“Grasping the Black Vote”: The Republican Party's African American Outreach Strategy, 1976–81

Despite contemporary scholarly claims of the post-Goldwater undeviating rise of the conservative right, the “New Republican Majority” of the early 1970s had all but disappeared by 1976.  Just ten years after the “Republican Resurgence” of 1966, the party faced devastating losses at all levels of representation.  African Americans played a significant role in this backlash; their frustrations were born out of years of party equivocation over issues of black concern.  More than a decade after the Goldwater debacle, black voters still held an image of a party driven by states’ rights advocates, white southern conservatives, and anti-civil rights politicians.  This state of affairs deeply troubled black Republicans – for years, they had warned of the risks associated with neglecting the black vote.  The party’s devastating losses in the 1976 election granted black party members an opportunity, as GOP officials finally began to consider seriously the significance of black voters.

This paper will examine the efforts of Republican officials to pursue the black vote and tap into black political networks and communities, particularly among southern black middle class voters.  Of special concern are the efforts of Republican National Committee Chair Bill Brock and Wright-McNeill & Associates – a black Republican owned and operated political consulting firm.  Together Brock and Wright-McNeill created a vigorous outreach campaign, attempting to reintegrate, reinvigorate, and reinvent the modern GOP.  In addition to focusing on the efforts of Brock and Wright-McNeill, this paper will also explore the overall impact of black Republican strategy on both the GOP and on black community networks in the period preceding the so-called Reagan Revolution.  Finally, this paper will conclude by assessing this outreach initiative; ultimately, Brock and Wright-McNeill attempted to create a common ground between conservatism and civil rights that would repair the relationship between the GOP and African Americans.