As much as I agree with both Matt and Ta-Nehisi’s assessments about the desirability of black Republicans - namely that it would benefit African-Americans and the country as a whole if there were more black Republicans* - I think that Matt might be understating the degree to which history does play a significant part in the African-American community’s commitment to the Democratic Party.

Not only are black people aware that it was the Democratic Party which supported the civil rights legislation of the 1960s, but they are very aware of the fact that it was the Republican Party which embraced segregationist Democrats, and which has actively stoked racial resentment as a means to win elections.  I’m willing to wager that many black people who otherwise would vote Republican don’t, because of the perception that voting Republican would be essentially rewarding the GOP its use of tactics which, if not racist, were dangerously close to crossing the “racist” line.

That said, I don’t see the current ratio of black Republicans to black Democrats changing any time soon, especially since Obama is the Democratic nominee.  If Obama wins the presidency, then the Democratic Party will have essentially “renewed its contract” with African-Americans, and will almost certainly continue to receive an absurdly high percentage of the African-American vote in presidential elections.  But, there still might be room for growth in local and congressional elections; I think many black people would vote for a black Republican if that candidate approached the black community with real respect, and a real desire to build a dialogue and solve problems.

And yes, I realize that having more Republicans in Congress would damage the Democratic agenda, but as Paul Frymer shows in his book Uneasy Alliances, the kind of electoral “capture” that the Democratic Party has over African-Americans leaves the later too vulnerable to being taken advantaged of by the former.  Moreover, just as having more women in Congress has increased the importance of women’s issues on both sides of the aisle (they are actually debated as opposed to being dismissed), I think having more black Republican congresspeople will encourage Republicans to think seriously about the impact of their policies on African-Americans.

There are two obvious question though: when will that happen?  And how many black Republicans will it take for that to happen?  As it stands, because Republicans literally have nothing to lose with regards to the black vote, they’re more comfortable taking advantage of racial resentment and pursuing policies which have a disproportionate negative impact on African-Americans (like the War on Drugs, for example).  As long as that is the case (and as long as Democrats continue to pursue policies which are at least somewhat beneficial to African-Americans), few black people will run as Republicans, and fewer black people will vote for Republicans**.

*I’ve actually mentioned my desire for more black Republicans before, in this post.

**This is another reason why Ross and Reihan’s attempt to broaden the Republican commitment to working class voters is important; doing so opens up the opportunity for making real inroads into the African-American community.

***And because I quoted a verse, here is the actual song, “Black Republicans” - Jay-Z & Nas.”