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As the former AZGOP Secretary and current Republican activist, I and worked tirelessly to secure President Trump’s victory in Arizona during the 2016 election. So I was shocked to learn of Trump-endorsed Senate candidate Blake Masters recent caricature of Black Americans.
On a recent appearance on “The Jeff Oravits Show,” Masters carelessly said, “We do not have a gun violence problem in our country, and it’s gang violence…It’s gangs. It’s people in Chicago, St. Louis shooting each other. Very often, you know, Black people.”
So many of my fellow Republicans reached out to apologize to me because of how uncomfortable the commentary left them. While those apologies were unnecessary, they show a level of empathy that is not only rare, but much appreciated. It is disappointing that as of today, AZGOP Chairman Dr. Kelli Ward still hasn’t released a public statement regarding Masters’ comments and the dangers of painting with a broad brush.
Over the years, across the country, I have come to be known as “The Trump Queen” for my dedication of time, talent, and treasure to President Trump and the Republican Party, messaging to Black Americans that the GOP is the party with their best interests in mind.
Comments like those of Masters’ are major regressions.
As the first Black AZGOP Secretary, I see this silence in response to Masters’ statement as troubling. Masters’ characterization is unjustified, and it’s a smear on the legacy of President Trump and the work his administration did to move Black voters forward.
During the Trump presidency, Black unemployment hit all-time lows. President Trump’s First Step Act released thousands of undeserving incarcerated Black Americans from prison, expanded opportunity zones to fight poverty in Black communities, and restored funding to historical Black colleges and universities, including my alma mater Jackson State University, where I earned a Master’s in Public Policy and Administration. President Trump secured the most funding for HBCU in history.
Masters needs to know that we AZGOP Black Trump leaders aren’t drinking his racial Kool-Aid because gun violence in America isn’t the fault of Black people. I urge Mr. Masters to do his homework and discover the real root of gun violence – fatherless households, mental illness, and poverty. Not Black people.”
Statistics are clear, showing the factors behind gun violence are numerous. Research from Pew shows that the U.S. has the highest rate of single parent households in the world; data from the National Alliance on Mental Illness dictates that 1 in 5 adults in the U.S. experienced mental illness in 2020.
Florida’s Governor Ron DeSantis understand the issue and has helped put forth a solution for the fatherless household issue. Florida’s new Responsible Fatherhood bill has allocated $70 million to fatherhood, funding various non-profits throughout the state and encouraging fathers to be involved in the lives of their children. One of the programs being funded, the Fatherhood P.R.I.D.E. program, supports approximately 100 fathers per year with case managers, parenting classes, job interview workshops, and more.
Instead of promoting programs such as these, Masters has a history of racist messaging. In one instance, he alluded to Justice Ketanji Brown as only an affirmative action hire – a line that he seems to echo for any Black person in any prestigious position.
My good friend, Reverend Clyde Bowen, AZGOP American African Committee Chairman, offered his observation and an invitation to Mr. Masters: “Since our inception in 1995, the AARC has experienced the ebb and flow of ‘Racism as Policy’, with some members of the AZGOP. And some, we presume, are “good” Republicans. They’ll remain nameless for now. The AARC is concerned about the false witness comments of Blake Masters. They seem divisive and lazy. We’ll issue an invitation to Mr. Masters and company to our Annual Emancipation Proclamation Observance Day, which will speak to our years of less-than treatment. We remain, as original Republicans, committed and unshakably faithful to our cause.”
I speak for many in the Black conservative community when I say that we feel strongly that Masters’ commentary is unethical considering he’s using his Trump endorsement to spread racist rhetoric. President Trump moved mountains for Black Americans, while Mr. Masters is squandering them.
Cynthia “Cyndi” Love was the first Black elected as AZGOP Secretary, RNC delegate in 2020, and is known across the country as the “Trump Queen” due to the support she provided for President Trump’s election and re-election in 2016 and 2020. She has served on the National Federation of Republican Women’s Membership, Community Engagement, and Diversity Committees, and she is also a Heritage Foundation Sentinel.
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