So I'm on my beat as a Columbia student reporter in New York City...
And, lo and behold, I happen to pass by the local Republican Club...of Harlem! Yes, folks, Harlem--one of the major centers of African American culture in the USA--has a Republican Club located on 309 West 136th Street.
The building was closed, but I remember thinking to myself: here we are again, a minority’s minority! I later visited their website, whose front page boasts a near-defensive disclaimer--if you didn't know already, you've gotta have a pretty damn good excuse to be a Republican here:
The Republican Party has a distinguished history within and a close bond with the black community in America dating back for one and a half centuries. And despite being vastly outnumbered in party enrollment, Republicans similarly have a strong tradition in the Harlem community as well - a community that is becoming more diverse everyday.
The website fundrace.huffingtonpost.com, which tracks political donations, reveals that only THREE donations were made by residents within all of Central and West Harlem to Republican candidates: one attorney, from a well-known law firm called Bracewell & Giuliani (go figure) and another two from a professor and graduate student at Columbia University.
Worse, nearly EVERYDAY now, I'm reading stories like this one.
Situation is getting pretty bad...
# posted by Omar Soliman : 8:19 PM
