Guests attending the monthly Fox Valley Initiative event on September 9 got a high-voltage jolt in the arm from speaker Larry Thomas, Jr., an African American conservative and the host of the “Random Things You Need to Know” podcast.
African American conservatives are rare in Northeast Wisconsin but increasingly common elsewhere in the United States. Thomas spoke to the Appleton group about his journey from Chicago Democrat to outspoken Wisconsin conservative.
Thomas had a career in Chicago working for the Illinois Department of Labor and then in Democratic Party politics. Like many of his peers, he assumed the Democratic Party was a friend of minorities and that the Republican Party was composed mostly of racists. Experience soon woke him up to a very different reality.
Democrats often campaigned by claiming that Blacks and women were paid less than whites and men due to discrimination. But from his work in the Department of Labor, Thomas knew the differences were explained by differences in job qualifications and preferences. Few women want jobs that require hard work outdoors and a tolerance for risk. The Black and white difference is mostly explained by education, experience, and hours of work.
Republicans, Thomas noticed, are constantly blamed for trying to “suppress the vote” by asking for photo IDs and proof of registration. But Blacks have no difficulty getting IDs to buy alcohol or enter bars or sporting arenas or cash checks. Thomas found it “incredibly demeaning” that Democrats thought Blacks were incapable of doing as something as simple as getting a free state ID card.
So Thomas started to study the Democratic Party’s actual record on race matters. He discovered the role Democrats played in promoting slavery and then Jim Crow laws in the South, how their embrace of socialism undermines Black entrepreneurship and social mobility, and how the party’s elites denied the party’s presidential nomination to Bernie Sanders and more recently gave it to Kamala Harris without a single vote being cast in her favor. He discovered Black conservative writers such as Thomas Sowell and Walter Williams.
Thomas decided to make the change from Democrat to Republican and moved from deep Blue Illinois to Red Wisconsin. (And yes, folks, we are a RED state and not a “purple” and hell-no not a “blue” state.) He is the host of a rowdy podcast called “Random Things You Need to Know” where he pokes fun at both Democrats (“Demon-cats,” he calls them) and Republicans (“Dumb-agains,” he calls us). He’s lively, loud, clever, and disrespectful. All of that was on display on September 9, much to the delight of the audience.
Thomas says it is a good time to invite African Americans to join the Republican Party because the Democrats have told them “we’re done with you.” Blacks no longer turn out in sufficient numbers to help turn close elections. So Democrats are now importing a new voting block: Illegal immigrants.
Thomas reminds Blacks who complain about illegal immigration that they supported this policy in lockstep with the Democratic Party until recently. They surrendered any right to complain about it now. His advice: “Shut your mouth.’
Conservatives can find Black conservatives by calling out Democrats for their racist past and for the terrible consequences of their policies on the Black community. Describe how Democrats engaged in election fraud since at least 1960, when John F. Kennedy stole the election in Chicago from Richard Nixon.
Explain how they’ve been blaming Republicans for crimes that were actually committed by Democrats. Stress that Democrats don’t believe in democracy, and they think they can lie to voters without consequences.
Larry Thomas Jr. should be an important voice in Wisconsin’s political scene. Straight talking, entertaining, and energizing, he will wake up even the sleepiest patriot group. Invite him to your next patriot event, and you won’t be disappointed. Watch his podcasts at https://www.youtube.com/@RRPSHOW. He can be reached at 708/539-5085. Get on the Fox Valley Initiative’s email list by visiting www.foxvalleyinitiative.com.
