What Color Is a Conservative?

“Watts' life story is well known; he went from small-town Oklahoma to the U.S. Congress as the first black Republican since Reconstruction. And he was the first black quarterback at his newly integrated high school and the first black quarterback to lead the Oklahoma Sooners to the Orange Bowl. Remove the Oklahoma small town, and Watt's background isn't so different from other blacks growing up in poverty and striving for success. What is different is his mantle of political conservatism that has kept him at a distance from typically left-leaning black leadership. The distance is unjustified, according to Watts, given his strong black family and religious values. He snipes at black leaders who criticize views that conflict with their political orthodoxy, but he also acknowledges Republican flirtation with principles at the expense of human realities. Notwithstanding his partisan slant, Watts' personal recognition that race matters substantially moderates his position on affirmative action, in sharp contrast with his party. Watts' established presence in Congress on the Republican side of the aisle appropriately challenges the intolerance of the Republicans and black leadership as well.”

Vernon Ford