The Daily Signal - #546: Pastor-Turned-Congressman Is Taking Conservative Ideas to New Places

Episode Date: September 16, 2019

On today's episode of The Daily Signal Podcast, we talk with Rep. Mark Walker, R-N.C., about how he is building bridges between conservatives and communities of color. Walker spoke out against the chant "send them back," directed at people like Rep. Ilhan Omar and is challenging his colleagues in Congress to reject such rhetoric. The congressman says we need to focus on having genuine conversations because, "If you get to the place where you understand that it’s not so much about winning the argument as it is about making a difference, I believe that puts you at a good place to be able to share, really, in a much broader way than maybe even you thought you originally could do." You can follow Rep. Mark Walker on Twitter @RepMarkWalker. Also on today's episode: • We also read your letters to the editor. You can leave us a message at 202-608-6205 or write us at [e-mail]. • And we share a good news story about a St. Louis woman who has been feeding hungry kids in her community for five years. The Daily Signal podcast is available on Ricochet, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, or your favorite podcast app. All of our podcasts can be found at dailysignal.com/podcasts. Enjoy the show! Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the Daily Signal podcast for Monday, September 16th. I'm Robert Blewe. And I'm Virginia Allen. Today we are talking with Representative Mark Walker of North Carolina about how he is building bridges between conservatives and communities of color. Plus, we read your letters to the editor and have a good news story about a St. Louis woman who has been feeding hungry kids in her community for five years. Before we get to today's show, Rob and I want to tell you about a new heritage video series that we have created with Senator Rick Scott from Florida. It's called Washington Waste Wednesday.

Take a listen to this quick teaser. I'm Senator Rick Scott, and we're doing a series on how Washington wastes your money. And we're going to talk about that we should have less power at the federal government and more power at the states. It might seem obvious to you that we know that Washington wastes our money, but what are the solutions for fixing it? How can we put power back in the hands of state and local government? Well, Senator Rick Scott delves into these questions in, every episode of Washington Waste Wednesday. Look for the release of the next episode on YouTube

this coming Wednesday, September 18th, and be sure to check out all of the previous episodes on the Heritage Foundation YouTube page. Now stay tuned for today's show. Coming up next. Tired of high taxes, fewer health care choices, and bigger government, become a part of the Heritage Foundation. We're fighting the rising tide of homegrown socialism, while developing conservative solutions that make families more free and more prosperous. Find out more at heritage.org. We are joined on the Daily Signal podcast today by Congressman Mark Walker of North Carolina. Congressman, thanks for being with us.

That's our privilege. Thank you. Congressman Walker, you have just returned to Washington from your district in North Carolina. What is on the minds of the citizens back in North Carolina? Well, there's a lot on their mind. and as you get more and more closer, I should say, to the presidential elections, a lot of people want to talk about that. Of course, there are some people from the business community that are very concerned whether Speaker Pelosi will allow to vote on the U.S.MCA Trade Act. That's going to be very important.

It impacts North Carolina, impacts the whole country, and tens of thousands of jobs. So one of the things they talked about was that and always health care and some of the other things as far as what Republicans are doing, even in the minority, to make sure. I think Vice President Pence said it really well. In the majority, you legislate, in the minority, you communicate, and sometimes you try to figure out a way to do both. And you're certainly in a position in the House where that is a priority, communication. I know that in your previous role with the Republican Study Committee, it was as well. So tell us about what you expect to happen this fall.

What are the priorities that Republicans have? In some cases, you've been able to outmaneuver Democrats, it seems, using motions to recommit and other rules to make sure your issues do. stand at the forefront. Yeah, I appreciate that you're paying that close attention to the process because it is important. Is there any way that we can do that? One of the things that we did try to win, something that's very important to the American people, that the majority of the American people support is allowing a baby to survive if he or she goes to a botched abortion.

I was one of the people that spoke out firmly and consistently, and as most people, I think, with any kind of heart would do so. yet once again the Democrats have blocked any kind of floor vote. And the reason the strategy behind that is that Speaker Pelosi and her leadership team, they know that the majority of the American people are horrified the fact that we in a first world country that claim any kind of moral high ground take the abortion argument out of it. We're just talking about a born-alive amendment. That's one of the things that we're going to continue to talk about.

trade is another and why the U.S. Mexico Canada Act is important. Trade agreement to move forward. Mexico is now our number one trade partner. So those things are important to us. Hopefully that we'll get a chance to talk more about those in the fall as well. Well, I'm so glad you brought up communication because it's so critical that conservatives talk not just to our base about those issues, but also reach out to new audiences. And that's been a priority of ours at the Heritage Foundation under the leadership of K. Coles James. And I wanted to ask you about a recent article that was in the Charlotte Obserner, talking about your efforts to reach new communities, particularly those of color. Share with us why it is important for you to take your message, those conservative values,

to this audience. There is probably nothing that I'm more passionate about in my time in the U.S. Congress, forever time God allows us to serve in this capacity, than to build some of those bridges. Maybe the background as a pastor for 16 years, working in the inner cities of places like Cleveland and New York and Baltimore. I have met so many wonderful people. Yet, sadly, on the behalf of Republicans or conservative ideology as a whole, it has not permeated into many of these communities. The Democrats have beat us to it, and they have used arts, entertainment, education, politics, pretty much any kind of medium to be able to propagate a false message that has created a victimhood to the point that you've put limitations. Now, forgive me for using the scripture reference, but Psalms 139, I understand that everything.

every person that Guy creates are fearfully and wonderfully made with unique abilities and talents and skill sets. So part of my job, and you just said it, Rob, as far as just taking the message to the base, what I say is we can't survive just simply preaching to the choir. Sorry for the other church reference there, but how do we augment our message? How do we take it to new places and new communities that have never heard about individual liberty and opportunity in fulfilling the very giftedness that you're created with? that's my passion and we've been able to have, I guess, some marginal success.

But as long as I get a chance to serve, as I said, we're going to continue to make that at the forefront of our message. And Congressman, how are you going about encouraging your colleagues on the Hill to reach out to those communities of color and begin to build and strengthen those relationships? Well, there's a lot of good intentions by Republicans and by colleagues and some are working very hard. But I think the biggest flaw that we've had over the last decade or so is the idea that there's a secret policy that builds the conduit to all of our communities. Policy we have to understand comes second. It is the relationship that comes first because with healthy relationships, you build trust. And with trust, then you have the pathway or the asphalt to be able to drive home some of this wonderful freedom ideology that liberates all of us, and what have you.

Now, the president gets some wonderful props to some of the numbers that we have seen. But in order to build this long term, we have to, to your question, Virginia, is to be disciplined enough to go into the communities even when you're not the keynote speaker. This past Sunday, I had a chance to speak at a 95 to 97 percent predominantly African-American church. In fact, this one was many of the parishioners were immigrants from Kenya. from Nigeria, some of the places there in the continent of Africa. And just the, I was so humble. I called my wife.

She was at her home church. I called my wife afterwards. Just the way they treated me with such class. And I didn't even feel worthy of that. But it is months and years of investment building those relationships, genuine, not faking it with some kind of, hey, like us, because we can do this for you, but earning the trust to be able to talk about things that we believe are best for all of our communities. Congressman, our president, Kay Kowles, James, who I mentioned already, and our editor-in-chief, Katrina Trinko, both wrote about how troubling it was to use the chance, send them back or go back.

Kay herself has heard that as an African-American woman in her own experience and how hurtful it was to her personally. You also came out and were critical of the chant that was heard, send them back, directed at people like Ilhan Omar, a colleague of yours in the house. why did you feel it so important to speak out on this issue? Because Republicans must take the lead when it comes to calling some of this out. There's nothing more advantageous that the left likes to use in the stereotype that Republicans do not care about communities of color. The second part of that is there should be something internally that if we know there are certain phrases or certain things that are tropes or phrases that have hurt our brothers

and sisters in previous, that shouldn't be something we have to think about. That shouldn't be about politics. That should be about our moral fiber and the character of our content to immediately call that out. Even if it's some people that identify with certain ideology that we may agree with, that's an easy call for a should be. And I feel like it was important for me being there live at that event to come out. In fact, the next day I was having breakfast with the vice president, a handful of the members of leadership, about seven or eight of us. And the last thing I said, the vice president, please communicate to the president that this is something that does not help us. And I was glad to see them not because of just of my encouragement, but later on that day condemned that.

And we haven't had to worry about that since. But that's what Republicans have to do. Historically, we are the party that has tried to care about and really lift up the lives of all our communities. But we've got to be very, very vocal about it because we're pushing back against the narrative that we're not. It's certainly such a rich history. It's something that I think oftentimes doesn't get discussed enough or taught in schools. or we just seem to forget about the party of Lincoln after all. Absolutely.

And we need to continue to build on that. And you speak openly about how conservative policies, such as criminal justice reform and tax cuts, have really helped low-income communities, including the African-American communities. But how should those on the right go about messaging these successes to communities of color? That's a great question.

The approach is crucial. if your attitude is you coming in from a condescending standpoint or spike the football, no matter how good the policy might be, there's a defensive reaction, as we all would be. If you're on the receiving end and somebody's like, I told you so or this, you should do this, our first human reaction is to resist it a little bit. And I think if we're disciplined enough to do it from, really from a genuine place of loving the communities that we're privileged to represent, I think it has a chance to resonate not only quicker, but even augmented to a place where it impacts many more Americans. You know, Congressman, last week on the Daily Signal podcast, we featured an interview with C.J. Pearson.

He's a 17-year-old high school senior who talked about, yeah, he is, talked about how his own family, his parents are registered Democrats, but the values that they taught him and that continue to teach him in his own house what he would consider to be traditional American values or conservative values. So it sounds like sometimes the policies might, there just might be a disconnect because really in many of these families, they might from a value system be with us in many cases across the board, as CJ talked about. There's no question. I have a friend of mine. His name is Odell Cleveland. He is the CEO executive pastor of the second largest African American church in North Carolina. when he came out five years ago when I first decided to run and not only support us but publicly endorsed me, he took a lot of heat over it because there's a narrative there that you don't do that. But he was willing to really put his neck on the line to be able to say, no, I believe in this guy, I trust his heart in this. And because of heroes like that, it opens up certain pathways to begin to talk about it. And then that's to your point, Rob, that's what I discovered is there's a ton of similarities there when it comes to pro-life issues, when it comes to what we believe in as far as is the best way to rear children in traditional homes. There's so much there, but there's been such a false narrative.

And listen, we have to own some of that. When I had a chance to be invited to Alabama with John Lewis to be able to return to the Civil Rights pilgrimage, pilgrimage. I think there were 50 of us on Saturday, 48 Democrats and two Republicans. And sometimes I wonder with my voting record why I would be invited because it's pretty staunch conservative. But I believe it's about the heart. Even today earlier, getting a chance to be invited to, by the CBC of all people, even though they know my record is without blemish when it comes to holding up the conservative values that we believe in. But I believe if you get to the place where you understand that it's not so much about winning the argument as it is about making a difference,

I believe that puts you at a good place to be able to share in, really in a much broader way than maybe even you thought you originally could be able to do so. Well, I imagine that when you get together with members of the CBC or other Democratic congressmen, you probably both recognize that there is a problem. Maybe you have different solutions for how you would go about addressing it, but fundamentally, you all do want to make a difference. Absolutely. And listen, I don't shy away from the fact that I believe some of these policies from the left have damaged these communities, entrapped people into poverty. And we've seen 50, 60 years of it. So there are big differences. But I think it's, I'd use this quote, it's harder to hate up close. So if you're willing to go and try to build a genuine relationship and talk about these differences, I'm not under some ether or some kind of pie in this guy mentality. that once you do that, everything goes away.

But sometimes, as much as I have relationship with those leaders, I would rather go to the communities and say, well, here's the truth about the situation, because once you establish there, that's where the pressure comes up on their leaders to be able to make some changes as opposed to the other way around. You've talked about how you attempt to bring people together. And a couple years ago, you were able to bring some conservative congressmen together with leaders of historically black colleges and universities. Talk about some of the.

efforts that you've attempted to do like that one and maybe others where you get people together in the same room, where they otherwise might not have an opportunity to even have this conversation? It's personal for me. One, I represent the largest historical black college and university in the country, North Carolina, A&T, with 12,000 wonderful students, Aggie Pride, as we like to say. My wife, 25 miles away, went to Winston-Salem State University. She's got two degrees.

And for some of your listeners, you may understand the history of the football. or robbery, whether you're a ram or Aggie. But once again, going and understanding a little bit of where the different cultures have prospered, where they've struggled. I remember being here and really not even having a title at the time. It wasn't vice chair like I am now or even chairman of the Republican Study Committee, but I believed it was important for Republicans to hear from these chancellors. So the first year, we were able to bring over 80 chancellors from the, I guess, nearly

100 historical black college and universities. And so tell us what it is that. you see. How can we help? And I think out of that stemmed a year-round Pell Grant that was important that eventually became law, something that impacted their university. So sometimes just the little things of being able to work a little bit on behalf of the different universities or different people in general is something that I believe goes a long way when it comes back to what I said earlier, building that genuine relationship. And Congressman, for those listening who are thinking, I want to be a part of building those bridges in my community between conservative,

and communities of color, what advice would you give to them? Well, I think it starts, I know this isn't necessarily a religious broadcast, but I think it starts from your faith. That's what we're compelled to do, is to, one of the two commandments, love your neighbor as yourself. It doesn't say whether a Republican or Democrat or black or white or whatever. And if you truly do, what happens is people have a chance to see your heart. We know, and we've been blessed to be able to be exposed.

that conservative traditional values put people in the best category from anti-poverty, from an education standpoint, historically from a best prosperity standpoint. We know that. But how we share those principles is crucial as far as to the next generation. Listen, as a former pastor for 16 years, I get the divide 50, 60 years ago when some of the minority communities were couldn't drink out of the same water fountain or sit at the same. lunch counter like in my hometown of Greensboro at Woolworth, where that took place. The conservatives and the church, we were slow to react. None of us were around back then.

But who was immediate reacting was the progressive movement, the actors, the entertainers of the world, the people that didn't believe in the same ideology. So there were some relationships forged that we have to go about and say, listen, I appreciate it historically, but where we have been led astray is thinking that, that more government has been the solution for all these communities. And we know that nothing could be further from the truth. The goal is to earn the right and the opportunity to share us what we believe. Congressman, to wrap up here, a couple of final questions.

You've mentioned your role as a pastor prior to coming to Congress. Of course, you've ascended into a leadership position. Tell us about the vice chair, what exactly it is that you do and how people can learn more about you and the work that you have going on. Well, you've been very gracious with your time. today. Yeah, I get a service what they call the number four position in the House. A little bit of surprise that they would vote for a conservative to be able to do that. There's a little bit of, I guess, maybe a tradition where if you're rocking a high 90s in the

heritage, you don't always get a chance. But go back to the relational side. It's your colleagues that vote and coming out of the chairman for the Republican Study Committee with 150 members to be able to talk about our values, but not just areas that. are somewhat on the table, but also we get away sometimes as far as talking about budget and deficits and fiscal responsibility. That's something that's very important to me. So I guess we combine those two and our colleagues, we're honored us to be able to vote us in as vice chair. A lot of that does have to do with communication and messaging, as you refer to a little bit earlier, Rob, and that is something that's been passionate, and that's why I feel like it's so important. Yes, let's

continue to talk to our base, to be able to lock arms and stand and fight when we need to and be strong when we need to. But let's not forget about those who have been robbed of the opportunity here about our message as well, and that's what I'm committed to do. That's great. And I encourage our listeners to follow you on Facebook and Twitter and all those social media accounts. Make sure to put a link in the show notes. Thank you, Rob. Thank you, Virginia. Thank you so much for your time, Congressman. My privilege.

Americans have almost entirely forgotten their history. That's right. And if we want to keep our republic, this needs to change. I'm Jared Stepman. And I'm Fred Lucas. We host The Right Side of History, a podcast dedicated to restoring informed patriotism and busting the negative narratives about America's past. Hollywood, the media, and academia have failed a generation. We're here to set the record straight on the ideas and people who've made this country great.

Subscribe to the Right Side of History on Apple Podcasts, SoundCloud, and Stitcher Today. Thanks for sending us your letters to the editor. Each Monday, we feature our favorites on this show and in our morning. Morning Bell email newsletter. Virginia, who's up first? Gary and Shelley Calhiel from Naples, Florida, write, Dear Daily Signal, I couldn't agree more with Genevieve Wood in her recent commentary headlined four keys to the immigration reform we need. My wife and I are immigrants from Canada under an E2 Investors Visa. We are two legal immigrants who invested our life savings in a small business called Shelly's Casual Elegance Incorporated, specializing in ladies fashion in South Florida.

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Send an email to Letters at dailysignal.com or leave us a voicemail message at 202-608-6205. What the heck is trickle-down economics? Does the military really need a space force? What is the meaning of American exceptionalism? I'm Michelle Cordero. I'm Tim Desher. And every week on the Heritage Explains podcast, we break down a hot button policy issue in the news at a 101 level. Through an entertaining mix of personal stories, media clips, music, and interviews, we help you actually understand the issues.

So do this. Subscribe to Heritage Explains on iTunes, Google Play, or wherever you get your podcasts today. We enjoy bringing you a good news story every Monday to start your week off right. Virginia, over to you. Thank you, Rob. Well, our good news story today takes us to the home of Champel Anderson, a mom of six in North St. Louis, Missouri. Five years ago, Anderson was troubled by the number of children in her community that she saw were often going hungry. So despite having six kids of her own, she decided she needed to do something about the children that were hungry in her neighborhood. Anderson began making brown bag lunches for the kids and put aside. outside of her house, advertising that any weekday her door was open for the kids to come by and pick up a lunch or a snack. I do 100 bags a day. Sometimes I could do a little more for the kids that's coming extra. The parents bring them over to get the bag. So, you know, so I'm going to start doing some extra ones now, maybe about 150.

Anderson has no plans of slowing down on her generosity and even hopes to expand into other communities. And it makes me proud, and I want to keep it going. My goal is to, I want to go to different neighborhoods and give our back. Anderson says that she seeks to live by the Mother Teresa quote that says, I alone cannot change the world, but I can cast a stone across the water to create many ripples. And man, wow, isn't it awesome to see a woman who saw needing her community and took action. And I'm just so impressed that as a mom already having six kids herself, she is still finding a way to make over a hundred bag lunches a day for the kids in our neighborhood that are in need. That is just pretty incredible and truly inspiring.

It certainly is. Wow. We're so thankful for people like her who dedicate themselves to helping others. Yeah. You bet. Thanks, Rob. Well, thanks for sharing that story, Virginia. And we're going to leave it there for today.

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