I’m different from the other white people who seek the GOP nomination for Indiana’s 5th Congressional District in the June 2 primary. I believe we have to return to the original values of the Republican Party.

The Republican Party held values that emphasized racial equality and justice. President Lincoln sought to keep the country together despite the wickedness that had been built into our nation’s structure in The Constitution.

Other Republican candidates brag about their high ratings with the NRA and their devotion to The 2nd Amendment. Are any of my opponents familiar with a group that sought to protect members of its community via The 2nd Amendment?

In the mid-1960s, African-Americans in Oakland, California, feared the (mostly white) police. Young black males were being killed. Huey Newton and Bobby Seale decided to use the 2nd Amendment. They bought copies of a book for 25 cents and sold them for $1.

The book: “Quotations from Chairman Mao.” The market: the U Cal-Berkeley campus. They used the profits to purchase shotguns. They formed the Black Panther Self-defense Party to act as a force for protection of their community.

Newton, and a lot of the other members of the Black Panther Self-defense Party were gunned down. The NRA seemed strangely silent. Today people riot because of actions of violence committed by white law enforcement against African-Americans.

Will the NRA advocate African-American citizens be armed with assault weapons to defend themselves and their community? Will my opponents in the GOP primary advocate African-Americans rely upon those candidates’ precious 2nd Amendment?

It is abhorrent that the occupant of the Oval Office should be almost gleeful as he rhyme “looting” and “shooting.” Shooting our own citizens is not what the overwhelming majority of people of the 5th district believe should be a cause for joy.

Under this horrible president we are about to abandon the ideals that I always thought were the source of any claim we might have to greatness. We are on the brink of doing things for which we and future generations will be ashamed.

If my opponents in the GOP primary for INCD5 do not - DO NOT - expressly repudiate the repugnant language and policies of this administration, they should not hold office. We cannot go backwards - let’s try to make this country as great as our dreams of it.

We should help our fellow citizens, not shoot them. We should take pride in free speech and the right to peaceably assemble, not punish those who disagree with those in power. The President should lead by example - and that example should not be destruction.

The 2020 election might be our last free election. If you live in INCD5, and you have not already voted, on June 2 request a Republican ballot and vote for me. At this point, anyone in this primary who supports trumps policies cannot be entrusted with public office.

I’m Mark Small, a GOP candidate for INCD5. I am pro-choice, pro-environment, anti-war and anti-dt. We can’t afford to write off the GOP as the property of anyone. I approve of this blog. Hell, I wrote it.