If you want to get a reaction out of a largely black audience, tell them you’re a black Republican. Black members of the GOP are the butt of jokes from comedians, in TV shows and in movies. A member of al-Qaeda probably would give a black Republican a run for his money in terms of who is more disliked in the black community. The sense of being a turncoat against your race is pervasive.

I was an innocent - not pure as the driven snow, but certainly unwise as to the level of the stakes at which we were playing. I entered the debate believing it would be an intellectual exercise; we would joust with each other and after it was all over shake hands and exit with mutual respect. I couldn’t have been more wrong.