Photo: public domain
Please Follow us on Gab, Minds, Telegram, Rumble, GETTR, Truth Social, Twitter
After a poor showing at the GOP final fundraiser for 2023 and a namesake event, Josh McKoon’s Chairman’s Dinner held December 7th at the Georgia Freight Depot in Atlanta appears indicative of the growing fracture between minorities and Republican Leadership in Georgia. For the past twelve months, the Georgia Republican Party corporation (GRP, Inc.) has battled with constituents over the no-member entity and the political party to which most conservatives think they belong, according to a community watch group called Go Reclaim Georgia. This battle has reached the desk of an unresponsive RNC despite the implication for Georgia’s delegates and candidates looking for ballot access this election cycle. But if poor fundraising efforts, lack of support by Kemp-allegants, and a battle over corporate entities were not enough, McKoon and Georgia Executive Director Travis Bowden have declared war on minorities in Georgia.
Six months into their latest position with the GA GOP, Bowden and Chairman McKoon have displayed a disdain for minority engagement under the guise of “tradition” most black conservatives have complained about for decades. From revamping messaging to advertising conservative principles in minority communities, Bowden has served as the mouthpiece for disinterest and disgust for the hard work of enlightening voters, especially those of color. Yet black conservatives, independents, and weak Dems are not the only ones being taken for granted yet again by Republicans. Key Asian and Hispanic conservative activists report lack of cooperation from current Party leadership, specifically Bowden. “It’s disappointing and insulting,” remarked a Thaiwanese conservative who has repeatedly reached out to Party headquarters in hopes of supporting diversity initiatives to no avail. Instead, McKoon and other high ranking Party officials flaunt unaffiliated individuals in a type of modern minstrel show posing as minority engagement.
The Georgia Republican Party has three Allied minority engagement groups according to the organization’s website which include The Georgia Black Republican Council (GABRC), the Asian and Pacific Islander Coalition, and the Georgia Hispanic Republican Assembly. Despite a well-attended engagement seminar at the previous State Convention which was organized collectively by these groups, the Georgia Republican Party has yet to join forces with these official allies to better serve Georgia voters. To add insult to injury, the GOP announced the Lincoln Dinner, a formal event scheduled one week after the previously announced GABRC event, the Lincoln-Douglass Gala. Competing with one’s Allied groups rather than supporting them is the kind of subversive attack that weakens Republican turnout come election day, and furthers the “purpling” of our state. Bowden’s personal disdain for minorities is evidenced by his incompetence at the state level. Yet, McKoon’s indifference begs the question, is Georgia's Republican leadership deliberately sabotaging minority engagement ahead of primary caucuses. If so, someone had better inform Presidential Primary contenders that they will get no support from the GOP in Georgia come this November.
