After Benjamin L. Cardin, a White Congressman, defeated Kweisi Mfume, the former president of the NAACP and ex-chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, African-American politicians in Maryland almost stumbled over one another in a mad rush to endorse Cardin. Sen. Barack Obama, everyone’s flavor of the month, even parachuted in to endorse Cardin. He appeared on the scene so quickly that it was more like they loaded him in a cannon and aimed him toward the Baltimore Harbor.

The sight of grinning Black elected officials rushing to endorse a White Democrat is a familiar scene. What made this bum-rush so noteworthy was that after Mfume filed to fill an open Senate seat, the party went out and recruited Cardin to run against him. With limited resources and lacking the support of party bosses, Mfume still came within 9 percentage points of defeating Cardin. If he had won, Maryland’s Senate race would have featured two African-Americans, guaranteeing that one would be elected to office.

I know for a fact that at one point during the primary, Mfume was so disappointed with the professional Democrats that he contemplated endorsing Steele in the event he lost the primary. When he was chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he demonstrated that kind of courage and boldness. I suspect that because Cardin is a friend and former colleague, Mfume decided not to bolt his Party this time.

Still, it’s the same old sorry story: Blacks get mistreated and after complaining about being taken for granted, they dutifully line up to pick cotton. Or, in this case, Black votes. I don’t know what gets into Black leaders between the time they complain and the time the party selects its White nominee. As someone said about one prominent Black leader, “He’s like a terrorist – all he wants is money and a plane.”

It’s time for a change and clearly that change is not going to come from Black elected officials who are forever wedded to their Democratic overseers. The change, if it’s to occur, must come from those not seeking the favor of either party.

If we are truly tired of being taken for granted by one major party and just plain taken by the other, then it’s time to take a stand. Here’s my modest proposal for my fellow Black Marylanders – teach both parties a lesson by voting for the Black Republican, Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. On the issue of affirmative action, Michael Steele is no Clarence Thomas. I disagree with Steele on most public policy issues. He is a Republican in every sense of the word.

But like the voting in New Orleans, this is not about one person. It’s larger than that. This is about demanding respect. And I can think of no better way to get the attention of both parties than, in this one instance, voting Republican to make a point. Some party leaders may not be able to read and write but they can count. If we do this, everyone will have to do some different kind of figuring. Republicans will have an incentive to court the Black votes and Democrats will have to work in earnest to earn the respect of African-Americans.

Blacks make up 29 percent of Maryland’s population. That’s the fifth-highest percentage in the country. Among registered voters, about one in five Maryland voters is an African-American. That, combined with an expected lower turnout in this non-presidential election, means that African-Americans can determine who wins or loses. That’s why we can’t waste this golden opportunity.

It’s hammer time. It’s time to lower the boom on White and Black Democrats who think that it’s okay to disrespect Black voters and then expect them to go to the polls in significant numbers on Election Day simply to support the Democratic slate.

Let’s be clear. I am not advocating supporting all Black Republicans running this year – some of them are far worse than the White Democratic alternative. The GOP, in general, has to provide more than compassionate rhetoric; Republicans need to compile a compassionate record on social issues. And they are a long way from that.

The most recent NAACP Civil Rights Report Card, issued in February for the 108th Congress, showed that 98 percent of all Republicans in the U.S. House and Senate earned an F. By contrast, only 2 percent of Democrats failed to support civil rights issues.

Voting for Michael Steele would send shock waves through both major parties.
And that’s exactly what we need. Otherwise, two years from now, we’ll still be complaining about Democrats taking us for granted and Republicans just taking us.