lost ''hundreds of thousands of jobs to foreign workers willing to work for next to nothing,'' and blames undocumented immigrants for ``40 percent of the decline in employment among black American men.'' He goes on to say that illegal immigration is the single largest problem facing black America.
What he doesn't say but which is obviously true is that the children of the low skilled immigrants are wrecking the already poor schools where are urban native born poor are trapped. When they are stuck in these ruined schools overwhelmed by non english speaking illegals our own poor are deprived of an education and another generation is doomed to poverty.
We are never going to successfully advance the conservative agenda until we start making poor people into middleclass taxpayers. As long as we continually flood the market with cheap labor that keeps the poor in poverty we can expect them to continue to vote for socialism.
Better be despised for too anxious apprehensions, than ruined by too confident security. --Edmund Burke
Blog: TMYN
I went to an inner-city high school some 30 years ago, and I've worked with minority professionals throughout my career. I've known black people who valued and respected education, and black people who felt that education was a dead end because of thier skin color.
I beleive that as we look at the "black community" a generation after the civil rights movement of the 60's, it's apparent that the system is finally working for black people, or at least for those who have some native skill and talent, follow the rules, and work hard. I find it pretty hard to beleive a black kid who claims that he/she can't get into college in 2007 because of racism or poverty. There are scholarships and grants, work-study, and student loans (many ofwhich aren't even available to white students), and if all else fails, there are a lot of college programs targeted at working adults. The colleges themselves are desperate to get minority students, as are large companies across the country.
The problems that still face the portion of the black community that's still mired in poverty come from within the community itself. Drugs, illegitimacy, black-on-black crime, the performance gap; none of these things can be laid at the feet of white people. They're bad choices that are being made in large numbers because of an attitude of hopelessness coupled with a sense of entitlement, and the only place they can be addressed is within the black community itself.
White America has done more to embrace racial equality in one generation than any culture in history has done in centuries. I don't mind the fact that we don't get any credit for doing the things our grandfathers should have done, but it would be nice if people would stop acting like it's still 1953. Are there still people out there who dislike black people? Certainly. But there are laws on the books to prevent people like that from acting on those feelings in places where it matters (employment and education), and those laws are being enforced.
Black America as a whole isn't going to prosper until a new generation of conservative black leaders step forward to displace the generation of leaders characterized by Sharpton and Jackson.
I believe the real focus in urban communities has to be the school system. The cabal that runs/is employed by the public school system is a tough nut to crack and they are all about protecting their turf rather than educating children. I believe the answer lies at the local and state level, moreso than the federal level, but something must be done.
I also think some focus should be put on purely social issues such as focusing on shared principles, such as opposition to "gay rights" and unfettered immigration.
Never forget, David Souter was nominated by President George H.W. Bush
I agree that we can win on social issues as well. My concern though is that some Republicans have felt that we can solely focus on social issues and win. I think that underplays what we have to offer. When we marry the economic issues (which right now have more resonance in a broader segment of the community) with social issues (which plays to the basic socially conservative nature of the black community and the black church), I think we have a good shot at 25-30% of the black vote in the short term and larger gains over time.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
Good list, except for the faith-based initiatives. Giving government money to religious operations is treading too far from the separation of church and state. We don't tax churches, and we don't give them tax money.
"Percentage of income taxes on lower class individuals reserved in savings accounts or investment accounts that can be put to use for college or down payments"
You call this a "conservative" policy? Sounds like a "new democrat" policy ala Bill Clinton. Big government conservatism like this is the reason that the party is in such a mess right now...
This is applying the private accounts model proposed for Social Security reform to income taxes on those who are lower income. I suggested savings. I'd be happy with investment accounts as well. This does not require an enlargement of government - rather taking government in place already and taxes already being collected and diverting them in a way that causes upward mobility and less overall government dependence. Ideally, this policy is followed up by shuttering government programs.
There is nothing lonelier than being a black Republican in Boston, Massachusetts
Great ideas and great program possibilities from a traditional Republican background.
Giving a hand up, not a hand out!
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