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.Yet, their surrender toracializing their identities undercuts their very argument since their views are so incontradiction with prevailing stances by black Americans.Arguments are not putforth from the well-developed conservative paradigm but rather from the shakyedges of accusations, demagoguery, and bluff.Black America Political Action Committee (BAMPAC) was founded in 1994and is led by Alan Keyes.It focuses, like other black conservatives, on abortion,economic self-help, moral values, and limited government.As a registered un-affiliated non-partisan Political Action Committee, it supports candidates who are committed to supporting our common sense approach to public policy andpolitics; promoting Social Security reform, improving public education, expan-ding economic opportunities to historically disadvantaged sectors in America,vigorously promoting equality for all Americans, protecting the sanctity of hu-man life and restoring moral values and the importance of the family in ourcommunities. 23 The organization claims that it is among the top 25 PACs inthe country, with over 137,000 donors, and that in 2003, it had revenues over$1.6 million.24While not as vitriolic as Project 21 or some other black conservatives, in theend BAMPAC s agenda blends well with the objectives of the Bush adminis-tration, which is featured prominently in BAMPAC s materials.Keyes is wellknown as a combative political foe of black liberals.And although most of thedonations made to BAMPAC are unitemized, it is likely that it comes from awhite conservative constituency that has funded much of the black conservativemovement.A similar relationship exists between the Black Alliance for Educa-tional Options, the aforementioned African American Republican LeadershipCouncil, Alternative Black Speakers Program, American Civil Rights Initiative,and Lincoln Institute, the best known of the conservative black groups.jPowell, Rice, and the GOP51 IndividualsA strategy of modern Republicanism, dating back to Reagan, is to locate ex-tremely conservative racial or ethnic minorities and help them win elected office,or give them prominent appointments or nominations for high offices.The ob-jective is to display visual racial diversity while maintaining ideological lockstep.George W.Bush has followed in this tradition and a number of individual blackelected Republicans have been given national prominence by the RepublicanParty.Although none have been elected with much black support, they feed theillusion of inclusion sought by Bush.This includes individuals such as Secretary ofState Ken Blackwell of Ohio, who played a central role in Bush s victory in thatpivotal state in the 2004 presidential election.He served not only as secretary ofstate, which made him the state s chief elections officer, but also co-chair of theCommittee to Re-elect George Bush in Ohio.Prior to the 1980s, Blackwell had been a member of the Democratic Partyand the Charter Party of Cincinnati where he had served as a council member andmayor.He finally landed in the Republican Party s far right corner and garneredseveral positions under George H.W.Bush including deputy secretary in theDepartment of Housing and Urban Development, and ambassador to the UnitedNations Commission on Human Rights, and then appointments by Ohio Re-publican governor George Voinovich.George W.Bush tasked Blackwell to leadthe U.S.delegation to the preparatory meetings for the UN World ConferenceAgainst Racism where it played a disruptive and sabotaging role.Though hewould never be mistaken for a human rights activist, Blackwell has managed to beinvolved with a number of (conservative) human rights groups.This includes hispast or present board membership with the Physicians for Human Rights andthe Congressional Human Rights Foundation, and a scholar-in-residence at theUrban Morgan Institute for Human Rights at the University of Cincinnati sCollege of Law, and associations with the International League for Human Rightsand the National Council of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights.In the2004 Ohio election, Blackwell not only supported a measure to ban same-sexmarriages, which served to mobilize the Republican conservative base includingblacks, but also was the only prominent Republican to want to include additionalopposition to civil unions, domestic partnerships, and attacked other rights andanti-discrimination policies for homosexuals that have been enacted in most otherstates.That he was ever appointed to positions having to do with human rightsand racial justice is a travesty.He has decided to run for governor of Ohio in the2006 election.An equally enthusiastic partisan can be found in Lt.Gov.Michael Steele ofMaryland.Steele reached a national audience when he gave a rabid speech at thejColin Powell and Condoleezza Rice52 2004 Republican National Convention attacking Democrats.He is on the ex-ecutive committee of the National Republican Committee and former statechairman of the Maryland Republican Party
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