Moderates like General Colin Powell, unlike 'righter-than-thou' hardliners, are able to bring a conservative message to a Black community still phobic from conservatism's (quite lively) racist baggage. His recent NAACP President's award, like its recent recogniton of Condoleezza Rice, should be greeted as proof that Black folks aren't as brainwashed by the Left as some claim.
General Powell's lesson to Black conservatives is elegant in its simplicity: one need not isolate oneself from the Black community in order to promote traditional values or alternatives to one-party rule. His 'crossover appeal' to our Democratic majority is proof that so long as a conservative Black doesn't come off as a 'toon' in far right Black face, he/she has many in the community who'll receive this message. Past support for affirmative action and endorsing now-President Obama hasn't earned him friends on the Right's farther shores but has done much to rehabilitate the Black Republican image.
I've had my issues with Powell for years, but I now appreciate what he was trying to do in the GOP: ensure that there was a place for moderates and those who aren't full-fledged right-wing conservatives. He is an American hero, and he has earned the respect of all fair-minded Americans.
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