Rand Paul's tells majority black Howard University that it was the Democrats, not the Republicans behind 'racism and Jim Crow'





' We'll have to see what the Howard students thought,' Kentucky Sen. Rand Paul shouted from an elevator Wednesday afternoon, answering MailOnline's question about whether his foray into winning the hearts and minds of black youths was successful.

Paul, a Republican darling who is already laying the groundwork for a 2016 presidential run with a coming appearance in New Hampshire, had just wrapped up a two-hour appearance at the Howard University School of Business.

Howard is among the U.S. colleges classified as 'historically black,' and the audience of approximately 300 included few white faces apart from those belonging to reporters.

Scroll down for video



Racism, Jim Crow... it was the Democrats': Rand Paul told the audience that the Republicans, not the Democrats have defended black interests

'White supremacy'; The banner protesters unfurled at Paul's appearance

'Some have said that I’m either brave or crazy to be here today,' Paul told the students, acknowledging the seeming incongruity of a Republican competing openly for the support of young African-Americans.

'I’ve never been one to watch the world go by without participating. I wake up each day hoping to make a difference,' he said.

Brian Menifee, a Howard student, unfurled a banner in the middle of Paul's remarks that indicated how much of an uphill climb Republicans have in front of them.

'Howard University Doesn't Support White Supremacy,' the banner read, a picture of which was taken outside by a Huffington Post reporter.

Campus police tackled him and released him outside the building, but the audience heard him shouting 'Yo, get the f--- off of me!' as he was led away.

Manifee said after the event that police 'threw me to the ground.'

'I wasn't saying that Paul is a white supremacist,' he told MailOnline. 'But he's the product of white privilege, so take that for whatever you think it means. It takes some real you-know-what for a white Republican to come here and speak.'

Legacy: Paul reminded the audience that it was Abraham Lincoln and the Republican party that emancipated the slaves

Asked if he had ever protested a white Democratic speaker with the same banner, Manifee replied, 'Well, no. We just made the banner for this event. But Bill Clinton was the last - maybe the only - white Democrat to show up at Howard and talk to us like we were grown-ups.'

In that light, Paul's appearance was especially ground-breaking. He took questions about mandatory minimum sentences for non-violent drug offenders, and earned his biggest applause of the day by declaring that a 'one size fits all' approach to federal prison sentences puts young blacks at an unfair disadvantage.

'Our federal mandatory minimum sentences are simply heavy handed and arbitrary,' he said. 'They can affect anyone at any time, though they disproportionately affect those without the means to fight them.

'We should stand and loudly proclaim enough is enough. We should not have laws that ruin the lives of young men and women who have committed no violence.'

But while he supports Kentucky's recent move to legalize the industrial production of dope, he said, he doesn't endorse illicit use of marijuana.

'I think if you use it too much, you will lose IQ points,' Paul insisted, only half-joking.

'I think if you use it too much, you won't show up for class. I think you'll eat too many Doritos.'

Paul's larger societal point, though, was about the Republicans' failure to articulate what he said was a proud history of blazing civil-rights trails in ways that benefited blacks.

Most of the founders of the NAACP, he reminded the students, were Republicans.

Support: Paul said it was a daunting task for the GOP to attract the black vote when generations have been turned away from the party

And it was racists in government - not nameless, faceless, Klansmen - who were most responsible for keeping black voters away from the polls through two-thirds of the twentieth century.

'The history of African-American repression in this country rose from government-sanctioned racism,' Paul explained. 'Jim Crow laws were a product of bigoted state and local governments.'

'Big and oppressive government has long been the enemy of freedom, something black Americans know all too well. We must always embrace individual liberty and enforce the constitutional rights of all Americans-rich and poor, immigrant and native, black and white.'

The GOP, he continued, was the party of Abraham Lincoln and emancipated slaves.

'How did that party become the party that now loses 95 per cent of the African-American vote?'

Republicans, he said, 'face a daunting task. Several generations of black voters have never voted Republican and are not very open to even considering the option.'

'Democrats still promise unlimited federal assistance and Republicans promise free markets, low taxes, and less regulations that we believe will create more jobs.'

'The Democrat promise is tangible and puts food on the table,' he conceded, 'but too often doesn’t lead to jobs or meaningful success.'

'The Republican promise is for policies that create economic growth. Republicans believe lower taxes, less regulation, balanced budgets, a solvent Social Security and Medicare will stimulate economic growth.'

Howard is among the U.S. colleges classified as 'historically black,' and the audience of approximately 300 included few white faces apart from those belonging to reporters.

He also called school choice the new 'civil rights issue of our day.'

'I defy anyone to watch Waiting for Superman and honestly argue against school choice,' he said of a recently celebrated documentary film.

'A minister friend of mine in the West End calls school choice the civil rights issue of the day. He’s absolutely right.

'There are countless examples of the benefits of school choice - where kids who couldn’t even read have turned their lives completely around,' he said.

'Maybe it’s about time we all reassess blind allegiance to ideas that are failing our children.'

Every child in every neighborhood, of every color, class and background, deserves a school that will help them succeed.

Asked if he identified more with the Republican party of Lincoln or that of Ronald Reagan, Paul insisted, to audible groans, that they were one and the same.

'We haven't changed,' he insisted. 'We don't talk about it. I'm either going to convince you or not.'

'Racism, Jim Crow,' and other injustices, he bellowed. 'It was all Democrats.'