It’s no secret there’s a preconception of Republicans as a little bland. White-skinned, gray-haired men and women smiling and waving at cameras are the typical portrait of conservative America.
The presumptions may not be accurate, but these representatives haven’t been doing a great job at representing the melting pot America is supposed to be.
Once Republican men and women realized their ethnic and socio-economic homogeneity, they quickly put together a campaign to convince the nation that they are more than willing to lead American citizens who don’t look like them.
The video includes a reminder that Republicans have tattoos and beards, drive Priuses and recycle. Oh, and they can be white, black, Hispanic, even left-handed females.
But they aren’t willing to put in much effort beyond a few stock images (likely found in a Google image search for “diversity”) with the words “Republicans are people, too” slapped on top.
The man behind the ad, Vinny Minchillo, formerly worked on Mitt Romney’s campaign ads and hoped it would “soften the public image of his Republican Party.”
First, we should congratulate the Republican Party for only taking until 2014 to address their lack of diversity. Unfortunately for them, fourth-grade math textbooks have done a better job at capturing true diversity.
You know the pictures I’m talking about. You’ve got a white kid, a racially ambiguous kid and a kid with a visible physical disability. One of them stole four oranges from the other or something.
But there’s a harder problem to solve than figuring out how many oranges the kid in the wheelchair has left.
It’s figuring out why we as a nation have gotten comfortable with the mere image of diversity. We turn to our newspapers and textbooks for proof we are a diverse nation in which everyone is represented. We are critical of our media when directors cast inaccurately white versions of otherwise ethnic roles.
But no one ever stops to think about what it means to see someone who looks like yourself in that textbook, on that television show or in that political office. Diversity matters, especially among those in the government.
America, no matter how free it is on paper, has not always been a free nation. Sure, we’ve never had a king to overthrow, but there was a time when an entire race had to convince their owners (people who look eerily similar to the majority of American politicians) that they were human beings.
History repeats itself. While we may not have slave owners now, we should be making every effort to not slide back into the thoughts and ideas that were circulating when we decided that it was our constitutional right to own other human beings.
And how do we keep that from happening? We allow those people who have been wronged to have their place in politics. We encourage communities to elect leadership that reflects who they are and who will look out for their specific interests.
I don’t expect a man to fully understand the complexities of the reproductive rights movement. I don’t expect that I will ever fully understand the complexities of racism in our nation. It’s impossible to say you have the answers for every American’s problems and that you can lead a nation without being biased towards those who look or live similarly to you.
A political system that does not reflect the people it is governing is not an effective political system. If Republicans could understand that, they could understand why a simple commercial promising that they are people capable of understanding the diversity of America isn’t satisfying for those striving for diversity.
It’s not enough for a video to portray a diverse political party. If they want to be an authentic portrayal of American diversity they should focus more energy on nominating a diverse group of candidates. Elect candidates that reflect the people you are promising us the Republican party can represent.
Diversity isn’t just about looks — it’s about representation and it’s key in the fair treatment of all Americans.
Jana King is a 20-year-old communication studies junior from Ponchatoula, Louisiana. You can reach her on Twitter @jking_TDR.