Synopsis
From the Civil War to FDR, the GOP was the party for African-Americans. Today, less than 10% of African Americans consider themselves to be Republican. This documentary film explores the phenomenon of Black Republicans, their battles with Democrats and their own Party, their struggle for power and acceptance within the African-American community and how this affects Black America and Urban America.
Today, many Black Republicans keep their political views to themselves or within family circles. Some endure insults like “Traitor,” “Uncle Tom” or “Oreo Cookie.” Based on their political beliefs, some question whether one can really be Black and a Republican at the same time. What does this mean for the future of America’s Two-Party Political System and Urban America?
Beginning in his hometown of Trenton, NJ, independent filmmaker Kevin Williams takes a non-partisan journey over four years, two Presidential Elections and eleven states to find out if the Two-Party Political system in Urban America may be failing his city and the country. In taking a self-critical look at his own Republican Party, Williams focuses his camera on the GOP’s efforts in the African-American community and examines the history and lives of Black Republicans; the GOP’s campaign strategy in urban areas versus the suburbs; media perceptions of Black Republicans; Republican Party efforts to recruit African-Americans; Democratic Party efforts and success in retaining the African-American vote; what both parties are doing today and what it means to be a “Black Republican.”
After Williams’ mostly failed attempt to find Black Republicans at the 2005 Bush Inauguration, FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN follows the GOP’s efforts to improve their standing in the African American community around the country. To explore what Black Republican candidates go through, the film takes an inside look at the 2006 Republican Congressional Campaign of Catherine Davis for Democratic U. S. Representative Cynthia McKinney’s seat. The results are eye-opening and an example of what happens when a Black Republican runs for public office in a Black majority district. The sights, sounds and struggles of the campaign bring the audience to some real-life experiences that they will never forget. Heading into the 2008 Presidential Election, Williams attends the Conservative Political Action Conference to see where the Republican Party was headed and what the future may hold.
To complete his journey, Williams speaks with scholars such as Professor Cornel West and Professor Howard Taylor; political leaders like former Maryland Lieutenant Governor and now Republican Party Chairman, Michael Steele and previous RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer and former New Jersey Governor Christine Todd Whitman; Presidential candidates Mike Huckabee, Mitt Romney, Jim Gilmore and John McCain; Conservative thinkers such as Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and Ann Coulter; and Political and Media Commentators Tavis Smiley and Michelle Malkin; amongst others. Also interviewed in the film is the first and last Black Republican Senator popularly elected since Reconstruction, former Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusets.
Shamrock/Stine Productions, LLC
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