Few minorities on GOP podium

[bushisanidiot]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080904/ap_on_el_pr/cvn_diversity;_ylt=Ak0o6kLyHiTNfYMx09n6nrFsnwcF

"By NANCY BENAC, Associated Press Writer
Thu Sep 4, 3:10 AM ET

ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Republican National Convention showcased a Native American color guard, a black preacher and video footage of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks, all part of its effort to present the GOP as a picture of diversity. What it hasn't offered is many minorities speaking from the podium in prime time, or sitting among the delegates.

The convention has a decidedly homogenous look to it, coming hard on the heels of a Democratic gathering where minorities were prominent on the podium and in the crowds, and the spotlight focused squarely on Barack Obama's historic racial breakthrough.

Not that Republicans have been deliberately denying broad exposure to prominent party members from minority groups — there just aren't that many.

The party had hoped to showcase Louisiana's Republican Gov. Bobby Jindal, the country's first elected Indian-American governor. But he stayed home to help coordinate the state's response to Hurricane Gustav. The Republicans have no black governors or members of Congress to put on stage.

It's a problem for the party that goes deeper than the challenge of coming up with a diverse speaker's lineup.

"It is what it is," said Michael Steele, Maryland's former lieutenant governor and the first black elected to statewide office there. "You can't sugarcoat this stuff."

Steele, who chairs GOPAC, which recruits and trains Republican candidates nationwide, got 10 minutes on the podium in prime time Wednesday night.

Earlier in the evening, a number of blacks and Hispanics had a chance to address the convention, albeit briefly. Among them: a nurse from Pennsylvania, a California state senator, the head of a Hispanic medical organization an entrepreneur whose mother was an orphan of Mexican descent.

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The predominance of white faces on the podium in St. Paul was reflected in the faces staring back from the audience in St. Paul. About 13 percent of GOP delegates identify themselves as belonging to a minority group, according to convention organizers, who provided no further details on the ethnic breakdown.

Joanna Burgos, a spokeswoman for the convention, said that figure is more than double the minority participation at the Republicans' 1996 convention.

"We look forward to continuing and expanding these relationships — and nominating John McCain, a Republican leader who values the diverse backgrounds of all Americans and will lead on issues important to them," she said.

However, minority representation is down from 2004, when about 17 percent of delegates and alternates were minorities."