I was having a political conversation online with my cousin one evening. In particular we were discussing a news article in which the National Black Republican Association petitioned President Obama to issue a formal apology for the Democratic Party’s history of racism (http://www.nationalblackrepublicans.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=pages.DYK-OBAMA-CanYouSpareAPROCLAMATION). African-Americans have in what I call recent history have been inextricably tied to the Party, yet many currently aligned with it choose to ignore its ugly past. While we both agreed that as a people need to stop bitching and move on, I felt compelled to give him my view on my reasons for waking up and not smelling the coffee, but tasting the Kool-Aid they’ve been to forcing us to drink for too many years.

Don’t get me wrong – I’m not blind to the atrocities African-Americans have suffered in this Country. It makes me angry to think of what past generations have had to endure. We needn’t let those that fought for our rights die and suffer in vain by not taking advantage of what they fought so hard for. In today's world, it is not the responsibility of the government to make this nation great. If this is a government by the people, we have to tell the government what we want and not the other way around. That's one of the reasons I changed my party affiliation - I was and am currently tired of people sitting around waiting for someone to pick them up when we have resources in place for them to get up. I'm not talking about those that have a genuine malady that physically and mentally disables them, but those that look to the rich and even the middle-class to pay for what they don't want to do.

Reverend William J.H. Boetcker said, "You cannot strengthen the weak by weakening the strong." The Republican party, in a nutshell, is for "teaching a[n able-bodied] man to fish" as opposed to giving him one. Of the two major parties, the Republicans are not the wealthier (the Dems hold that distinction according to a recent poll), but the Republicans are the larger contributors to charity. They believe in letting you keep more of the money you earn so that you can give where you want to give it- not where someone mandates and legislates you give (such as in the form of higher taxes to pay for the committee to oversee the Congressional oversight committee...LOL!). I don't know about you, but when I'm doing well financially, I give more.

Lastly, they realize that race problems exist. It's not the party's main focus. Instead, the focus is on empowerment of the disenfranchised through education and knowledge of how our system works. The elitist Dems pat minorities on the head, give us a lollipop, and say, "There, there, poor little thing - the 'man' will take care of you." Knowledge is power and that is why back in the day, those in power didn't want blacks to read or hold any positions of high esteem because they knew that very fact. Then, they started rumors of so-called "scientific facts" of how blacks were developmentally inferior to Europeans - the same propaganda used today, just different vernacular.

It's always been my belief that you should be armed in the truth about what you believe. One day, I realized that I only knew old rumors and propaganda about why blacks "have" to be Democrats, so I sought out information about the other side. That way, I could feel more comfortable knowing that I truly believed in the Democrats' message. After several years, I came to the conclusion that I wasn't one.  It wasn't all at once. It was a series of life experiences that took me there.

I respect the stand of anyone that can intelligently base their beliefs in studying both sides of an issue. My cousin sounded as if he has a firm grasp on knowing why he believes what he does – hats off to all who do. "It's cool to be a Democrat because Republicans are old white men" doesn't fly with me.