One of the reasons I ended my support for the Democratic Party was because of their overuse of racial and identity politics in rhetoric and philosophy. The so-called party of liberalism had unapologetically embraced becoming the party of race essentialism by pre-determining my aspirations as a voter because of my pigmentation.
Identity politics is a plague on our political system—but not only on the Left. It was always just a matter of time before that contagion made its way to the Republican Party.
That's what we saw in Herschel Walker's loss to Raphael Warnock in Georgia's runoff Senate race, which ended Tuesday.
Republicans may be scratching their heads over how they were able to win Georgia's Governor's seat in November, with Republican Brian Kemp handily defeating Democrat Stacey Abrams, only to lose the Senate race a month later. But the answer is simple: In the Senate race, former President Donald Trump played left-wing identity politics—and lost.
Recall that Walker was aggressively courted by Trump to run for office in a state that he wasn't living in. We have to ask ourselves, why? It's true they have a personal friendship stemming back decades, but Trump has lots of friends. So why would he think a man with a documented tumultuous past, whose only notable professional career has been as a football player, would make a suitable U.S. Senator?
Primarily, it's because Herschel is Black.
Over 31 percent of Georgians are Black, and if you're highly invested in playing the game of racial politics, the skin color of your candidate means more than their personality and record. And because Donald Trump is a novice at playing racial politics, he assumed any Black face would do to appeal to Black Georgia voters.
It's not just insulting to Black voters, to imply that we would vote for anyone who shares our skin tone. There is also a visible disdain within the Black community for Black Republicans—especially those who appear selected to superficially appease them from a distance.
Many Black voters aren't yet ready to divorce themselves from the idea that Republicans are racist, and a candidate having more melanin than the average Republican is not enough to disabuse them of this conviction. As Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley once put it, "we don't need any more Black faces that don't want to be a Black voice".
Democrat politicians like Pressley feel comfortable saying this publicly because it is a common belief among Black Americans that "not all skin folk are kin folk." Many Black Americans are sensitive to racial heretics acting as trojan horses for something we suspect is more politically nefarious.
"Mr. Walker is part of a long tradition of Black people willing to distance themselves from the humanity and dreams of their community in exchange for white praise and white power," writes Danté Stewart in the New York Times. Black people betraying Black people has a legacy stretching from the plantation to today."
One need not agree with Stewart to recognize that many in our community do, and that Republicans seeking to earn our votes need to work harder and not suffice with halfhearted measures that are skin deep—literally.
Democrats are the masters of do-nothing racial gestures for Black Americans. But leveraging Walker for his complexion without the intention to speak directly to his community is an even worse strategy. For many Black voters, it comes off as a political virtue signal so you can continue giving minimal effort. By selecting a weak candidate like Herschel Walker, Republicans told Black voters that this is the best they deserve.
Conservatives preach personal responsibility and accountability for one's mistakes. Well, this loss for the Georgia Senate seat should be one of those moments. The GOP must remove their biases and become objective about their loss so they don't repeat the same mistake in the future.
You get Black votes by respecting Black voters with good candidates, not just Black ones.
Adam B. Coleman is the author of "Black Victim To Black Victor" and writer on Substack at adambcoleman.substack.com.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
