In my wildest imagination, I never thought that the fifth of six children born to Helen and Buddy Watts – in a poor black neighborhood, in the poor rural community of Eufaula, Oklahoma – would someday be called Congressman.
I think that anybody that stays in school, gets good grades, pays the price, I think we are wealthy enough in the public and the private sector in America to make sure that every child in America that wants to continue their education, they should be able to do that.
I would love to be associated with some sports organization. I was a journalism major. That’s kind of intriguing, to do something in the political-commentary arena.
I’m not one that believes that affirmative action should be based on one’s skin color or one’s gender, I think it should be done based on one’s need, because I think if you are from a poor white community, I think that poor white kid needs a scholarship just as badly as a poor black kid.
The measure of a man is not how great his faith is, but how great his love is. We must not let government programs disconnect our souls from each other.
I would caution all of us or I would remind all of us that any candidate that we support, they are going to be flawed.
There’s a whole lot more to the African-American community than entertainment and sports.
The past two decades revolutionized the way we access information. You and I can have our questions answered with the click of a mouse at any time of day. If America, both corporation and citizen alike, can use these services to solve problems, why can’t Washington?
You always hear ‘black Republican,’ but you never hear ‘white Democrat.’ We’ve got to get beyond the labels and stereotypes. Other people have hang-ups about it. I don’t.
The Republican Party is terrific at determining how a program will impact the federal budget, but we’re not nearly as good as the Democrats in explaining to people how our agenda will directly benefit them and their families.
The more I ponder some of the boneheaded decisions GOP candidates have made of late, I can’t bring myself to believe that they are serious about capturing more than about 8 percent of the black vote.
In 1989 when I switched from Democrat to Republican, with God as my witness, not one thing changed about what I believed about one man and one woman in a marriage or about diversity of color. That’s a good thing.
I am willing to compete on my merits and on my character – not with the color of my skin. We talk about being a color-blind society, but I don’t think the political process could actually handle that.
Having a Republican candidate speak at the NAACP convention is like trying to build a house starting at the roof. If you don’t have a foundation, the roof isn’t going to stand.
For longer than I’ve been involved in the political process, the Republican establishment has claimed to want to provide an alternative for the black community, yet party elite refuse to show up for the game.
Education is a bipartisan issue that concern all communities of color and should be first, last and always about the student learning.
I believe government should be loyal to parents, teachers and children.
Americans are hungry for a discussion on policy solutions to the problems in their communities that work.
If a 25-year old can’t read and write and he or she isn’t gaining marketable skills, it doesn’t matter if a Republican or a Democrat is in the White House. His or her future will be bleak.
There can’t be opportunity or jobs without investment and profit.