Michael Steele in peculiar position

The past three weeks I have been a witness to history that I never dreamed I would see. I was at Obama's swearing in on January 20th. Then last week I watched as Michael Steele was elected as the new and first Black chairman of the Republican National Committee. The powers of the two offices are not comparable, but their significance is.I have known Michael Steele for many, many years and consider him to be a friend. I have watched him persevere through many ups and downs. His will to succeed is unquestioned. Becoming chairman was the easy part.

Managing people's expectations of him and his chairmanship is the more difficult task. Black Republicans are going to expect him to right all the wrongs in the party when it comes to their participation. Whites are going to expect him to be colorblind.

Please keep in mind that Steele is basically the chief executive officer of the Republican Party and has to report to its 168-member board of directors, consisting of the national committee and state party chairs from all 50 states and territories.

There is a difference between having the title of chairman and having the authority of chairman. Steele is very, very good on TV and radio. He is also a great communicator (notice that I didn't use the term "articulate"). He will definitely be a great messenger for the party. But, the question is not the messenger, but the message.

Steele is not the Black chairman of the party. He is chairman of the party! But, they are not mutually exclusive. The main reason he won the race for chairman is the party needed a fresh face and a good communicator. On that basis, Steele was far and away the best candidate. But, there is another reason that you won't hear discussed in polite company. The Obama effect.

Republicans were terrified of having a White party chairman criticizing the first Black president of the U.S. This is a silly argument if the criticisms were based on issues, not innuendo ("palling around with terrorist"). This was the sentiment expressed to me by several members of the national committee after Steele's election.

I understand the political realities of this thinking, but the visual of Steele criticizing our first Black president makes me a little uncomfortable. Even if it is done totally on the issues. This is the PR side of me. Steele has to be extremely careful of how he navigates between the Black and White worlds of Republican politics.

The first true sign of how Steele will handle this dilemma will be who he hires on his personal staff and who he selects in key positions within the committee. Will Blacks fill any of the top positions like political director, press secretary, or finance director?

Just like many think Steele is a fresh face and voice for the party, he has to bring fresh faces and voices to the committee's staff. Typically, Blacks have been left out of these positions and never given any consideration.

As with President Obama, Steele doesn't get a pass from the Black community in order to prove to Whites that he is "colorblind." Blacks won't expect him to cater to all of their parochial concerns either. But, we do expect him to acknowledge his Blackness by speaking directly to us and telling us where we fit into his plans.

The model for this approach is former secretary of state Colin Powell.

Shortly after a unanimous senate confirmation to be secretary of state in January of 2001, Powell met with foreign service officers from the African bureau.

Powell allocated $1 million to better prepare minorities for careers as diplomats in the U.S. Foreign Service and presented the grant to the Ralph J. Bunche International Affairs Center of Howard University. His legacy is being felt well beyond his service.

That is my challenge to Michael Steele. We are very proud of his historic election. He's extremely likable and he has great communication skills. But long after he leaves office, will anyone feel his legacy?

Raynard Jackson is president & CEO of Raynard Jackson & Associates, LLC a D.C.-based political consulting/government affairs firm. You can reach him at: Raynard@raynardjackson.com and website at: www.raynardjackson.com