The Republicans are getting their turn at a convention this week.

Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming the President of the United States of America

in our nominee, Donald J. Trump.

As I watch the speeches at the RNC, one thing I notice right away, black people and

talk of race for that matter showed up in ways that are rare for the overwhelmingly

white Republican convention.

Growing up in the deep south, I've seen racism up close.

I know what it is and it isn't Donald Trump.

And of course we value and respect every black life.

South Carolina Senator Tim Scott, who is black, went directly after former vice president

Joe Biden.

Joe Biden said if a black man didn't vote for him, he wasn't truly black.

Joe Biden said black people are a monolithic community.

It was Joe Biden who said poor kids can be just as smart as white kids.

Perhaps it's a way of buttering up some white voters who might be turned off by some of

the president's more racist impulses.

Or maybe it's an overture to black voters.

A tough sell even in the best of times, let alone in the midst of a national reckoning

on race.

Trump got just 6% of the black vote in 2016, according to NBC News Exit polls.

Social Republicans expect any better in 2020, maybe more than we think.

Black women voters, nah it's not them.

...