(2 of 3)
Perhaps the chief barrier between Republicans and black leaders is the party's emphasis on reduced Government spending, balanced budgets and laissez-faire economics, quite the opposite of the programs sought by black leaders. Urban League Director Vernon Jordan last week blasted Carter's proposed tax cut of $25 billion (popular with Republicans), claiming it was large enough to threaten "vitally needed urban and social welfare programs." Noting an Urban League study that puts black unemployment at 13.2% (v. 6.3% for whites), Jordan called for increases in job-training funds and public service employment, proposals that most Republicans greet with a distinct chill. Before the Republican National Committee, Jesse Jackson called for a domestic Marshall Plan to revitalize the nation's cities. In spite of such obstacles, Brock insists that black voters can be won to traditional Republican economics. "What have Democratic proposals done for blacks?" he asks. "Thirty-seven percent of black youth is unemployed. We won't be taking the big-spending route." The lone black in the Senate, Republican Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, agrees. Says he: "It's not a question of the free enterprise system; there is plenty of black support for free enterprise." But, adds Brooke, the party "must prove that it is for equal justice for blacks."
Indeed, there is some evidence that blacks—who began this century as faithful adherents of the Republican Party, the party of Abraham Lincoln—are more ready than they have been in decades to be courted by the G.O.P. In Louisiana, a former Assistant U.S. Attorney, Robert Livingston, 34, won 30% of the black votes last September to become his district's first Republican Congressman since 1874. The first Republican mayor in the history of Charlotte, N.C., Kenneth Harris, won 41% of the black vote last year. In Virginia, Republican Attorney General J. Marshall Coleman received 25% of the black vote. All are white.
Among some black voters, there is frustration at being taken for granted by a Democratic Administration that seems as committed as the Republicans to balancing the budget. Moreover, blacks are increasingly attaining middle-class status; 30% of black families now have incomes of $15,000 or above (compared with 53% of white families), an income group whose interests diverge from those of the ghetto and black leaders. Says black Miami Businessman David Fincher, a registered Democrat: "Democrats think we are still on our knees begging and praying. I'm looking for anyone to deliver what we need to be good Americans in the arena of free enterprise. If Republicans are serious, I'm sure I will go to them." Additionally, differences between Democrats and Republicans are blurring somewhat as both parties endorse policies that do not call for massive spending, such as tax reductions for businesses that hire the hard-to-employ. Still, the G.O.P. has a long way to go. Among ordinary blacks, says Maryland Democrat Parren Mitchell, chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, disappointment with Jimmy Carter is "not enough to even make a dent." Adds James Compton, the head of Chicago's Urban League: "I don't see any philosophic approach in the Republican Party that will attract large numbers of black votes."