The annual quest to spot black delegates — including by network television cameras —
has become a point of humor, with comedic writer Baratunde Thurston creating a Twitter hashtag, #negrospotting. But the question of whether the GOP can increase its diversity is serious business to GOP political strategists, who understand that an overwhelmingly white party faces electoral doom in an increasingly diverse country.
BositisÂ’ team contacted every state delegation to conduct their count, yielding a total of about 47 black delegates. He said three states, Georgia, Illinois and Virginia, simply refused to respond.
“The Republican party has become much more of a southern institution,” Bositis said, adding that the party’s center of gravity has become southern white conservatives.
“We don’t want the party to look like it’s a bunch of old, white guys.”
Despite diversity brag, few black delegates at the 2012 Republican convention