I planned to attend the Republican National Convention in Cleveland, Ohio this summer. I thought it would be an opportunity to interview voters, local officials and party leaders to hear what their plans are for the next four years. The current polarization of Democratic and Republican parties and partisan gridlock have been frustrating on so many levels. Therefore, I thought a late July trip to Cleveland could help me answer some of the questions I’ve had since President Obama took office on that cold January day in 2009. However, after witnessing the ire, hatred and downright racism from certain (although not all) segments of the Republican Party, I have decided I will not be attending the Republican National Convention.
I have attended political events across the country, but I have rarely considered my personal physical safety in the calculus. And I have surely never been afraid to walk into a conference room, hotel lobby, convention hall or an entire city. However, after seeing the behavior of individuals at rallies ripping signs, spitting, kicking, punching and pepper-spraying protestors— both Black and white—I realized the 2016 RNC is not for me. Considering there is a very likely chance the Republican Party will have a brokered convention (stay tuned for future op-eds that will address what this possibility really means), we know emotions within the party will be charged.
I am keenly aware that race and racism exist in this country. I have often thought of many Republicans as Archie Bunker from the hit 1970s show “All In The Family.” Some of you may remember Bunker was furious that a Black family, the Jeffersons, moved into his Queens neighborhood. However, the real anger and ire occurred when the Jeffersons moved out of the neighborhood to a deluxe apartment on the Upper East Side. The general negative disposition of Bunker towards his Black neighbors was not necessarily welcoming, but it was not filled with deep-seated hatred. Rather, it had more to do with his unwillingness to get to know “the other.” In my heart, I genuinely believe many of the partisan and subsequent racial discord has to do with the lack of interest and respect for those who are different and/or perceived to be less deserving. It is those individuals I initially thought I would interview July 18-21 in one of the most interesting states in the country.
What this Republican election cycle has shown us is that the inmates have now taken over the asylum. The Republican Party can no longer control their own faction. Many Democrats were outraged when more Republicans did not disavow the racist rhetoric toward Obama. They were often met with weak declarations by prominent Republicans who dismissed those comments as the feelings of just a few. They did not “nip it in the bud,” as the elders say. And now we have a situation in which the Republican Party is eating itself from the inside out. To that I say, good luck and be safe in Ohio this summer. The ire is real and should not be dismissed as the feelings of just a few.
Christina Greer, Ph.D., is an Associate professor at Fordham University and the author of “Black Ethnics: Race, Immigration, and the Pursuit of the American Dream.” You can find her on Twitter @Dr_CMGreer.
