Cain said that black voters were `` brainwashed '' to support Republicans . Roland Martin says Cain is ignoring ample historical reason for that support . Democrats had substantial black support but adopted a strategy that spurns them , he says . According to the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies , a think tank focused on African-American issues , in the aftermath of the Emancipation Proclamation , black folks who could vote in the United States quickly joined the Republican Party out of affection for President Abraham Lincoln . Roland Martin : If the Emancipation Proclamation wants black support , it has to make its case to black voters .
Cain said that black voters were `` brainwashed '' to support Republicans . Roland Martin says Cain is ignoring ample historical reason for that support . Democrats had substantial black support but adopted a strategy that spurns them , he says . Roland Martin : If the Emancipation Proclamation wants black support , it has to make its case to black voters .