The national GOP under the leadership of Republican National Committee Chairman Reince Priebus has been making substantive efforts to reach out to African-American voters. In the past midterm election, the GOP elected their first African-American Congresswoman in Mia Love of Utah. They also elected Will Hurd of Texas to Congress and Tim Scott of South Carolina to the Senate.
Scott became the first GOP Senator elected in the South since Reconstruction. As per the Washington Post, the GOP’s African-Americans outreach marked a turning point in the recent election. In fact, the GOP is now diverse and that is only increasing over time. Back in the 2000 presidential election, George W. Bush sought to obtain 16% of the African-American vote which his team believed would have a significant effect in battleground states. He did not succeed, but it appears the RNC is headed in the right direction.
Curiously, academia has responded with a study of their own with results they purport prove that the GOP’s lock on the South is fueled by support from the KKK. The study was conducted by Professor David Cunningham of Brandeis University’s Department of Sociology at Brandeis University, Professor Rory McVeigh of the University of Notre Dame, and Professor Justin Farrell of Yale University.
It includes data showing voting patterns in the South from the early 1960s. No one is stating that the KKK’s membership has recuperated. However, the report claims that the KKK’s beliefs fuel support for the GOP in areas where they have local chapters. It is clear that the Left will resort to ad hominems rather than produce polices and ideas to promote prosperity among African-Americans.