Tavis Smiley will host the Republican All-American Presidential Forum on PBS to be broadcast live Thursday evening from the campus of Morgan State University in Baltimore. A similar event for the Democrats was held last June on the campus of Howard University in Washington.

One by one, the four leading candidates for the Republican nomination for president have announced they will not participate. This is not only a strategic mistake for these campaigns but also a major embarrassment for the Republican Party.

How can voters take seriously a candidate asking for their support to be leader of the free world when that same candidate is unwilling to take questions from black journalists, in front of a predominantly black audience?

The absence of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, Sen. John McCain of Arizona and former Tennessee Sen. Fred Thompson from what has been, so far, the only nationally televised debate to focus solely on topics of interest of black Americans sends a very clear message that not only is the Republican Party not interested in courting the “black vote” but is not even willing to engage on issues of importance to African-Americans.

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This goes beyond any one campaign. It is nothing less than a disgrace for the entire country. Is it any wonder that when Kanye West blurts out “President Bush hates black people” on national television that many black Americans nod their heads in agreement?

The All-American Forum was an idea conceived by Smiley as an extension of his “Covenant with Black America,” a national plan of action to address the primary concerns of African-Americans today. Smiley believes that black Americans are entitled to “have questions answered and visions shared of where our leaders want to take this country and a blueprint for how we get there.”

All 10 Democratic presidential candidates showed up for the first All-American Forum in June. Only five of the Republicans have committed to the event, and none of them are front-runners: Sen. Sam Brownback of Kansas, Gov. Mike Huckabee of Arkansas, Rep. Duncan Hunter of California, Rep. Ron Paul of Texas and the latest entrant to the Republican field, Alan Keyes. Along with McCain, Romney, Thompson and Guiliani, Tom Tancredo is also a no-show.

Broadcast live nationally on PBS-owned stations, as well as live and on tape delay on PBS affiliates and on NPR, the All-American Forum represents a unique opportunity for Republicans to do something they have claimed to want for many years — a chance to speak directly with black Americans — and all Americans for that matter — on issues of race without the filter of self-appointed black leaders or black organizations beholden to the Democratic Party.

Knowing that about nine out of 10 black voters have cast their ballots for the Democratic presidential candidate over the past two decades, the candidates can have little doubt that the audience at the All-American Forum is not likely to be receptive to Republican candidates or Republican policies.

But how can Republican supporters, many of whom labeled Democrats “cowards” for refusing to debate on the Fox News Channel, remain silent while their candidates run and hide from Tavis Smiley, one of the most congenial black talk show hosts on TV today?

It’s not too late. There are still two more days until the debate.

Let’s hope that the front-running GOP candidates have a change of heart. If the Republican Party wants to be taken seriously on issues of race, especially in the black community, then the time has come for its presidential candidates to show up — or shut up.

Robert Cox is a member of The Examiner’s Board of Bloggers and founding president of the Media Bloggers Association.