Romney on Religion, Was it Enough for Black Americans?
By Pamela Gentry, Senior Political Producer
Posted Dec. 7, 2007 – Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney’s took a leap of faith and gave a speech on religion and leadership that had been anticipated since he announced he would do so this past weekend.
Romney, a Mormon, has avoided speaking directly on the issue of religion but decided it was time for a change. This could have been prompted by recent poll numbers in early primary states placing him in second place among Republican presidential candidates behind rival Arkansas Gov. Mike Huckabee.
The speech was well crafted and answered the questions he knew Evangelical Christians wanted the answers to. “What do I believe about Jesus Christ? I believe that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and the Savior of mankind,” Romney said.
Romney compared himself to President John F. Kennedy, another Massachusetts native, who was the first Catholic to run for president. “Like him, I am an American running for president. I do not define my candidacy by my religion,” he said.
Dr. Benjamin Chavis, former executive director of the NAACP and current president and CEO of the Hip Hop Action Network, told me, “I believe it was a sincere attempt to make a comparison between himself and President Kennedy.” As youth coordinator for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Chavis served on the advance team of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and he also worked for the presidential campaign of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy.
“[Romney] will have to do much more than engage in rhetoric, in the Black community; faith is vital and very serious,” said Chavis, who earned a doctorate of ministry from Howard University before becoming a minister in the Nation of Islam.
Romney made several historical references in his speech, but as Chavis noted, “He mentioned the founding fathers, but some of them were slaveholders.”
The Hill newspaper reported that most political watchers gave the speech positive feedback. A senior adviser told them, they were getting positive reactions from “leaders in the faith community too.”
Chavis reminded that, in the early years, the Mormon Church – like other “mainline protestant churches” in America – didn’t greet Black folk with open arms. “We know the Mormon Church historically has had some racial exclusion,” he said.
Romney cited “American values” and his religious upbringing as the foundation of his faith. “I was taught in my home to honor God and love my neighbor,” he said. “I saw my father march with Martin Luther King. I saw my parent provide compassionate care to others.”
Romney’s speech might have been “fairly good,” Chavis said, but like other Republican candidates, he “faces challenges that have nothing to do with faith” when it comes to winning the Black vote.
“We need someone who’s gong to help get our people out of poverty and prison and stand up to racial inequality, someone with a sensitivity to improve the quality of life of African Americans,” Chavis said.
Look, this man uses his faith to set himself apart from the other people running for commander and chief of this country and now the media want us not make his faith apart of him running for pres., yea, right. His faith has a long history of not having blacks taking part in it, period. His faith saw blacks as a lower form of human beings and now you people want us not to look at his faith when voteing for him for pres, get real. He is no better than the rest of those butthole gop people running for pres and they won’t get my vote for trashman let alone commander and chief of the good old usofkkk!
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