The RNC’s Continued Disdain For Blacks

Once again the Republican National Committee (RNC) has demonstrated why they can’t get more Blacks involved in the party.

In all fairness, party chairman, Reince Priebus has tried to do the right thing, but his staff has been a total disaster with executing his vision.

Four years ago I created the inaugural Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon. The purpose was to use the occasion of Black History Month (February) to honor Black Republicans who had made significant contributions to the Black community, the Republican Party, and America (people like Bill Coleman and Bob Brown).

Priebus insisted on covering the costs of putting the luncheon on but I was totally responsible for the content, the honorees, and the keynote speaker.

The inaugural year was by far the high water mark of the event simply because I had total control of the event. The second year was ok and the third year was a total disaster.

The second year I attempted to work with the staff of the RNC and the whole program got so watered down that it became unrecognizable.

The third year the staff, through deception and subterfuge, excluded me from any involvement and it turned into a minstrel show; it was a total embarrassment.

I fault the RNC’S leadership for creating an environment where this type of chicanery was allowed to go unpunished.

In December of last year, I notified the RNC and its leadership that because of their total incompetence, I was taking full control of my event and that I would cover all the costs. I also informed them that I had trademarked the name “Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon.”

So, needless to say, I was quite stunned when the RNC decided to infringe upon my trademark by planning their own Black Republican Trailblazer Awards Luncheon for this week (a week before my event).

I began to receive calls and emails from across the country because everyone knew my event was in DC, but yet they were getting an invitation about an event in Florida. This was done intentionally to cause confusion among my supporters. This was just another feeble attempt by the RNC and its staff to sabotage another one of my initiatives.

Sean Spicer, head of the RNC’s communications department, did everything in his power to sabotage the inaugural event. I was told that there would be no media at the actual luncheon, but rather there would be a media avail at the RNC after the event.

Spicer unilaterally changed his mind and had all the major white media covering the event (CNN, Roll Call, etc.), while the Black media was literally waiting in the lobby of the RNC headquarters. Can you say separate and unequal?

Now let me introduce you to a few more of the saboteurs.

Krystal Quarker, the current leader of this continued effort to sabotage my activities, was introduced to me three years ago when she was unemployed and desperate for work. I help her get her job at the RNC and this is her way of showing me thanks.

Tara Wall, who never met a person she couldn’t alienate, needed a job so I helped her get a consultant contract with the RNC. She then wanted to become a full time staffer, so I helped her with that. So, once she got her consultant contract her attitude towards me was “why do I need to talk to Raynard?” Despite that, I still helped her become a staffer and her attitude towards me got even worse. This was a person who never missed an opportunity to denigrate the 200 Black newspapers in the U.S. According to her, “no one reads Black newspapers anyway.” She said this to all the top people in the RNC.

Orlando Watson is totally in over his head. He is extremely arrogant and has absolutely no connection to Black media or the Black community. He is the butt of jokes within the media and he is too stupid to even realize it. He constantly leaked to Sen. Rand Paul’s staff sensitive RNC communications in hopes of ingratiating himself with team Paul; he wanted to work on Paul’s eventual presidential campaign and he thought sharing information with them would guarantee him a job. What he didn’t realize was that they thought he was a joke and there was never any intention of hiring him for the presidential campaign.

Last and certainly not the least, is C.J. Jordan. She was a spy within the RNC for the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She would send them sensitive internal communications from the party so they would know what deliberations were going on inside the organization.

For three years I had complained to leadership about the incompetence and disloyalty going on within the building, but nothing was ever done. These staffers should have all been fired immediately for their lack of professionalism and incompetence. But one thing I have learned about Republicans, they love Blacks who have no spine or backbone; they want Blacks that they are comfortable with versus those who are good at what they do.

The easy thing for me to do would be to leave the Republican Party; but that’s not an option. I will not allow anyone or any circumstance to get me to leave my party; but rather I will fight to make my party better.

As recently as two weeks ago, I told the leadership of the RNC that their staff was calling reporters begging them to create a hit piece on me in their feeble attempt to tarnish my reputation; and as usual, nothing has been done.

So, to my followers and supporters, when you begin to hear “anonymous” quotes about how I am such a bad person, please know where it is coming from.

I foolishly allowed the leadership of the RNC to use me and then discard me. I was warned by both Black and White party officials that this would happen to me; but I was blinded by my party loyalty in my foolish belief that they were finally serious about the Black community.

I will continue to work with our congressional leadership and candidates who are serious about having a meaningful relationship with the Black community.

But, I cannot and will not have any involvement with a national committee that has so little regard for me personally and the Black community at large that they would not only infringe upon my intellectual property rights; but also try to emulate my idea by prostituting it with their incompetence.

I am in the process of seeking legal counsel to explore what my options are.

If the RNC and its leaders want a fight, a fight they shall get. The game is now enjoined!

-Raynard Jackson

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