WASHINGTON, D.C.- Following the Democrats' four-day national convention held last week, the Republicans began showcasing their talents on Monday at the Mellon Auditorium in Washington D.C., the nation's capital, day one of the four-day Republican National Convention that saw an array of speakers laud President Donald Trump while simultaneously calling out the Democrats for opposing racism in America, which the Republicans as a whole say simply does not exist.

The event was a salute to the American flag, essentially under the theme of  the land of the plenty, and making America White again.

President Trump appeared too, and is slated to speak during each day of the in-person and online convention.

Speaker after speaker attempted to paint President Trump, a real estate mogul and television personality-turned president, as a non-racist and the best thing that ever happened to the American people.

They said that the president's executive order on criminal justice reform tops anything the Democrats have offered, and that before the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. in early March, the country saw historic lows in unemployment rates, and higher economic growth and prosperity under Trump's leadership.

They downplayed the coronavirus pandemic as media hype and fake news, and tried to court the Black vote, but to no avail.

"America is not a racist country," said Nikki Haley, a former South Carolina governor and prior American ambassador to the United Nations who was among several speakers Monday night, an indication that the Indian immigrant and Trump ally is in the dark relative to institutional racism and a bit unsophisticated on racial matters.

Likely the most effective of all of the speakers, Haley said that Joe Biden, the Democratic nominee for president, and the Democrats "always blame America first."

She said the Democrats are promoting a country "where  dictators, murders and thieves denounce America,"

She called out former president Barack Obama, the nation's first Black president whom Biden served under as vice president, on issues ranging from his response to the  conflict in Korea, to the since dissolved Iran nuclear deal, and the now defunct individual mandate under Obamacare, Obama' signature universal healthcare policy that is now federal law.

Discussing the previous war in Iran, Haley said that Obama and Biden let Iran "get away with murder, and literally sent them a plane full of cash."

Former NFL football star Hershel Walker, 58, a Heisman Trophy winner, said he has known the president for 37 years and that Trump "is not racist."

He said his children, who are Black, played with Trump's children when they were young, a stereotypical reference to what he says is evidence the president is not racist.

The articulate Donald Trump Jr, the president's oldest son and likely the most political of Trump's five children, all but one of them grown, was also among the speakers.

He took on protesters angry over racism and excessive force, and while acknowledging an injustice regarding the May 25 killing of 46-year-old George Floyd by Minneapolis police, he said the Democrats are overlooking violent escapades by protesters.

"Anarchists have been flooring our streets and Democratic mayors are ordering police to stand down, " the younger Trump said, though he said little about the escalation of police violence against the country's Black community.

He did say though that  racism does exist in the country, contrary to Haley's naive and disingenuous statement to the contrary during her speech Monday.

"We must put an end to racism, and we must ensure that any police officer that abuses their power is held accountable," said Donald Trump Jr.

A Black Democratic Georgia state representative, Vernon Jones spoke and was a counterpart to Republicans, like former Ohio governor John Kasich, who blasted Trump during the Democratic National Convention last week, notwithstanding his ineffectiveness.

U.S. Sen Tim Scott of South Carolina, the highest ranking Republican in Congress, was the most prominent Black who spoke.

He argued that Trump has done right by Black people, citing opportunity zones in impoverished neighborhoods, and so-called efforts by Trump to work towards meaningful police reforms.

He brought up George Floyd and Breonna Taylor, a 26-year-old Black woman whom Louisville Metro police gunned down in March, and said that Biden and his vice presidential running mate, U.S. Sen Kamala Harris, who is Black, are expecting too much in seeking to eradicate racism too soon.

"Make no mistake," Scott said. "Joe Biden and Kamala  Harris want a cultural revolution, a fundamentally different America."

Data, however, show that the Black community is at risk across the board, including underfunded largely Black public school districts, inferior inner city neighborhoods, high unemployment and crime rates, a lack of equal access to quality healthcare, mass incarceration, and a coronavirus pandemic that impacts them at a rate three to five times higher than their White counterparts.

Headliners for day two of the RNC include First Lady Melania Trump, Secretary of State Milken Pompeo, Eric Trump and Tiffany Trump, who are two of Trump's grown children, and U.S. Sen Rand Paul of Kentucky.

Vice President Mike Pence is among the speakers on day three of the RNC, and day four will bring Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky to the podium, along with a host of other speakers.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview. CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.