US Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee was criticized for failing to develop support beyond the Evangelical Christian community. On MLK Day, Mike Huckabee has made an effort to reach out to minorities. So far, Mike Huckabee has gained endorsements from 50 African-American leaders while he was in town for MLK Jr’s birthday.
Those that have given Huckabee their endorsements cited his record on life, education, minorities, the economy, the prison system, and immigration while he was the governor of Arkansas.
It was also noted by Dean Nelson who is the director of the Network of Politically Active Christians that Mike Huckabee was the only Republican candidate who showed up at the GOP debate that was hosted by Tavis Smiley back in September.
“I would like to declare to those frontrunners who did not participate at that debate, that if you believe that America and Americans should trust you, then why did you not show up?” Nelson asked.
He also made note that Huckabee appointed over 350 African-Americans to boards and commissions while governor.
Huckabee talked about African-American issues in Republican language at the endorsement. He would bring up the surveillance of Dr. King as a tale of caution against government invasiveness. In terms of education and the prison system, Huckabee addressed in terms of cost efficiency.
“What a tragedy when one in three black males end up in prison,” Huckabee said at the endorsement.
Huckabee would add: “You know something? When I was governor, I did some calculations and it was fairly easy to do. We have one of the least expensive prison systems in the country. And yet, even in Arkansas, it costs more money to put a person in prison for one year than it would to put them in college – public or private school – pay tuition, room, and board and buy their books. The fact is, when people say, we can’t afford a better education. No, we can’t afford an education system that fails the very kids that may end up costing ten times more than a decent education.”
Reverend William Owens who is the chairman of the Coalition of African American pastors said he personally supports Huckabee due to his social views. He said that the language and history of the Civil Rights Movement had been co-opted by those who supported same sex marriage.
Owens said: “When I marched in the civil rights movement, I did not march one inch, one foot, one yard…for man to be able to marry man, woman able to marry woman. We marched because we wanted the right to live the American dream.”
However, Huckabee caught fire in South Carolina for rallying support by bringing up the Confederate flag. He said that the people of South Carolina knew true conservatism along with saying that they don’t like people from out of state telling them what to do with the flag.
Huckabee said he neither supported nor criticized the raising of the Confederate flag.
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