Republicans celebrated Black History Month on Wednesday by awarding three black rising stars in the party that made history in the 2014 elections, and RNC Chairman Reince Priebus vowed that the party will continue to fight for votes in the African American community.
The 3rd annual Black Republican Trailblazer Awards were held at the Howard Theatre, a historic location in Washington, D.C., that was known when it opened in 1910 as the largest black theater in the country.
Sen. Tim Scott (R., S.C.), Rep. Mia Love (R., Utah), and Rep. Will Hurd (R., Texas) were honored as "history makers" at the event, and heralded as the beginning of a new wave of success for black Republicans.
"I am encouraged and excited to be here today celebrating the progress of those who blazed their own trails to be here so they could guide others," said New York Jets owner Woody Johnson, who gave a speech at the event. "To me, it’s startling that we have to have all these firsts, now lets get to the seconds and thirds pretty fast here."
Priebus echoed the message put forth by Johnson and delved into the successes that Republicans have had making inroads into African American communities.
"In the last two years, the Republican Party dramatically increased our engagement in black communities, in black media, and among black voters," said Priebus. "As I have said many times, we have to be a party that listens to everyone and fights for everyone."
"Engagement makes a difference,"Priebus said, pointing to Republicans winning a higher percentage of black voters in 2014 than it did in 2012, and also growing support candidates received from the black community in states such as Ohio, where Gov. John Kasich won an impressive 26 percent of the black vote.
"In the years to come, we will build on our successes of the last two years," he said. "We’ll go into more communities and listen to more voters. … Not because it’s good for our party, but because it’s good for our country."
Preibus added that it is "an important milestone" that "the black community now has more representation among Republicans in Congress."
Also honored at the event was the late Sen. Ed Brooke III (R., Mass.), who was the first black American ever popularly elected to the U.S. Senate.
Brooke was shown in a video saying that he never wanted his race to have anything to do with his election and wanted to be elected based on his merit.
"I don’t want you to vote against me because I’m black, and I don’t want you to vote for me because I’m black," Brooke said. "I want you to vote for me because you believe I can do the job, and I can do it better than the other candidate."
Johnson shares this sentiment, and celebrated the fact that Scott, Hurd, and Love "were elected based on merit."
"Their accomplishments highlight the opportunities within our party that defy stereotypes," he said.
Speaking after the event, Johnson said that "the party is wide open" and that it wants to "welcome anybody that wants to serve, especially African Americans because they are so underrepresented."
Johnson, who himself recently hired a black head coach for the Jets to replace Rex Ryan, said that merit-based decisions regardless of background are something he has "always appreciated as the owner of a football team."
Johnson said the Jets and Republicans are both "in the win business."
"Rex had his shot, I kept him two years longer than I should have kept him," he said. "This is a merit-based deal. We are in the win business, so we are hiring the best people regardless of what color you happen to be."
Asked what Republicans need to do to have continued success in the black community, Johnson said the party needs to do more events like the award ceremony, and continue to "put more black Republicans in positions of power."