Say It Loud!

You can’t win a battle without a plan for victory. If Republicans are serious about competing for votes in urban America, they’d be well served by consulting the modern-day Art of War: Marvin Rogers’ Silence Makes the Loudest Sound: A Conversation Between African Americans and the Republican Party.

With rhetorical precision, Rogers—a South Carolina conservative activist and former aide to GOP Rep. Bob Inglis—describes the factors that caused urban voters to become alienated from the Republican Party, and the strategies that could lead those voters back to the party of Lincoln.  As Rogers notes, “…[W]hen an urbanite in New York City hears [a Republican call for] ‘less government,’ there’s a chance that he or she will think the proposal on the table is to take away the heavily depended upon and government-run public transportation system…However, if a Republican takes the time to go into a predominantly black community that has been devastated by joblessness and explain how small businesses are the engine to economic development and job creation [and goes on to explain] how the government dictating wages can pinch small business owners in a way that could affect their ability to hire…[s]uddenly, ‘limited government’ sounds like a solution to a problem instead of an affliction to the people. Rather than being a way to take away something from the community, the concept of limited government can be seen as a way to add jobs, wealth, and stability to it.”

The book is a masterwork, a must-read for those who want to reform the long-shattered bond between urban America and the GOP. As Rogers asserts, “The reality is that there is not such a thing as Republican and Democratic problems. The Republican is not the Democrat’s greatest enemy and the Democrat is not the Republican’s greatest enemy. Rampant crime, floundering schools, terrorism, poverty, and a moribund economy are enemies to us all—regardless of one’s political stripe.”

I had the pleasure of interviewing Mr. Rogers in October 2009 and June 2010. He’s a brilliant man whose book is one of the best political works of recent years. I strongly encourage you to get a hold of Silence Makes the Loudest Sound; I guarantee you’ll find his arguments compelling and profound.