The Final Call

GOP presidential candidate Rand Paul quotes Malcolm X, criticizes 'War on Drugs', acknowledges 'Black Lives Matter'

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CHICAGO (FinalCall.com) - A candidate for President of the United States expressed solidarity with the “Black Lives Matter” movement and quoted Malcolm X while speaking to a majority Black audience at an outdoor rally in the crime-ridden neighborhood known as Englewood.

Republican presidential candidate Sen. Rand Paul talks to Chicago residents May 27 at an appearance arranged by Pastor Corey Brooks of New Beginnings Church shown standing to Sen. Paul’s immediate right. Photo: B. Muhammad

No, it wasn’t Democrat Hillary Rodham Clinton, whom most believe will win a majority of the Black votes in next year’s presidential election.  It was the Republican Senator from Kentucky, Rand Paul.

“When I hear people say that Black lives matter, I think of Freddie Gray whose neck was broken while in custody and died in government custody.  When I hear people say that Black lives matter I think of Jacele Johnson, who is 4-years-old and was shot this weekend just a few blocks from here. Black lives do matter and you may be saying to yourself ‘what’s this White guy saying Black lives matter? What does he know about my neighborhood?’ We’ve got crime in my neighborhood too! We’ve got problems in my neighborhood. We’ve got some kind of thing going on in our country that we need to come to grips with,” said Sen. Paul.

He said recently in his small town in Kentucky a White woman cut a baby out of another White woman’s stomach. His analysis is that crime in America is “a spiritual problem.”

He came at the invitation of the Pastor of New Beginnings Church Corey Brooks and Project H.O.O.D. Pastor Brooks and others have put together what they are calling the “American Urban Issues Presidential Series.” Pastor Brooks said all declared 2016 presidential candidates from both parties have been invited to participate, and while there have been many favorable responses from those to whom letters of invitation were sent, Sen. Paul was the first to accept.

“I think it’s real important that people come to the South Side of Chicago and address issues that we’re faced with every day because the issues we’re faced with on the South Side of Chicago are the same issues that brothers and sisters are faced with in Baltimore, Cleveland, Brooklyn, wherever we have Black people, we’re faced with the same issues,” said Pastor Brooks.

Say what you want about Pastor Brooks and his methods, but he had a Republican senator from Kentucky standing at the podium where an infamous hotel once stood as a base for illicit activities along a seedy strip well known for prostitution, drug abuse and violent crime.

Months ago, Pastor Brooks was sharply criticized by some within the Black community for supporting current Illinois Republican Governor Bruce Rauner in the last election.Brooks hopes to build a community center in the spot where the hotel once stood, perhaps with Gov. Rauner’s assistance along with other wealthy private and business contributors.

Pastor Brooks doesn’t seem troubled by the criticism. In his view, the need for community development is more important than historical political loyalties or affiliations. 

“We have issued invitations to Republican and Democratic candidates and we plan that this summer is going to be a great summer on the South Side of Chicago and for the first time in history we’re going to hear from a lot of the candidates before the presidential election and that is extremely important,” Brooks said.

There was Sen. Paul on a sunny Wednesday morning in May, right in the mix on 66th and King Drive shaking hands, walking past abandoned buildings, housing projects and abandoned cars, meeting with community members and activists to answer their questions and listen to their concerns. Sen. Paul discussed his plan for “Economic Freedom Zones” and lowering taxes for business owners and workers. He said business owners who hire those who live within the community would receive significant tax breaks. Business owners who actually reside in communities where they own businesses would receive even more tax reductions.

He spoke against mass incarceration and in favor of reclassifying non-violent felonies. In fact, Sen. Paul said he already had his doubts about the so-called “War on Drugs,” but upon reading Michelle Alexander’s book “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” about a year ago, he became more aware of the racial disparities that exist in this country’s prison industrial complex.

“We’ve now put a generation of young—primarily Black men, Brown men and poor White men as well, in prison for non-violent drug crimes,” said Sen. Paul. “Now I’m not here to apologize for drugs, I think drugs are a scourge; if you get involved in them, your kids get involved in them, they won’t amount to much, but I’m also here to tell you as a parent—kids deserve a second chance and that we should give our young men a second chance,” he added.

He gets credit for being the first Republican presidential candidate to actually step foot in a blighted, economically depressed high-crime area of Chicago to offer solutions, and if his ideas were espoused by a Democrat, they likely would have been met with more than simply the polite applause they received.

“If you’re waiting for your government to fix the problem, remember the words of Malcolm X,” Sen. Paul continued, “Malcolm X said that ‘nobody can give you freedom; nobody can give you equality; nobody can give you justice—if you’re a man you take it.’ I would amend that and say if you’re a man or if you’re a woman you take it,” Sen. Paul added.

He and his supporters know it will take much more than quoting Malcolm X to get Blacks to go Republican. Blacks have been the most reliable and consistent support base for the Democratic Party for the last five decades, even before the political ascension of  President Barack Obama.

No clear front-runner has emerged from the Republican Party.

In the latest Quinnipiac Poll, if the presidential election were held today, in a head-to-head competition, Sen. Paul would receive 42 percent of the vote, losing to the leading Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton, who would receive 46 percent.

Conservative radio talk-show host and former Illinois State Representative Joe Walsh says all that is being asked is for urban voters to listen to alternative viewpoints. He acknowledged that it will take some work but he believes the chances of more Blacks voting Republican are not as remote as they may seem.

“Here’s the deal, Republicans like Joe Walsh and Rand Paul are finally willing to fight and to say to Black voters ‘Democrats have screwed you for fifty years. They take advantage of you and we’ve got some better ideas.’ Now Republicans have not been willing to have that discussion but now you’re seeing that we are and I think Black voters will be willing to listen,” said Mr. Walsh. “We’ve got to look Black voters in the eyes and say directly ‘Democrats have messed you up.’  Give us a listen. You may not agree with us but give us a listen.”

Jedidiah Brown, president of the Young Leaders Alliance said that is exactly what he intends to do. A young outspoken community activist with political aspirations, he took advantage of the opportunity to talk one-on-one with Sen. Paul about how communities are policed, and how oftentimes, governmental funds granted never reach the grassroots organizers who are really in the streets doing the work.

“I think that this is phenomenal the fact that for the first time you see presidential candidates come into areas that are often overlooked or that are not visited during the presidential campaign,” said Mr. Brown.

Redella Drakeford is a member of New Beginnings Church and lives in the community. Although she’s often skeptical of politicians who seem like they’ll say anything to get elected,  Sen. Paul’s proposed plans made a lot of sense to her.

“You know they talk, but he sounds very good,” Ms. Drakeford said. “He walked back and forth and said something that made a lot of sense—more sense than our mayor, who is here all the time,” she added.