Black Republicans, Donald Trump, and America's "George Floyd moment"
September 07, 2020 01:00
00:00 / 88:36
The Republican Party began losing the Black vote around 1936. Since then,
Republicans have commissioned reports, hired consultants, and spent huge sums
of campaign dollars trying to win back Black voters. The project continues
today: This year’s Republican National Convention presented a lineup of
speakers far more diverse than the Republican Party itself, making the case
for the “Party of Lincoln.” A third of African Americans, after all, self-
identify as “conservative.” And yet, no Republican presidential candidate has
won more than 15 percent of the Black vote since 1964 (many have received well
under 10). Leah Wright Rigueur is a historian and public policy scholar at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Loneliness of the
Black Republican, a remarkable study of the distinct ideologies woven through
the Black conservative and Black Republican traditions. The book traces the
history of why Black voters left the GOP and what the Republican Party has
tried to do — and what it has refused to do — to win them back. Rigueur has
also spent the past decade teaching classes on racial protests, riots, and how
they shaped American politics in the 20th century. We discuss the historical
analogues for today’s protest movement, what’s different now than in 1968, the
complex relationship between protesters and electoral politics, how these
movements can lead to both lasting change and white backlash, and more. Book
recommendations: Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State by
Megan Ming Francis Don't Blame Us by Lily Geismer One Person, No Vote by Carol
Anderson We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no
more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our
survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey. Please consider making a contribution to
Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep
having ambitious conversations about big ideas. New to the show? Want to check
out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide
(http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Credits: Producer/Editor/Audio Wizard - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices Read more
Republicans have commissioned reports, hired consultants, and spent huge sums
of campaign dollars trying to win back Black voters. The project continues
today: This year’s Republican National Convention presented a lineup of
speakers far more diverse than the Republican Party itself, making the case
for the “Party of Lincoln.” A third of African Americans, after all, self-
identify as “conservative.” And yet, no Republican presidential candidate has
won more than 15 percent of the Black vote since 1964 (many have received well
under 10). Leah Wright Rigueur is a historian and public policy scholar at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Loneliness of the
Black Republican, a remarkable study of the distinct ideologies woven through
the Black conservative and Black Republican traditions. The book traces the
history of why Black voters left the GOP and what the Republican Party has
tried to do — and what it has refused to do — to win them back. Rigueur has
also spent the past decade teaching classes on racial protests, riots, and how
they shaped American politics in the 20th century. We discuss the historical
analogues for today’s protest movement, what’s different now than in 1968, the
complex relationship between protesters and electoral politics, how these
movements can lead to both lasting change and white backlash, and more. Book
recommendations: Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State by
Megan Ming Francis Don't Blame Us by Lily Geismer One Person, No Vote by Carol
Anderson We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no
more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our
survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey. Please consider making a contribution to
Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep
having ambitious conversations about big ideas. New to the show? Want to check
out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide
(http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Credits: Producer/Editor/Audio Wizard - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices Read more
The Republican Party began losing the Black vote around 1936. Since then,
Republicans have commissioned reports, hired consultants, and spent huge sums
of campaign dollars trying to win back Black voters. The project continues
today: This year’s Republican National Convention presented a lineup of
speakers far more diverse than the Republican Party itself, making the case
for the “Party of Lincoln.” A third of African Americans, after all, self-
identify as “conservative.” And yet, no Republican presidential candidate has
won more than 15 percent of the Black vote since 1964 (many have received well
under 10). Leah Wright Rigueur is a historian and public policy scholar at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Loneliness of the
Black Republican, a remarkable study of the distinct ideologies woven through
the Black conservative and Black Republican traditions. The book traces the
history of why Black voters left the GOP and what the Republican Party has
tried to do — and what it has refused to do — to win them back. Rigueur has
also spent the past decade teaching classes on racial protests, riots, and how
they shaped American politics in the 20th century. We discuss the historical
analogues for today’s protest movement, what’s different now than in 1968, the
complex relationship between protesters and electoral politics, how these
movements can lead to both lasting change and white backlash, and more. Book
recommendations: Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State by
Megan Ming Francis Don't Blame Us by Lily Geismer One Person, No Vote by Carol
Anderson We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no
more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our
survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey. Please consider making a contribution to
Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep
having ambitious conversations about big ideas. New to the show? Want to check
out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide
(http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Credits: Producer/Editor/Audio Wizard - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
Republicans have commissioned reports, hired consultants, and spent huge sums
of campaign dollars trying to win back Black voters. The project continues
today: This year’s Republican National Convention presented a lineup of
speakers far more diverse than the Republican Party itself, making the case
for the “Party of Lincoln.” A third of African Americans, after all, self-
identify as “conservative.” And yet, no Republican presidential candidate has
won more than 15 percent of the Black vote since 1964 (many have received well
under 10). Leah Wright Rigueur is a historian and public policy scholar at
Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government and the author of The Loneliness of the
Black Republican, a remarkable study of the distinct ideologies woven through
the Black conservative and Black Republican traditions. The book traces the
history of why Black voters left the GOP and what the Republican Party has
tried to do — and what it has refused to do — to win them back. Rigueur has
also spent the past decade teaching classes on racial protests, riots, and how
they shaped American politics in the 20th century. We discuss the historical
analogues for today’s protest movement, what’s different now than in 1968, the
complex relationship between protesters and electoral politics, how these
movements can lead to both lasting change and white backlash, and more. Book
recommendations: Civil Rights and the Making of the Modern American State by
Megan Ming Francis Don't Blame Us by Lily Geismer One Person, No Vote by Carol
Anderson We are conducting an audience survey to better serve you. It takes no
more than five minutes, and it really helps out the show. Please take our
survey here: voxmedia.com/podsurvey. Please consider making a contribution to
Vox to support this show: bit.ly/givepodcasts Your support will help us keep
having ambitious conversations about big ideas. New to the show? Want to check
out Ezra’s favorite episodes? Check out the Ezra Klein Show beginner’s guide
(http://bit.ly/EKSbeginhere) Credits: Producer/Editor/Audio Wizard - Jeff Geld
Researcher - Roge Karma Want to contact the show? Reach out at
[email protected] Learn more about your ad choices. Visit
megaphone.fm/adchoices
