Sunday prior to this, he was quoted by several media sources as saying before a predominantly white audience,

"It just keeps expanding - I was in Indianola a few months ago and I was talking to someone who works in the department of public welfare here, and she told me that the state of Iowa is going to get fined if they don't sign up more people under the Medicaid program," Santorum said.

"They're just pushing harder and harder to get more and more of you dependent upon them so they can get your vote. That's what the bottom line is."

He added: "I don't want to make black people's lives better by giving them somebody else's money; I want to give them the opportunity to go out and earn the money."

"Right," responded one audience member, as another woman can be seen nodding.

"And provide for themselves and their families," Santorum added, to applause. "The best way to do that is to get the manufacturing sector of the economy rolling again."

Seldom have I seen the most conservative of the conservatives raise an eyebrow at anything that is said or done in the GOP that has to do with race. I guess it is because if you mention the word racism in the Republican Party, you run the risk of turning someone off.

But the truth of the matter is that what Rick Santorum said is a false yet prevailing sentiment among some within the Republican Party. Because people actually believe this to be true, they do not feel it is racist. In fact, I would venture to say that Santorum really did not think what he said was racist. Otherwise, he never would have made such a statement - except behind closed doors. As an African American Republican with 32 years of experience in being called anything from the "N" word to seeing racism so thick you could cut it with a knife, perhaps I can shed some light on the discussion which may help in understanding why some Republicans applaud Santorum's statement and will lend him their support - which in Iowa may have played a part in why he went from near the bottom to a second place victory.

Because there is such a minority of African-Americans in the party (so few flies in the bowl of buttermilk), there are white Republicans who have never had an opportunity to truly get to know Blacks within the political arena or get to know more about Black culture. What they see and hear come from stereotypes they see on the news and on television. In the party, there are so few of us there to present the facts, and even fewer who have the courage to do so. Most of what is presented comes from a white prospective, which utilizes stereotypes. Because of this, even some of the most well meaning whites truly believe this - that a part of why America is in such bad shape is because you have all these Black folks on welfare who do not want to work and just want a handout. I cannot tell you how many times I have heard this and have had to correct this myth. It does not matter that there are more whites on welfare than there are blacks. In Iowa of those receiving food stamps, only 8% are black to 74% whites. For non-elderly recipients, only 22% of blacks are on Medicaid to 48% whites. Despite these facts, when some Republicans - including Santorum - hear the word "welfare", for them it means blacks, not whites.

As long as this is a part of the Republican mindset, it might as well be true in the minds of those who are misinformed or who wish to believe it. Santorum is a prime example of this. He was not intending to be racist because he did not realize that what he was saying was racist. No doubt he believed that blacks who just wanted a handout, (other working people's money - especially the wealthy), were the ones on welfare. The logic is as follows: If they (Blacks) were taken off the rolls of entitlement programs and put to work, it would greatly impact the economy and would protect Whites whose money was being unfairly taken from them and given to them for support. If this was true, resentment of blacks would be justified. But it is not true and the data  proves it to be false. 

Unfortunately, this is a very common belief in some uninformed Republican circles. This misconception is what is fanning the flame. There are some who truly believe that most, if not all blacks are being taken care of by the government even though they have no clue what "entitlement programs" entail. When they hear the word entitlement, they think people mooching off the government - not realizing that entitlements are not just welfare, but also include social security and other programs such as Medicaid, etc., from which the majority of Whites are benefiting.

Let me be clear. Neither the National African American Caucus [NRAAC] nor I am calling the Republican Party racist. Neither are we inferring that all white Republicans are misinformed. To the contrary, I have found many really good and accepting Whites within the party who also frowned at Santorum's statement. But what I am saying is that until Blacks and Whites in the GOP get to know each other first as co-equals - on an equal playing field within the party, and as friends and Republican sisters and brothers interacting with each other, this kind of mindset will prevail.

What is missing is the Black prospective. Had Santorum had Blacks on his staff or in major positions of leadership while he was in the Senate or now on the presidential campaign trail, he never would have made such an unwise and uninformed statement. This is the price you pay, when you build a predominantly lily White party where Blacks are not just the minority because they are a minority, but because inclusion within the GOP has not quite become a reality or priority.

You cannot have a predominantly lily White party in leadership on the local, state and national level and expect to have a meaningful exchange and an integration of cultural understanding. Nor can you have only Whites at the policy and decision-making levels at the local, state and national level and think you are going to be able to adequately have a balanced approach in creating policy or making balanced decisions. There has to be interaction, exchange and fellowship to create a kindred political spirit. This is something that the RNC has not made a priority. Now it is beginning to show to the embarrassment of the party at the grassroots level.

Looking forward, I do see a change in mindset, mostly due to those of us who are present at the table and are willing to bring attention to issues, which are incorrectly stated or are offensive to those of color. In my role as national chair, I have seen those who were humbled to have someone Black point this out and were more than accepting of making a change in perspective based upon factual data sets. I am also encouraged to see on the horizon a younger generation of both Blacks and Whites that are involved in politics, who do not see color or race and are more inviting of meaningful inclusion.

So we say to Mr. Santorum:  

Do the research! Don't just go on stereotypes. Check out the facts before you speak.

Find African American Republicans who are not afraid to pull your coattail and tell you when you are treading deep waters that may not be so complementing of who you truly are as a candidate and as a Republican.

Change your mind set. The majority of working class African Americans are not on welfare, do not want to be on welfare, do not plan to be on welfare and do not appreciate being insulted with statements that lump all Blacks into the welfare state.

Keep in mind that when you make statements like the one you did, it really makes it hard, or we should say even harder for those of us who are African American Republicans and already are finding it difficult to be Republicans even though we share some of the same core values.  

Put yourself in our position and ask yourself, after hearing this kind of statement, as an African American Republican, would you be offended?

With Mr. Santorum coming in second place in the Iowa Caucus, hopefully this is not reconfirming of the statement he made. His speech after winning indeed showed a more reasonable and identifiable Rick Santorum. However, between Iowa and South Carolina, he needs to take a time-out and more carefully ponder all of this, tweak his game plan in wooing voters and guard his words more carefully. Otherwise, if he is fortunate to arise to the number one spot, he may find African American Republicans and even some White Republicans who also were offended by the inaccuracy of his statement, who are not so willing to give him their support or vote.