Republican National Committee Still Silent On Outreach Plans To Urban Areas & Minority Communities

SHAMROCK STINE PRODUCTIONS LLC

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN

 NEWS

 

January 11, 2013                  
Contact: Tamara Williams                                                                                                                                  
IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                             

republican national committee still silent on outreach plans to urban areas and minority communities
Diversity Issues in GOP & Two-Party Political System Not Being Addressed

Trenton, NJ – The Republican National Committee has yet to respond to the Outreach Challenge issued by Filmmakers Kevin J. Williams and Tamara E. Williams.  The FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN documentary filmmakers recently challenged the current Republican National Committee leadership to announce its plans for Party outreach in Urban and Minority communities before its Winter Meeting in Charlotte, NC in two weeks.  The filmmakers also challenged the Republican National Committee to require all Chairman or Co-Chairman candidates to publicly present their plans with stated goals for Republican Party outreach to Minority and Urban voters.   As of today, there has been no response from the Republican National Committee, its voting Members or Staff.   

The FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN filmmakers stated, “We have found out since issuing our Outreach Challenge last week that many other Republicans and Conservatives are as disappointed as we are in the Republican National Committee’s lack of response to our concerns about Urban and Minority outreach efforts.  In two weeks, our Party will be selecting or re-electing a national Chairman after its second Presidential Election loss and now Congressional losses.  Given the state of the economy and the future demographic challenges facing America, this upcoming RNC Chairman Election will be the most important election in the Republican Party’s history.”

In the most recent Presidential Election for example, President Obama received 81% of the vote in New York City and this is the largest vote share of any Presidential candidate in more than 100 years according to Bloomberg News and AM-New York.  The last Republican Presidential candidate to win New York City was Calvin Coolidge in 1924.  Three-thousand miles away in LosAngeles County, CA (mostly made up of the City of Los Angeles), President Obama received nearly 69% of votes versus Mitt Romney’s 29% according to the Los Angeles Times. 

 Filmmaker Kevin J. Williams stood firm in calling on the Republican National Committee to reveal its plans.  Williams said, “Each Presidential Election, the Republican Party starts out minus 127 Electoral Votes since the Party concedes the East and West Coasts every time.  With New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington State, Oregon and California automatically going the Democrats way every four years, Republicans around the country must force their Party to change its ways and reach out to new voters.  Without Urban and Minority voters coming on-board, the Republican Party’s future looks very grim.”

To learn more about the filmmakers or view the film’s trailers, please go to www.fearofablackrepublican.com.  For interviews or stories, please contact the documentary film’s Producer - Tamara Williams via e-mail at producer@fearofablackrepublican.com.  The filmmakers are also on Twitter (#FearOfABlackRep) and Facebook (Fear Of A Black Republican).

 

Film Distribution Information & Synopsis:

 FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN has been seen by thousands of Americans and has screened before diverse audiences in Atlanta, GA; Charlotte & Greensboro, NC; Wilmington, DE; Kansas City, MO; Buffalo & Rochester, NY; Trenton, NJ; Portland, OR; Washington, DC; Philadelphia, PA; Montgomery, AL; Jackson, MS; Dallas & Waco, TX; Tucson, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Salina KS and Chicago, IL.  Former Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele attended both the New Jersey and Washington, DC Premieres and participated in Q&A sessions with audiences lasting over ninety minutes each.  More screenings of the controversial documentary feature film are expected nationwide in 2013.  The trailers for FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN can be viewed on the film’s own website www.fearofablackrepublican.com, as well as the YouTube, Apple iTunes and Vimeo websites. 

Synopsis:  Filmed and edited over a six year period, FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN examines why there are so few Black Republicans (and by extension, other Minorities) and how this affects the U.S. political system.  The film begins with a simple question… Does the Republican Party really want more African Americans? To get an answer, independent filmmaker Kevin J. Williams takes a non-partisan journey over two Presidential Elections to find out why there are so few Black Republicans and what that means for the future of the Two-Party Political System in America.

From the Civil War to the Great Depression, the GOP was the Party for many African-Americans, but today, barely 10% of African Americans consider themselves to be Republican and Urban areas are no longer considered competitive parts of America’s Election map. Beginning in his hometown, Williams speaks with BOTH Democrats and Republicans as he takes a personal and humorous look at his own Republican Party’s efforts in urban areas versus the suburbs, the Democratic Party's success in retaining the African American vote, the seeming phenomenon of Black Republicans and what this all means for America. FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN gives audiences of all Demographics and Political Persuasions a ground-breaking and moving view of American Politics.

 

During the film’s journey, Williams speaks with scholars such as Professors Cornel West and Howard Taylor; and newsmakers such as Michael Steele, former Chairman of the Republican National Committee; Presidential candidates Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and John McCain; former Governor Christine Todd Whitman; Commentators Tavis Smiley and Michelle Malkin; political leaders, including past RNC Chairman Ken Mehlman, Congressman Peter King and Governors Jim Gilmore and Sonny Perdue; Conservative thinkers such as Newt Gingrich, Grover Norquist and Ann Coulter; and the first and last Black Republican Senator popularly elected since Reconstruction, former Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, amongst others. Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Senator and President-Elect Barack Obama, President George W. Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney also appear in the film, along with very rarely seen archival footage of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., Vice-President Richard M. Nixon and the great baseball pioneer Jackie Robinson. The film also examines the History of the Republican Party since its founding. 

FEAR OF A BLACK REPUBLICAN is available on DVD at its own website and Amazon.com and also on VOD streaming via its own website and Apple iTunes.  It is also available for Education use and has screened or is currently being used on college campuses such as Northwestern University, Portland State University, Tuskegee University, Loyola Marymount University, Jackson State University and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill.

The film has received Print, TV and Radio coverage from the Washington Post, Philadelphia Inquirer, Current TV's THE WAR ROOM WITH JENNIFER GRANHOLM, HUFFINGTON POST LIVE, Christian Broadcasting Network's The Brody Files, Al Jazeera's INSIDE STORY, the Mark Davis Radio Show, Steve Deace Show, Michael Eric Dyson Show, Chris Stigall Show, Victoria Taft Show, The Voice of Russia and many others.

 

 

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