Dec 18, 2001
Former Marine: A Minority of One Boosts the GOP's Majority
When the General Assembly convenes next month, it will be missing a family name that has been present for nearly a third of a century. William Robinson, Jr., who fol- lowed his father to the House of Delegates, will not return - a victim by his own hand and by the hand of a political neophyte and novelty, Winsome Sears. If her conduct as a legislator is anywhere near as interesting as her background, or the Davida-and-Goliath con- test she and Robinson fought for the 90th District seat, the Capitol press corps will not want for copy.
Ms. Sears will be not only the first black Republican woman lawmaker in the Assembly's history - a minority of one - she also will be the first foreign-born woman, and the only challenger to unseat a South Hampton Roads incumbent despite the 2000 redistricting, and the first black Republican to win in a black-majority district.
Born in Jamaica, Ms. Sears came with her parents to the U.S. at age 6. When she was 18 her grandmother, an instrumental part of her life, died. Recognizing then "that I needed discipline" - not an opinion one would expect from someone who had graduated early and with honors from Adlai Stevenson High School - she joined the Marines. ("You don't get respect there unless you dig your own ditch," she has said.) She became an electrician and a diesel mechanic. "You could smell me before you saw me," she said last month. "I'd be covered with diesel, but I always had my lipstick on."
After a three-year stint, she married a first lieutenant and they moved back to his hometown, Norfolk. In 1992 she earned an English degree from Old Dominion. She spent time in banking and as the director of a homeless shelter before moving on to Regent University for a graduate degree in organizational management. Somewhere in between she found time to raise three girls.
EXPERIENCE as a Leatherneck probably served her well in the contest against Robinson, which was not fought according to Marquess of Queensbury rules. She filed stalking charges against an outspoken Robinson supporter, Michael Muhammad, leader of the New Black Panther Party for Self-Defense. A trial is pending. Muhammed thinks (a) that whites are devils (and has compared them to, um, excrement, which makes a heck of a combination) who are carrying out a genocidal conspiracy against blacks, and (b) that Jews are to blame for the state of affairs in government, the economy, and medical care, and the "jewspapers." (Pressed, Robinson disavowed Muhammad's views.)
Not that Ms. Sears played the shrinking violet. She hammered Robinson's record as a defense attorney in a leaflet calling attention to three cases in which he was accused of unethical or improper conduct. But she did not raise Robinson's other court problem, his chronic inability to manage his case schedule. In the words of a Times-Dispatch story:
Just weeks before the election a judge in Suffolk sentenced Robinson to five days in jail for contempt of court for failing to show up for a case because he had scheduled another case in another court. Robinson has appealed the sentence but spent one night in jail and still faces other contempt allegations in other courts.
The episode had to have hurt the Delegate, who ended up losing by 679 votes. And Ms. Sears surely benefitted from the $35,000 the Republican Party pumped into her campaign. But her own tenacity was a big factor. As John Cosgrove - GOP Party Chairman for the Fourth District and a fellow Delegate-elect - told another newspaper, "She was everywhere. I saw how hard she worked. She went house-to-house, talking to people and holding babies. She was out there in the housing projects campaigning. The Marine came out in Winsome Sears in this race."
THOUGH HER victory helps put the GOP within walking distance of a veto-proof majority, the leadership should not assume she is a partisan hack. Devoutly religious, she says she is a Christian first, a Republican second. She is open to exploring whether treatment serves drug addicts better than incarceration, and thinks school vouchers for poor children should pay the entire cost of tuition.
And she has not been a Republican forever. Conservatives might venerate Reagan; Ms. Sears found him disagreeable. It was Michael Dukakis' leviathan vision for government that caused the scales to fall from her eyes: "As I was listening to what he was saying, all the government programs he was proposing - I was thinking, 'I don't believe that.' And then it hit me: Oh my God, I'm a Republican. How am I going to tell my family?" She had been a "lazy Democrat," so she switched. "Black people always get the shaft when they back only one party."
Ms. Sears opposes abortion ("life comes from God"), believes "the first type of government is self-government," holds that public officials are servants first, thinks "money doesn't always solve the problem," and supports the right to bear arms. "There are over 2,000 gun laws on the books that need enforcing . . . .So if we enforce those laws, we [should] be ahead of the game." In answer to a candidate questionnaire about state spending she said schools, public safety, transportation, and health care should get more money because "everybody needs these." She would like to see agencies cooperate and pool their resources. And she would advise "giving tax incentives to businesses that engage in public-private partnerships."
With the state facing a revenue shortfall, spending more money in all those areas will prove a challenge even greater than the fight over the budget last session. Of that eyeball-to-eyeball battle, Delegate Robinson said the problem was "there is just too much testosterone."
Winsome Sears has done her part to fix that.
Only by demonstrating a committment to work within and on behalf of the black community instead of as token mouthpieces of it's perceived enemies, will Black Republicans develop some kind of authentic political base and lower the barrier of distrust.
I'm not black. I don't notice or care about skin color. I do notice if you are a decent human being or not. I judge people by their character, and I promise that's the honest to God truth.
What really bothers me is when I see blacks disown conservative blacks. They say, "They aren't really black". Or "They are token blacks". A conservative black person has no value as a human being unless they are "liberal blacks". This attitude infuriates me.
Please feel free to correct me if I'm wrong. The way I see it, conservatives care about human beings because they are human beings. Liberals care about blacks because they are black and need their vote. Do they really care about them, or are Liberals the modern day slave owners?
I'm very interested in reading the responses on this thread. I need an education on this topic.
Probably intelligence and a sense of values. Just like all the Purple, Orange and Green conservatives.
Great question. I hope I can answer it in a way that makes sense.
In my late teens, I heard someone say once that you can only get what you never had by doing what you have never done. Of course, this was referring to legal endeavors, not crime or anything like that.
For whatever reason, that statement stuck with me.
When I served in the military, I used to stay up late and watch Rush Limbaugh's TV program. I used it then as comic relief. I just thought the guy was funny as all get out. But after a month or so of just laughing, the things which he said began to make sense. But I wasn't ready to embrace conservatism, much less any Republican whatsoever. I was still in my Malcolm X, Jr. mode of thinking. Yeah, that's right. I blamed whitey for everything. If it rained during PT, it was whitey's fault. If my Frosted Flakes were stale or if I didn't have enough milk to eat them, it was whitey's fault.
I didn't know if I was mad because I was black, or if I was black because I was mad. So goes the mind of a 20 year old.
After I left the Army, I moved to Dallas with my sister. I met a wonderful woman who three years later would become my wife (and she still is). Her brother-in-law owned a limousine service, and I began working for him on a part-time basis.
It was on this job that I had a revelation of sorts. I was picking up someone at Dallas' Love Field. While I was waiting, I looked around the airport terminal at all of the shops therein. Roughly 95% of the business people coming off and going on the planes were whites. Yet, as I perused the terminal, all of the restaurants, newsstands, and shoe shine/barber shops employed blacks and Mexicans. Something about this picture didn't sit right with me. It became irritating to my psyche when I thought about it.
My next trip was to Dallas/Ft. Worth International. There I witnessed the same thing; white business people getting off and getting on the airplanes, and blacks and Mexicans in the service industry. For whatever reason, whenever I thought about this I became sad. Then it hit me. The people working in the service industries were healthy, had their faculties in order, and were capable. Why weren't they engaged in business instead of low-wage labor? The answer that came to me cut me like a knife: They, and you, chose the positions in life you find yourselves.
There was no denying it. The answer was true. From that moment on, listening to Jesse Jackson, Kweisi Mfume, Tavis Smiley, Al Sharpton, and Maxine Waters was not the same. Their words rang hollow. Once I realized that I was more responsible for my lot in life than anyone else, life changed dramatically. I didn't view myself as a victim anymore. I believed and knew that I was just as capable of doing what my heart desired as anyone else of whatever hue.
It was this that forced me to wholeheartedly reject the Democrat way of viewing the world. It wasn't easy. Always falling back on the excuse of the white man holding me back was difficult to give up because it provided a catch-all excuse for every failure of my life.
Later, as I defended my stance of being a Republican at my family reunions (you could have sworn that I had a Klansman hood on my head by the way I was treated by my own relatives), I became more bold and began to state my conservative views unapologetically.
Now, at the ripe old age of 30, my conservative reformation (if you will) has paid tremendous dividends. I am now a belligerent, cocky, self-confident individual in love with God, my wife and stepson, and the United States. I tell life that I'm real, raw, and will switch up and box it southpaw. Confidence is exhilarating when it comes from within, and not some sense of victimhood.
Ya heard? Good. Ya dig? Even better.
There's a ton more to this, but you have the Cliff's Notes version, and it should give you an accurate, although abbreviated version of my switch.
Love, peace, and chicken grease my people.
I have been trying to post an article here that was written by him but keep getting an error that the page cannot be displayed. It will accept the first few paragraphs but not the rest. I have seen some quite long replies on this forum and do not understand why there is a problem. Can anybody help me out with this? I will go ahead and post what I can but may have to use 2 posts to do it.
I Don't Want To Be Black Anymore
Its not working, folks. I have tried to do everything I can to be the African-American I’m supposed to be, but I just cannot continue. I am hereby resigning myself from the Black Race. And before I get death threats from my black brethren out there, hear me out…
I have almost made it through another Black history month, in which I’m supposed to do all I can to insult white people for 28 days. I guess I should even say the Black History month is a racial conspiracy by white people since they only gave us 28 (or 29) days to rip their dignity to shreds, while the other months have 30 or 31 days. Guess it’s just another example of the black man not getting his fare share. Frankly, many of my black brothas and sistas’ are starting to…well... embarrass me. Can I turn on the television and not hear some black liberal puke complaining about something?
I’ll start there - television. First we had the NAACP (Notorious African American Communist Pigs) lambasting Hollywood for not having enough blacks in front of (or behind) the cameras. “We don’t see enough black folk on TV.” An economic boycott is threatened, the ugly “R” word is used, and Hollywood (you know, those rich white guys) capitulate. Did anyone ask were the accusations true? And if so, who really cares? Whenever I turn my television to watch my favorite programs, I see plenty of very wealthy and successful black men in their tradecraft. But I guess the NFL, the NBA, and Major League Baseball doesn’t count. It must be just me. Guess the "quota kings and queens" don’t count those folks. Then another “study” comes out. This one says, “While blacks are over-represented on television, they are still given only minor roles, or are on screen for less than 5 seconds at a time.” And, of course, this too is unfair.
The easy defense against this eternal whining was for anyone to just mention three letters: B.E.T That’s right, Black Entertainment Television, where you can get all the blackness you want, 24/7 with all those black folks in front of (and behind) all those cameras. Gee, only about 60 million cable viewers can see that. Guess it’s just me. Maybe Momma didn’t raise me right.
Now we have that flag issue in Dixie. Most folks thought if they just took down that flag, all this controversy would just go away. After all, it’s a horrible reminder of slavery. Strange, I can’t find a black person in this country who can remember being a slave. I also can’t find one white person in the country who will admit to owning slaves. In fact, most of the whites in this country (according to my investigation) had ancestors who landed on these shores long after slavery ended in North America. And I can’t repeat what some of those Irish folks told me. But, for one month I’m supposed to hate the confederate flag. Not just waving over the South Carolina Statehouse, but on police cars in Mississippi, livestock shows in Houston, changing the names of bridges in Virginia, parks in Tennessee, defacing portraits of General Lee, and even have Rep. King (R-NY) demonize every southerner in the halls on Congress. I’m supposed to support and endorse all of this as a black man.
Yes, boycott South Carolina. Boycott the entire South until they get their “minds right.” This means, no blacks (like me) should do any business with the south period. So, to that black businessman in Memphis, sorry. Hope you can get some or those racist white folks to patronize your store. The NAACP says I can’t go there. About the family reunion this year in South Carolina - forget it. Nope, not me. Our un-elected Black leadership says we gotta boycott. Don’t worry, I’ll explain to that black soul food caterer in Columbia that the reason he’s losing so much business this year is because of a piece of cloth hanging over the capitol building. He’ll understand. And Florida, we’ll have to leave you out, too. You see, Governor Jeb Bush enacted a program called “One Florida” in which anyone who finishes in the top 20% of their class gets a scholarship to a public University in Florida. I can’t figure it out for the life of me, but according to my black leaders, that’s racist, too. The NAACP head (case) says we’ll boycott Florida until that’s changed.
By the way, isn’t it interesting that the same people who say we should boycott everything economically , are the same people who say blacks are economically deprived in this “white dominated” society? What they’re telling me is that black people are too stupid to make it into the top 20% of the graduating class, and that most black people are too stupid to see through their lies. And most of these leaders probably NEVER made it into the top 20% of anything. But they’re my leaders. Dan Rather, Tom Brokaw, Peter Jennings, Bill Bradley and Al Gore say they are. Since they’re white, they must be right.
Even Secret Service is getting into the act. Some of these guys, even though they get to guard the President and the Vice President, say they haven’t got the promotions they deserve. Where’s the dignity? Guess those white Secret Service agents get to guard folks more important. Here’s a suggestion for the black secret service agents who guard those important white folks (from the south): Wanna become heroes and restore your dignity? Quit. That’ll teach ‘em.
As a black man, I should pin my hopes on making it rich, when the NAACP gets their “fair share” from suing all those guns dealers. After all it’s the gun dealer’s fault for all those black folks shooting black folks. Perhaps next year, they’ll be suing bedsheet makers, rope manufactures, and the South American drug cartel. I have asked my black leaders to sue the ATF, since the only product in America the “requires” you to list your race before purchasing is a firearm. They haven’t returned my call. But then again, the right to keep and bear arms isn’t listed under “civil rights” anyway, is it? It’s okay. We’ll just sue the gun maker instead. That’ll teach them to not sell guns to us black folks (so we can get gunned down for reaching for a wallet).
....to be continued.
Yes, if we just sue a few more white folks, harass and slander the rest, one day - maybe one day--we won’t have to put a prefix in front of the word “American” anymore.
Well, I’m not waiting for that. I have done everything to try to advance the cause of personal freedom as a black man, and enjoy the liberty that my parents fought for, but it is just not working. These white people are just too smart for me. They made sure that I never had to wait at a Denny’s restaurant longer than anyone else does. Some of them hired me for simply having the brains to do the job. Some of them (the real sneaky ones) had the gaul to judge me by the content of my character, and not the color of my skin. They’ve paid me in dollars with white slaves owners' photos on them. And, damn them, they made me earn it first. They have allowed me to own my own business. They even went so far as to steal tax dollars from other white people to make sure I got an education - so I could like…make it in this world. What an evil plot. Since there is almost no reason to bitch about anything anymore, it must be… …Institutional racism.
I am through being used. I am fed up with trying to conform. This year, when I fill out my Census form, I will let them know that I quit. I wish to no longer be a black American. I want nothing to do with race baiting, whining, pandering for more tax dollars; family breakdowns, and the Al Sharptons of the world.
I don’t want to be black anymore. I am somebody, and I don’t need Jessie Jackson to tell me that. My father did.
I don’t want to be black anymore. I refuse to be used as a statistic to get more left-wing socialists into Congress.
I don’t want to be black anymore. There is no need to make me part of a “protected group” as the California Governor recently stated. I can protect myself, thank you.
I don’t want to be black anymore. Please do not feel sorry for me anymore, white folks. That liberal pity party really insults me, anyway.
I don’t want to be black anymore. You democrats don’t have to act like you like me. I know it’s an election year. I am tired of being the black “sheep” of the party. Leave me alone.
I don’t want to be black anymore. If it means disgracing my own heritage by insulting Southern history.
I don’t want to be black anymore. Since making the same statements Martin Luther King, Jr. made in 1963 are now considered racist and “insensitive.”
I don’t want to be black anymore. If it means more innocent white people are forced to go through “sensitivity training.”
I don’t want to be black anymore. If it means that everyone looses their freedom of speech, freedom to peaceably assemble, and their right to keep and bear arms.
I don’t want to be black anymore. If it means being a ward of the State, rather than a Child of God.
I’ll sign the papers, damit. I’ll file the lawsuit. I’ll start the boycott this time. I have every right. I am sick of these media selected black prostitutes making a mockery out of my country, everything America stands for, and given every one else a reason to hate me.
I quit.
I no longer want a prefix in from of my label. From this point forward, I J.J. Johnson, DEMAND that I am simply called… …American.
I'm Not A Traitor: Black and Republican - by Bishop Carlton Pearson ~ Posted on FR in Feb 01.
1. It may not matter a great deal to some, but I lean more libertarian and have to differentiate myself that way when it comes to certain issues such as the War On Drugs.
2. Though I love and appreciate America, I also can't be blind to some of its mistakes, especially where black folks are concerned. That doesn't mean being on the JJ/Sharpton kind of victim schtick but it does mean recognizing that everything has a historical basis and I feel it's best for me to know that history.
3. Too many expect black conservatives to somehow distance themselves from black culture. What people who think that way miss is that many of us are well-versed in other cultures too. I also detect an expectation that a "black perspective" is only desired by some white conservatives when it portrays black folks in a negative light. I'm not at all blind to the wrong, ignorant and destructive things blacks sometimes do but I'm also very aware of what blacks have always done right and those things need to see the light of day more often, even if some don't like it.
4. I'm someone who happens to be proud to be black, I'm not an integrationist and I fully embrace Africa as my ancestral homeland (the good and the bad). I'm very aware that I have enough views and opinions to make me and FR basically comfortable with each other, but my particular way of being black sometimes makes us uncomfortable with each other. Whether anyone likes it or not, I celebrate Kwanzaa, buy African clothes and accessories whenever I want to, and I wear FUBU too. There are other ways that I show my black pride but you get the point. Just because I do those things doesn't mean I think all black folks should but no one should invalidate my conservative views for those reasons either.
As I said on my profile page, many of my "conservative" values come from my upbringing, and as an adult I decided to vote and advocate that way more often, which is why I've done pro-life work at abortion mills and have not voted Democrat for president since voting for Carter in 1976, among other things.
I've never been one to blame all my problems on the white man and though many in my family are or have been Black Nationalists, radicals, etc., they've never spent much time blaming whitey either. We mostly weren't religious folk but we always valued family, education, community, work and thinking for ourselves.
This may seem complex and perhaps even contradictory to some but hey, black folks aren't monolithic or one-dimensional either, and most of us are OK with the fact that there are shades of gray out there.