After meeting with NAACP leaders in Ferguson , Missouri , Sen. Rand Paul told CNN 's Wolf Blitzer that the Republicans Party 's biggest mistake in recent decades has been not reaching out to African-American voters . The Kentucky Republican , who said his meeting went `` very well , '' said he laid out his views on demilitarizing police , reforming the criminal justice system and boosting urban economies . `` I do n't want to characterize how everybody else feels about what I said , but I think it was a good opening to the conversation , '' Paul said in an interview set to air Friday . `` I think in the Republican Party , the biggest mistake we 've made in the last several decades is we have n't gone into the African American community , into the NAACP and say you know what , we are concerned about what 's going on in your cities and we have plans . They may be different than the Democrats , but we do have plans and we do want to help . '' According to his office , participants in the meeting included members of the NAACP , the Urban League and several local business and church leaders . Paul was one of the most outspoken Republicans about the police response to protests that followed the August shooting death of Michael Brown , an unarmed teenager who was killed by a police officer in Ferguson . Angry demonstrations erupted this week in St. Louis after another black teenager was fatally shot by a white police officer . Supporters of Brown were set to begin a weekend of marches and civil disobedience on Friday , dubbed the `` Weekend of Resistance . '' `` There 's a sense of tension and unease that goes beyond just the shootings . I think the shooting has brought this to the surface , but there 's a sense of unease in the country , '' Paul told Blitzer . `` Black unemployment is twice white unemployment and has been for decade after decade , '' he added . `` I know this president cares about trying to improve it but it has n't gotten better . '' Paul , who 's seriously considering a run for president , discouraged violent reactions to the shootings , saying `` violence gets nowhere , and it actually sends us backwards . '' He instead encouraged people to channel any anger into registering voters . `` Then you could have constructive change in the community , '' he continued , adding that the leaders of the community `` realize that . '' Rand Paul : 'Fight for justice now ' on unfair sentencing . Asked by Blitzer if Paul thinks he could garner African American support in a run for president , Paul said Republicans `` wo n't ever win again '' unless they start competing for minority voters . `` We will not win again in our country because the country is a diverse country now , '' he said . `` And we ca n't have one party that monopolizes the various ethnic group votes . '' Paul said in the meeting he proposed his `` economic freedom zones '' plan , which would aim to give tax incentives and financial breaks to depressed areas and neighborhoods in large cities , with the ultimate goal of stimulating the economy and drawing in more business . `` By dramatically lowering taxes in a city like Ferguson , you would have more job opportunities , less tension , and less of sort of this problem that develops from crime , '' he said . Rand Paul : Police militarization , war on drugs is 'out of control ' The first-term senator stressed that his libertarian-leanings on the war on drugs makes it `` pretty easy '' for him to speak out on the issue . He also highlighted legislation he 's proposed that would reform drug sentences and restore voting fights for felons convicted of nonviolent drug crimes . The senator has also been actively fighting against a Defense Department program that that provides military equipment to local police forces , emphasizing that the use of such equipment has gotten out of hand â€ ” especially when it comes to the war on drugs . `` We 've got no business having no-knock raids at one in the morning , scaring the bejeezus out of people and getting them frightened , '' he said . `` Drugs are a scourge . We need to keep our young people from using them ... But we need not to be filling up our prisons with these kids . We need not to be breaking down doors at two in the morning looking for drugs , sometimes in the wrong house . '' His outreach to African-Americans comes after he was criticized in 2010 for questioning a portion of the 1964 Civil Rights Act dealing with the rights of private property owners to turn certain people away . Paul argued earlier this week in an interview that he was `` just a physician in a small town '' at the time of his comments . `` Do you learn more about issues over time ? Sure , but I was never against the Civil Rights Act , '' he said . Can Rand Paul break past controversy over Civil Rights Act ? John Gaskin III , spokesman for St. Louis County NAACP , said in a statement that Paul had called the local leaders to have a meeting . `` We were honored to have an informative discussion about the Senator regarding ways that he can help to assist our civil rights agenda in Washington and help to end police militarization , '' Gaskin said .
Rand Paul talked to CNN 's Wolf Blitzer about his meeting in Ferguson , Missouri with the NAACP . He said Republicans have made a big mistake by not reaching out to black voters . Paul believes that local police forces have become too militarized . Comment: