[Mb-civic] More young blacks ready to embrace GOP - The Boston Globe

[William Swiggard]

More young blacks ready to embrace GOP
Some cast aside traditional loyalties

By Kaitlin Bell, Globe Correspondent  |  August 22, 2005

WASHINGTON -- Adam Hunter, an ambitious law student with bright eyes, an 
easy smile, and plenty of charisma, seems practically destined for politics.

A half century ago, his grandfather helped register blacks living in 
rural South Carolina to vote. Hunter's father, born on a tobacco farm 
and taught in segregated schools, was inspired by the civil rights 
movement to join the Democratic Party. His parents have both headed the 
local Democratic committee in their New Jersey town, and Hunter himself 
worked as a campaign volunteer before he was old enough to vote.

Hunter, 22, is a first-year law student at Howard University, a 
historically black campus with a long record of liberal activism. He has 
political ambitions of his own -- but not with the Democrats.

Instead, Hunter, who as an undergraduate headed Howard's chapter of 
College Republicans, sees himself as part of a younger generation of 
African-Americans. He is ready to cast aside traditional loyalties to 
the Democratic Party and forge his own political identity.

''My father and I are not that different, ideologically, but if you look 
at the time period we grew up in, that's where we're different," Hunter 
said. ''My foundation doesn't make me beholden to the Democratic Party. 
To me there's nothing more undemocratic than the idea that you have to 
vote for a Democrat or don't vote at all come Election Day."

Hunter is one of a growing number of young African-Americans leaving the 
party of their parents and grandparents in favor of the GOP -- or 
choosing not to have a political affiliation at all.

A July Gallup Poll of minorities' political opinions indicated that 
black voters overwhelmingly favor the Democratic Party, and the 
percentage of African-Americans who consider themselves Republicans 
lingers at about 9 percent. However, according to the poll, of those 
blacks who vote GOP, most are under age 50 -- a generational shift that 
could be an opportunity for Republicans and a headache for Democrats.

http://www.boston.com/news/nation/washington/articles/2005/08/22/more_young_blacks_ready_to_embrace_gop/
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