By Arturo Mora, Kansas City Star Midwest Voices columnist 2009

Louisiana Governor Bobby Jindal’s Republican response to the president last week smacked of condescension on more than one level, not just from him but from a Republican party that is schizophrenic on the subject of race.

The GOP thinks they can spotlight a few minority faces, such as Jindal and new party chairman Michael Steele, and we’ll all forget the harm their policies and politics have done to minorities and women.

Jindal’s opening, where he gushed about the historic nature of President Barack Obama’s first congressional address, and tried to link his story to the president’s, was an insult to our intelligence.

He’s African-American and he’s president, get over it already.

The party of Lincoln apparently cannot, because it is of two minds on race. Take Steele’s election as an example. An African-American wins the chairmanship, but only after serious consideration is given to another candidate, Chip Saltsman, who distributed a racist song, Barack the Magic Negro.

A song originally aired by the dominant leader of the conservative movement, Rush Limbaugh.

Steele and Jindal are worthy men who’ve earned their way to the top, so I would not insult them by suggesting they are anything like “tokens.” Yet they are not representative of any kind of diversity in the Republican party, as much as they’d like us to believe that.

Before I answer the inevitable accusation that I’m “playing the race card,”—a disingenuous point for conservatives to make, as they’ve been playing that card for, oh say, 50 years or so—let’s look at some numbers.

Here’s America, 2006 numbers: 74% white, 14.8% Hispanic, 13.4% African-American, 50.9% women.

Delegates to the 2008 Republican convention: 93% white, 1.5% African-American, 5% Hispanic, 32% women.

Delegates to the 2008 Democratic convention: 65% white, 23% African-American, 11% Hispanic, 50.1% women.

I couldn’t find any numbers on elected officials by party and ethnicity. Anecdotally, I’m pretty sure the numbers would be equally bad for the GOP there. I challenge anyone to come up with actual numbers that show otherwise. (I did find one site that makes the point that no new GOP minority officials were elected to major federal or state offices in 2008.

So, again, why is this important? No one wants an affirmative action program for elected officials or convention delegates, that’s ridiculous.

Numbers matter here because they point out the hypocrisy of Republicans trying to claim any kind of connection to America’s diversity, either in numbers or in policy.

GOP policies don’t offer any benefit to minorities and women and never have.

Republicans are fishing for minority and female votes, because they need it, especially with projected demographics showing a white male-dominated party is just not going to cut it anymore.

Already, the chickens are coming home to roost. Obama’s victories in Nevada, Colorado and New Mexico were very much a result of strong Hispanic support. Without a hometown boy on the ticket, Arizona could fall next time.

I’m all for the GOP trying for minority and female votes. That’s the marketplace of politics, which should be the marketplace of ideas. But let them earn it, not just put up pretty faces. Don’t try to buy us over with eye candy.

Who can deny that Republicans perfected racial wedge issues, going back to President Nixon’s successful “Southern strategy”, Lee Atwater’s infamous race-baiting ads for President George H.W. Bush, and right up to the unnecessarily insulting anti-immigration attacks from much of today’s Republican party.

And what have they done for women, besides consistently opposing equal pay, the E.R.A., and dominion over their own bodies?

For years, they have sought to conquer and divide the nation by race and gender. They claim they do not do this willingly, that they are just standing up for the rights of the majority. That is an intellectually dishonest position, because they have always known the likely results of what they were doing.

If you want our votes, don’t insult us with your politics and policies. Start by being civil. I can disagree with you on immigration, and I can understand some of your concerns. But don’t insult all Latinos by making us out as scapegoats for our economic troubles or for the ruination of a culture that was never “pure” in the first place.

Hurrah for Jindal and Steele. They represent what the Republican party is capable of as far as diversity, even if I disagree with their views. And then you read about a Republican mayor depicting a White House lawn full of watermelons.

So, tell me, which face is it going to be, GOP?