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MILWAUKEE — President Biden once told Black voters that if they supported Donald Trump, then they “ain’t Black.”

Rep. John James turned that joke on its head this week from the stage at
the Republican National Convention: “I heard a little earlier today, ‘If
you don’t vote for Donald Trump, you ain’t Black,’” the lawmaker from
Michigan said as he flashed a smile to the crowd.

Mr. James is one of a historic number of Black Americans making the
argument at the convention that Mr. Trump has broken Democrats’
decadeslong lock on the Black vote.

From the stage Monday, the first night of the convention, Black Republican lawmakers described their histories: a great-great-grandson of a slave, a grandson of a cotton picker, and the son of a father denied entry to

college in the Jim Crow South.

That was where the identity politics ended.

“I’ve been looking forward to the day that we get to where people start
really thinking outside of the background, outside the color, outside of messages of who we should be based on exterior, and we saw last night is exactly where America is,” Rep. Burgess Owens of Utah told The Washington Times. “We have certain goals and dreams, and it doesn’t matter what color
we are or what ZIP code we go in. We all want freedom. We want to have the ability to dream big and want to know that we put our work and effort out
there to come back.”

SEE ALSO: Trump is back for RNC day two with ear still wrapped

He is one of five Black Republicans in Congress, the largest total since
1877, though the number is still far behind Democrats.

The others are Mr. James, Rep. Wesley Hunt of Texas, Rep. Byron Donalds of Florida and Sen. Tim Scott, who addressed the convention, along with North Carolina Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who is seeking to become the state’s
first Black governor.

Also speaking in a prime slot Monday was model, rapper and social media influencer Amber Rose, who titillated the crowd with her more prosaic
speech. She said Americans are “pissed” when they see the price of gas
under President Biden.

“The dam has broken,” said Joshua McKoon, chair of the Georgia Republican Party, who is White and sponsored an event Tuesday on behalf of Black
delegates and elected leaders. “When we look backward at 2024, people are
going to say, ‘This is when the Democratic Party’s monopoly on Black
political support in this country was broken.’ I really believe that this
is political realignment.”

Not all the delegates shared their ethnicities with convention organizers,
but the latest tally had at least 55 confirmed Black delegates this year.
The 2016 convention had 18 Black delegates.

Gone are the days when Republicans could muster only a few Black faces to
take the stage at a convention. They all delivered a standard speech
claiming Black voters were socially conservative and belonged with
Republicans.

SEE ALSO: WATCH: Families at GOP convention blame Biden’s border for
relatives’ deaths

The Republicans’ message this week is more mature.

“I think the number of African Americans who are now elected give a more
broad brush of what a Black Republican can look like, can talk like and
feel like,” said David Dix, a Philadelphia-based consultant and convention attendee. “It’s not one size fits all.”

Mr. Scott said he was raised by a single mother in poverty who taught him
to “work hard, take responsibility and reject victimhood.”

“I know this is going to offend the liberal elites every time I say it,
but let me say it one more time: America is not a racist country,” Mr.
Scott said, sparking loud applause from the predominantly White crowd. “If
you are looking for racism today, you’d find it in cities run by
Democrats,” the senator from South Carolina said. “Look on the South Side
of Chicago. Poor black kids trapped in failing schools, thousands of
shootings every single year.

“But there is good news: It is conservative values that restore hope,” Mr. Scott said. “It is Republican policies that lift people up.”

Mr. James shared the story of his father, who was denied entry into
Mississippi State University because he was Black but paid his way through another school, served in the Vietnam War and started a trucking company hauling beer between Detroit and Milwaukee.

“Despite growing up in the Jim Crow South, he refused to let vulnerability become victimhood,” Mr. James said.

Democrats are scrambling to stop losing the support of Black voters.

On Tuesday, Mr. Biden traveled to the battleground state of Nevada to
address the NAACP national convention.

Black voters, in particular Black women, are still considered the backbone
of the Democrats’ Obama coalition.

Erosion began when Mr. Trump crashed onto the scene in pursuit of Black
voters and challenged them to ask themselves, “What do you have to lose?”

In 2016, Hillary Clinton outperformed Mr. Trump by 89% to 8% among Black voters. In 2020, Mr. Biden defeated Mr. Trump 87% to 12% among Black
voters.

An ABC/Washington Post poll this month showed 15% of Black voters
supported Mr. Trump and 79% backed Mr. Biden.

Trump adviser Bruce Levell said the former president’s message has
resonated with Black Americans who have felt “bullied” or have had an “awakening.”

“What the hell do you have to lose? Try something different,” he said. “I
think a lot of folks, especially in Black culture, are starting to say
like, ‘Damn, maybe he is right.’”

• Kerry Picket contributed to this report.

• Seth McLaughlin can be reached at smclaughlin@washingtontimes.com.

https://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2024/jul/16/number-of-black- delegates-swells-at-gop-convention/

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