by Askia Muhammad
White House Correspondent

PHILADELPHIA (FinalCall.com)�While the numbers of Black delegates at the 2000 Republican National Convention may not be substantial compared to their representation in the general population�92 Black delegates and alternates, amounting to 4.1 percent of the total, which is larger than the 57, or 2.7 percent who attended in 1996�the participation of prominent Blacks from both inside and outside the GOP did increase dramatically at this convention.

Retired Gen. Colin Powell, led off the convention, addressing the delegates on the July 30 opening night, during a program that included a gospel choir and hip-hop music.

Gen. Powell spoke of America�s Promise, the same name of a service organization he heads, in his remarks. Noting America has seen economic good times, he also said racism persists and must be confronted, and more needs to be done to help children trapped by crime, drugs and poverty.

"There are two million men in jail and these are men who are not paying taxes or supporting their families, and many of them are the minority race. To deliver this promise we must begin with our children. ... Either we are going to build children or build more jails. Children are not the problem, the problem is us. We fail to give them the necessities," he said.

He called for a recommitment to parenting and moral values, foster parenting, quality health care and after school programs for youth.

He also gave a ringing endorsement of Gov. Bush and vice presidential candidate Dick Cheney.

"Gov. Bush will bring back the passion for the inclusion of all minorities. Bush will help to bridge the racial divide. At one time the Republican Party was the party of minorities and Bush wants it to wear the mantle of the party of Lincoln," he said.

Gen. Powell also challenged Republicans who have fought affirmative action, that "gave jobs to a few thousand Black people," to challenge lobbyists who carve out tax privileges for special interest groups.

Gen. Powell is rumored to be presidential nominee George W. Bush�s first choice to be named secretary of state if he is elected in November. In addition, Dr. Condoleeza Rice, who served as one of several under-secretaries of state under the elder George Bush�President Bush�has been representing the younger Mr. Bush as a foreign policy spokesperson on Sunday television interview programs throughout this campaign season, and was a prominent VIP at this convention.

Rep. J.C. Watts (R-Okla.), House Republican Caucus chairman�the fourth highest position among GOP members of Congress�served as deputy convention chairman, was moderator of the proceedings during the second, prime-time evening session, and hosted a reception honoring Black delegates and alternates.

BET Founder Robert Johnson addressed an all day Black Republican Leadership Caucus hosted by the National Black Republican Leadership Council (NBRLC), and songwriter Kenny Gamble was also slated to speak to delegates on community development.

Even NAACP President Kweisi Mfume, who was denied his request to speak to the assembly, was invited by the NBRLC to speak to a private breakfast meeting along with several clergy members.
But all of the high profile participation of Blacks in this convention, and the party�s professed commitment to "diversity" may in fact be a ruse, intended to appeal to moderate white voters, and not necessarily a sincere effort to attract more Blacks to the Republican ranks, some say.

These "stylistic changes are trying to appeal to moderate whites, to make the Republican Party appear to not be so in-your-face-confrontational, and so ideologically �hard right,�" Dr. Ronald Walters, a professor of political science at the University of Maryland told The Final Call.

Republican strategists would be content to get 15 to 18 percent of the Black vote, said Dr. Walters, who pointed out that President George Bush received "strong" (by modern electoral standards) Black support of more than 15 percent in his re-election attempt.

President Richard Nixon set the modern high water mark of 20 percent of the Black vote in 1972. War hero (like Gen. Powell) Dwight Eisenhower, enjoyed very strong Black support in his campaigns, rivaling the traditional (Party of Abraham Lincoln) support Blacks had given to Republicans up until Franklin Roosevelt�s chicken-in-every-pot New Deal policies broke the Republican grip, when he campaigned against conservative Herbert Hoover.

This year, the GOP is also fielding several Black congressional candidates.

While most of the Black Republicans are running against Black Democratic incumbents in what are usually considered to be "safe" Democratic districts in Florida, and Georgia; one Republican candidate�Joan B. Johnson�is challenging Rep. Rick Lazio (D-N.Y.) for the 2nd District seat, while another Black Republican�Marvin Scott�is challenging a Black Democrat�Rep. Julia Carson�in Indiana�s 10th Congressional District, which has a predominately white population.

Three of the four Black GOP congressional candidates�Jennifer Carroll, Ms. Johnson, and Dylan Glenn�are given "good chances" of winning by Rep. Watts and by officials at the National Republican Congressional Campaign Committee.

Black Democrat Sanford Bishop (D-Ga.), who represents a rural district that has been recently reapportioned to include many more whites, may potentially be the most vulnerable, according to sources familiar with the Congressional Black Caucus.

Rep. Bishop was the only CBC member targeted for removal from office by name when Black farmers rallied on Capitol Hill in support of Reps. Watts and Jay Dickey (R-Ark.), who sponsored a non-binding "sense of the Congress resolution" in support of quick payments by the Department of Agriculture to tens of thousands of Blacks who lost their family farms. The measure was opposed by the entire CBC.

While a source close to Rep. Corrinne Brown (D-Fla.) suggests that Ms. Brown will be easily re-elected, Rep. Brown herself expressed a healthy respect for her opponent. "They made (Jennifer Carroll) retire from the Navy so she could run against me," Rep. Brown told The Final Call, suggesting that her campaign needs money to better compete with her well-financed opponent.

Born in Trinidad, West Indies, and reared in the U.S. since the age of eight, Lt. Cdr. Carroll served 20 years in various posts associated with naval aviation and has lived in the Jacksonville, Fla. area since 1986.

(Michael Z. Muhammad contributed to this report.)