Dear Editor,
As a student of American politics, after watching the Republican Convention on TV and reading about it in the print media, one can’t help but notice how much (in physical outlook) the Republican Party (RP) has changed from just a couple decades ago with the party going all out to embrace ethnic minorities and women. From being essentially a male-dominated WASP (White Anglo Saxon Protestant) party, it is appearing all inclusive (reflecting different groups) though it still has a lot more distance to travel to reflect the diverse cosmopolitan nature of American society.
It used to be that minority ethnics (especially immigrant groups) would shun the RP but not any more as minorities are being welcomed into the party. Even Guyanese and other Caribbean Americans are now affiliated with the party and a few even proudly showed up at the RP convention. Also, Guyanese-Americans seem to get a better welcome, reception and resources from the Republicans than the Democrats in their communities. In Queens, for example, you could hardly find a Democratic politician (Guyanese gave them hundreds of thousands of dollars in contributions) to ‘service‘ Guyanese communities – Richmond Hill, where Guyanese predominate is the most neglected neighbourhood in the state in terms of resources for education, after school tutoring, infrastructure, housing, youth development, community centre, parking, infrastructure, etc.
But Republicans have embraced them. A Republican representative (Erich Ulrich) has probably given more resources (though still not enough) to the Richmond Hill community in four years than all the elected (Democratic) reps (State Senator, Assembly, Congress) combined for the last twenty years.
But this should not be reason enough to endorse the Republicans. Parties must earn their votes from ethnic minorities with good governance and delivery of resources, while at the same time genuinely advocating the interests of their constituents.
And the Democrats have failed so far in these requirements when it comes to Guyanese Americans in Queens, while the Republicans are providing an opening and are changing.
In seeking to change its image as being historically viewed as a WASP party to attract minority voters, the RP convention began with an invocation from the Jewish faith and closed with one from the Catholic faith – what a shift considering that conservative WASPs used to (and many still do) look at these faiths as ‘cults‘ while a Mormon has been nominated (a first) to be the torchbearer of the party – unimaginable just a few years ago, just as unimaginable that the Democrats would nominate a Black to be its torchbearer four years back in an ethnically divided nation. Between the opening and closing of the RP convention were speeches from Mormons, Protestants and people of other faiths as well as minorities. There were also Africans, Asians and Indian-Americans. One can’t help but notice how many prominent women politicians addressed the convention. And Marco Rubio, a Hispanic, a rising star, gave a stirring speech in thanking the Republican nominee for his acceptance speech and he himself was short listed to be the VP; the nominees were two Indian Americans.
One can now see minorities of all backgrounds at the convention as well as campaigning for votes for their RP candidates. And the Democrats cannot take minority voters for granted any more.
Minorities don’t automatically vote for Democrats any more – opening up the politics and forcing parties to campaign for minority votes. But at the same time Republicans have to come up with practical policies and programmes to win over the heart of minorities, especially on immigration, protecting the borders, social security, jobs and the economy.
Yours faithfully,
Vishnu Bisram
