HISTORY"S VERDICT

I am so tired of hearing the Big Lie narrative espoused by Democrats on a daily basis. That the Republican Party is the Party of racism and bigotry. They have been very successful in promoting this false image over the years. The following is the narrative being promoted by Democrats. Yes the Democrat Party used to be pro-slavery and racist but that was in the past. Since the early 1960's the roles have reversed. The new Democrat Party is the progressive Party while the Republican's have become what the Democrats used to be. Historical evidence, however; does not back up this view of history. The Democrat Party defended slavery, started the Civil War, opposed reconstruction, founded the Ku Klux Klan, imposed segregation, perpretrated lynchings, and fought against the Civil Rights Acts. Adolph Hitler defined the art of telling the "Big Lie" The following is from Mein Kampf.

It would never come into their heads to fabricate colossal untruths, and they would not believe that others could have the impudence to distort the truth so infamously. Even though the facts which prove this to be so may be brought clearly to their minds, they will still doubt and waver and will continue to think that there may be some other explanation. For the grossly impudent lie always leaves traces behind it, even after it has been nailed down, a fact which is known to all expert liars in this world and to all who conspire together in the art of lying.

— Adolf Hitler, Mein Kampf, vol. I, ch. X

Joseph Goebbels, Hitlers Propaganda Minister said it this way. "The essential English leadership secret does not depend on particular intelligence. Rather, it depends on a remarkably stupid thick-headedness. The English follow the principle that when one lies, one should lie big, and stick to it. They keep up their lies, even at the risk of looking ridiculous".

The following is a chronology of the Democrat and Republican Party's from their founding until the present.

1. THE BIRTH OF THE DEMOCRAT PARTY

Andrew Jackson is given credit for founding the Democrat Party in 1829. Although Jackson was a Unionist and against secession he had a stake in maintaining America's slaveocracy since he was a slave owner himself. Essentially the Democrat party was the pro-slavery party. In addition Jackson was responsible for the removal of the Five Civilized tribes from the southeastern states to the Indian Territory west of the Mississippi River. Thousands of Indians died on the Trail of Tears. In the scheme of things Jackson's presidency had some positive consequences. He helped expand democracy among the common White male. Which would eventually filter down to Blacks and women. He also secured Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida for the United States. Jackson's smashing victory over England's best troops at New Orleans would secure the vast area of the Louisiana Purchase for the United States.

Andrew Jackson

Jackson's slave Uncle Alfred

The Trail Of Tears

2. THE DEMOCRAT COALITION OF COMPROMISE

Jackson's Vice President Martin Van Buren was a New Yorker who believed that the issue of slavery should not be allowed to destroy the country. This was the attitude that seemed to dominate American politics until the Civil War. We had dodged a bullet after Missouri applied for statehood in 1819 as a slave state. There were twenty two states evenly divided between slave and free. Allowing Missouri to become a state would upset the balance of power. Congress worked out a compromise where Maine would be allowed to enter the Union as a free state and Missouri as a slave state. It was agreed that in the future any territory part of the Louisiana Purchase, except Missouri above the 36°30′ line would be free and below would be slave. The election of James Buchanan in 1856 is a good example of this compromise. He was a Northern Democrat with pro-slavery sympathy's. Buchanan was chosen to help put off the threat of secession. A political coalition was developed between the Northern and Southern factions of the Democrat Party that would exist in one form or another until the mid 1960's.

Martin van Buren

3. MANIFEST DESTINY AND THE COMPROMISE OF 1850

James K. Polk, a Democrat and protege of Jackson, campaigned on the issue of manifest destiny. Many American's believed that they had a divine right to expand the nation from sea to shining sea. Southern Democrats looked at Manifest Destiny as a chance to expand slavery into the new territories. James K. Polk promised to add the Oregon territory, California and the southwest to the United States. Polk acquired the Oregon territory through negotiations with England. He would also acquire California and the Southwest through war with Mexico. Because of the acquisition of the new territories as a result of the Mexican War tensions rose to a fever pitch between North and South by 1850. Henry Clay introduced a series of resolutions in January 1850 designed to defuse the tension. The most important aspects of the Compromise of 1850 was that the slave trade would be abolished in the District of Columbia and the Fugitive Slave Law would be strengthened. Strengthening the Fugitive Slave Law infuriated abolitionists and anti slavery Whigs. They were being compelled by law to return escaped slaves. Most abolitionists and anti-slavery Whigs like Lincoln would go on to form the nucleus of the future Republican Party.

Sarah Childress Polk and James K. Polk

The Mexican War

4. THE KANSAS NEBRASKA ACT

By 1854 the tension created by the slavery issue came to a head again by the passage of the Kansas - Nebraska Act. This Act allowed the territories of Kansas and Nebraska to decide for themselves whether or not they wanted slavery. A bloody civil war ensued in Kansas. Pro slavery men called Border Ruffians and Democrats poured into Kansas from Missouri which led to clashes with Anti-Slavery men. The Kansas - Nebraska Act nullified the Missouri Compromise. The Kansas - Nebraska Act transformed Lincoln politically and pushed him to become more involved in the political process along with many other Whigs and anti-slavery Democrats.

Pro-slavery Border Ruffians from Missouri

Bleeding Kansas

5. THE BIRTH OF THE REPUBLICAN PARTY

The Whig Party had been formed in 1834 to fight the tyranny of Andrew Jackson. As a party they disintegrated with the passage of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. Anti-slavery Whigs met in in Rippon Wisconsin to found a new party on March 20 1854. It was called the Republican Party and it was opposed to the spread of slavery into the western territories. Lincoln was an anti-slavery Whig before becoming a Republican. He disliked Andrew Jackson and his policies. Although he was a man of his times and had a stereotypical view of Black people he felt strongly, as did his father, that slavery was immoral.

6. THE ELECTION OF 1856

The Republicans fielded their first presidential candidate in 1856. Their candidate was the abolitionist John C. Fremont. The platform adopted by the Republicans in 1856 vowed to defeat "...those twin relics of barbarism; polygamy and slavery." Polygamy and slavery were spreading into the western territories. Polygamy devalued women and was a form of slavery in their eyes. In modern times we have learned that polygamy is a haven for pedophiles. The Party campaigned for the repeal of the Kansas-Nebraska Act. They blamed the Democrats for the civil war in Kansas or "Bleeding Kansas" and opposed the spread of slavery into the western territories. The Democrat James Buchanan won the presidential election by winning the electoral vote and losing the popular vote. Buchanan who was from Pennsylvania was favored by the Southern states for his pro slavery views. This was a reflection of Martin Van Buren's influence on the Democrat Party of electing Northerners with pro slavery leanings hoping to avoid secession by appeasing the South.

John C. Fremont

James Buchanan

7. THE DREDD SCOTT DECISION

In 1857 the Supreme court was led by Chief Justice Roger Taney of Maryland. He was a slave holding Jackson appointee and a lifelong Democrat. Taney declared in the Dred Scott decision that a "Black man has no rights that a White man is bound to respect". Dred Scott was a slave in Missouri and had lived in Northern free states. The court ruled that Black men were not and could never be American citizens. For that reason they had no legal standing in a Federal court. It was also determined by the court that the Missouri Compromise had been unconstitutional. The courts decision on Dred Scott is considered by many legal scholars to be the worst decision ever made by the Supreme Court. The decision ignored legal precedent and was a very rigid interpretation of the Constitution. The ruling also distorted history. All seven Democrat justices sided with Roger Taney. The two dissenters were both Republican.

Dredd Scott

8. THE FIRE EATERS

The 1860 Democrat Convention was held on April 23, 1860. Charleston was the most pro-slavery city in America and the gallery was packed with pro slavery advocates. Stephen Douglas was the favorite to win the nomination but was hated by the Fire Eaters and the pro-slavery delegates. The most famous Fire Eaters were Democrats Robert Rhett, Louis Wigfall, Edmund Ruffin, William Yancey, William Barksdale, James Debow, Thomas Hindman, Lawrence keitt, and William Miles. The Fire Eaters wanted secession instead of compromise. They engineered a platform that was pro-slavery. This is something that the moderate Stephen Douglas and his followers could not accept. Douglas was for popular sovereignty. He believed that each new state should have the right to choose whether they wanted to be slave or free. This stance split the Democrat Party into a Northern and Southern faction insuring the election of Abraham Lincoln. Douglas was nominated at Baltimore in June to be the Northern Democrat Party candidate. Vice President John C. Breckinridge was nominated as the Southern pro-slavery Democrat candidate. John Bell of Nashville was chosen as the pro compromise Constitutional Union Party candidate. Abraham Lincoln was chosen as the anti-slavery Republican candidate.

The Fire Eaters were very effective in convincing the deep Southern states of South Carolina, Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Texas, Georgia, and Louisiana that the Black Republicans led by Lincoln wanted the abolition of all the slaves. This was not true. Most Republicans were against slavery but were willing to allow it to exist where it already existed. The Republican Party and Lincoln were against the spread of slavery into the new territories. The Fire Eaters threatened that if Lincoln was elected the South would secede. Lincoln was elected and these seven states voted to secede. Virginia, North Carolina, Arkansas and Tennessee voted to secede only after Lincoln called for 70,000 volunteers to suppress the rebellion. The Democrat Party can be fairly blamed for causing the bloodiest war in American history. Over 750,000 men and women died in the Civil War. This was 2.2 percent of the American population.

The Democrat convention in Charleston

Stephen Douglas

John C. Breckenridge

John Bell

Abraham Lincoln

9. THE EMANCIPATION PROCLAMATION

To me the Emancipation Proclamation was one of the most practical and brilliant actions by a president in American history. It served several purposes. As a war measure and executive order it helped to deprive the South of it's labor force. As the Union Army moved deeper into the South slaves escaped to the protective umbrella of the nearest Union Army. This meant that there were less slaves to build fortifications and plant crops. The lack of labor back home induced Southern troops to desert in order to care for their families. Former slaves enlisted in the Union Army at a time when White enlistments were falling off. On the international level the aristocracy in Europe was under great pressure from it's own working class that was pushing for social change. The Emancipation Proclamation changed the war from not just a fight to preserve the Union but a fight for human freedom which was popular with the working classes of Europe. The double battlefield defeats of Antietam and Perryville combined with the Emancipation Proclamation ended any chance of a Confederate alliance with Britain and France.

10. THE 13th AMENDMENT

Lincoln understood that the Emancipation Proclamation was a war measure or executive action that could be overturned in the blink of an eye by a future legislature or president. The slaves freed by the proclamation could then be returned to slavery. The Senate passed the 13th Amendment abolishing slavery forever on April 8, 1864. The House of Representatives was a tougher nut to crack. The first attempt to pass the 13th Amendment fell thirteen votes short on June 15, 1864. Only four Democrats voted for it. Lincoln was instrumental in acquiring the needed votes to pass the Amendment in the House of Representatives on January 31, 1865. The movie Lincoln by Stephen Spielberg is an accurate portrayal of the fight to pass the 13th Amendment. The necessary 27 states ratified the Amendment before the end of 1865. Tennessee ratified the Amendment on April 7, 1865. Two days before Lee surrendered at Appomattox.

11. THE DEMOCRAT JOHN WILKES BOOTH KILLS LINCOLN

John Wilkes Booth was in attendance when Lincoln gave his last speech from a balcony of the White House on April 11, 1865. Lincoln's speech was about the possibility of bringing Louisiana back into the Union as a reconstructed state. In his speech he made these comments about Black men. “It is also unsatisfactory to some that the elective franchise is not given to the colored man. I would myself prefer that it were now conferred on the very intelligent, and on those who serve our cause as soldiers. Booth turned to his companion and said, "That means nigger citizenship! Now, by God, I’ll put him through. That is the last speech he will ever make.” Booth carried through on his promise three days later.

John Wilkes Booth

The assassination of Lincoln

12. DEMOCRAT BROWN SHIRTS- THE KU KLUX KLAN

After the passage of the 13th Amendment slaves were free in the former slave states. Cash crops like cotton, tobacco and rice still needed to be planted and harvested. Cheap manual labor was needed on the farms and plantations. Democrat Andrew Johnson believed in states rights. In his opinion the war did not end these rights and the South had the right to govern themselves as they pleased. The only requirement was that the former Confederate States must swear a loyalty oath to the Union, acknowledge the validity of the 13th Amendment and pay off their war debts. This attitude was a green light for the former Confederate officers and government officials to resume control of their state governments. These former Confederates began passing Black Codes in order to force Black people back to the plantations under a new form of slavery. The Republicans were enraged by these Black codes and refused to seat the former Confederates elected to Congress. In 1866 the Republican Congress created the Freedman's bureau and passed a Civil Rights Act. Johnson vetoed these Bills when they reached his desk. This was the beginning of the tension that would lead to Johnson's impeachment in 1868. The Civil Rights Act would be passed over his veto in 1868. After the mid term elections of 1866 the Republicans enacted a tougher reconstruction policy. Congress passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867 again over Johnson's veto. This Act divided the South into five military districts.

Universal male suffrage was also a goal of the Republicans in the South. The law required that the Southern states must adopt the 14th Amendment before they could rejoin the Union. This Amendment which was passed on July 9, 1868 granted full citizenship to Blacks. The 15th Amendment granting Blacks the right to vote was passed in February 1869 and went into effect in 1870. By 1870 all of the Southern states had been readmitted to the Union. The period of radical reconstruction was the most progressive for Black people in the South. Blacks served in Southern state legislatures and in Congress. They were allowed to use public transport and public schools were built for Blacks among other things. On Christmas Eve 1865 six bored young ex Confederate soldiers, called the "Immortal Six" founded the Ku Klux Klan in a law office in Pulaski Tennessee. They were looking for cheap entertainment. The Klan was originally like a college fraternity. They dressed up themselves and their horses in weird costumes. The white robes that we are familiar with today didn't come along until the rebirth of the Klan in 1915. The Klan uniform of the postwar years were more like Halloween costume. Like most college fraternities they devised secret rituals and initiation ceremonies. At night when they galloped up and down the roads around Pulaski people reacted in terror at the sight of these men and horses in their grotesque costumes.

For most of 1866 there is no evidence that the Klan was a terrorist organization. During this period, however; new dens were formed in surrounding counties. In February 1867 the Brownlow government of Tennessee made it legal for Blacks to vote. The Union League was established to mobilize new Black voters. Beginning in the Spring of 1867 the Klan began to be used as a paramilitary group and arm of the Democrat Party to terrorize Blacks in order to keep them away from the polls. Since the Republican Party was the anti-slavery party and the party fighting for civil rights Blacks were naturally going to vote Republican. The Democrat party was the self proclaimed party of the White man. The official reorganization of the Klan into a political and terrorist organization took place in room 10 of the Maxwell House hotel when the state Democrat Party met in Nashville. Nathan Bedford Forrest was elected as the first and only Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Prior to 1868 the Klan was primarily defensive. Democrats were hopeful that they could convince Blacks to vote Democratic. They became more violent, however; when Blacks overwhelmingly voted Republican. The violence of the Klan escalated into other parts of Tennessee and throughout the South after 1868. They had little success in Republican East Tennessee, however.

One of the problems of the Klan after 1868 was that the leadership had little control over it's members and Blacks were being whipped and killed for little or no reason. This included White Republican Carpet Baggers and Scalawags. A Carpet Bagger was a Northern Republican and a Scalawag was a Southern Republican. Governor Brownlow hired a Cincinnati detective named Seymore Barmore to infiltrate the Klan and gather names. On February 20, 1869 he was found dead in the Duck River with a rope around his neck and a bullet in his head. The same day Brownlow imposed martial law in nine counties of Middle and West Tennessee. Forrest decided to issue an order disbanding the Klan. He ordered that the members disband and destroy their Klan uniforms. This order was ignored by many Klansmen and the terror continued throughout the South. The Republican Congress passed the Third Force Act better known as the Ku Klux Act authorizing Republican president Grant to destroy the Klan. Nine South Carolina counties were placed under martial law and thousands were arrested essentially breaking the back of the Klan in the South. In 1882 the Supreme Court declared the Ku Klux Klan unconstitutional. By this time reconstruction had ended it the South and for the time being the Klan no longer existed.

Klansmen in 1870

Andrew Johnson

William "Parson" Brownlow

THE GREAT SELLOUT - THE COMPROMISE OF 1877

As far as I am concerned the Compromise of 1877 and the Supreme Court ruling of Plessy vs Ferguson were the low points for the Republican Party as far as the plight of Black people in the South. Republican Rutherford B. Hayes ran for president against Democrat Samuel Tilden in 1876. Both were reformers as governors in their respective states. of Ohio and New York. Tilden fought against the corruption of Tammany Hall. Hayes was an abolitionist and a lawyer that represented many Black clients. He pushed for Black suffrage as governor of Ohio. Tilden was a Democrat politician modeled after Martin Van Buren. He was for compromise with the slave holding South in the hopes of avoiding war. In the presidential election of 1876 President Grant spent over 300,000 dollars in the South trying to protect the Blacks right to vote. This was a lot of money in 1876. Tilden won the popular vote over Hayes in November 1876 but he came up one vote short in the Electoral College. One hundred and eighty five electoral votes were needed to win and Tilden only had 184. The votes of Oregon, Louisiana, South Carolina and Florida were being contested. The candidate that could win these votes would win the election.

A bi-partisan commission was formed to decide who should get these votes. The Hayes campaign began negotiations with Democrats from the three Southern states. The Southerners agreed to throw their support to Hayes if he would end reconstruction in the South. Hayes was elected and he followed through on his agreement. In 1877 Federal troops were withdrawn from the South. Until 1877 Blacks had enjoyed a certain degree of freedom. They voted, served on juries, served in state legislatures, and served as Senators and Congressmen. That ended when White Democrats were allowed to regain control of the Southern state governments. White Northerners turned a blind eye to the plight of the Black Freedman. Between fighting the Civil War and the constant flow of money and troops to maintain order in the South Northerners were ready to put the problem behind them. For about 80 years Blacks underwent a new form of slavery called Jim Crow. Although Hayes had a good reputation as a champion of civil rights he sold his soul to the devil in order to be president. I believe that Tilden would have done the same thing but that was to be expected for a Democrat. It was out of character for the Republican party.

Rutherford B. Hayes

Samuel Tilden

A political cartoon depicting the South as a woman and Hayes walking away with her

THE CONVICT LEASE SYSTEM

At the end of the Civil War large plantation owners and businessmen in the South who had depended on the free labor of slavery were faced with a huge dilemma. Because of the war the South was virtually bankrupt and their primary labor force had been freed by the 13th Amendment to the Constitution. The 13th Amendment had abolished all slavery except the slavery of convicted criminals. Southerners who had owned slaves during the war tried to force their former slaves to work in their fields, factories, sawmills or anywhere that they were needed. They passed Black Codes which forced the Freedmen to sign yearly labor contracts to work for their former masters. If they refused they could be arrested for vagrancy and forced to work for free. Of course the former slaves were focused on trying to own their own land and finding work of their own choosing. To remedy the labor shortage the former slave owners instituted a new form of slavery. The convict lease system. They took advantage of the loop hole in the 13th Amendment. The state would lease these men to private farms and industries. I say men because very few women were involved in the system. It was mostly blacks but some whites were also used. In Tennessee at the end of the war only 33% of our prison system was comprised of black prisoners. By 1879 sixty seven percent were black. It was even higher in deep South states. As before the war white Southerners lived in much poverty and squalor because they could not compete with free or cheap labor. These convicts were leased out to Southern land owners and businessmen who in turn were paying the state for their use. The states were making a fortune off of this system.

To a lesser extent the same thing is going on today with the hiring of illegal aliens. Businessmen are making a fortune by paying low wages and regular Americans are losing their jobs that are being filled by this cheap labor. Democrats do not want to end illegal immigration because they want their votes and Republicans do not want to end it because they want the cheap labor. This unholy alliance makes it difficult to stop illegal immigration. Because of the money involved in the convict lease system it was not completely abolished until 1928 in Alabama. It was partly because of moral outrage in the North and that poor whites were outraged because this system was affecting their ability to work for wages. The convict lease system ended in Tennessee because white coal miners couldn't compete. In 1891 there was labor unrest that came to be called the Coal Creek War. At the time free and convict labor was used in the coal mines of East Tennessee. Free workers attacked the prison stockade several times over a period of months. Each time the prisoners were placed on a train to Knoxville and each time they were returned to the stockade by Tennessee governor John Buchanan. Finally the miners burned the prison stockade and released hundreds of black convicts into the woods.

The governor sent in the National Guard. A guerrilla war ensued and men on both sides were killed. The resulting publicity and outrage caused the Tennessee governor to lose his job in 1893. Tennessee was one of the first states to end the practice in 1896. Brushy Mountain State Prison, however; had a coal mine that was worked by prisoners until 1966. Because of negative publicity and the tragic beating death of a white man from North Dakota named Martin Tabert, who had been arrested for not paying a 25.00 fare on a train in Tallahassee Florida, the convict leasing system was eventually replaced by the chain gang. The difference was that under the convict lease system prisoners were leased to private industry and farms. Under the chain gangs prisoners could only work on state projects like roads and bridges and not for private citizens. The chain gangs were still primarily black. On average they were comprised of 75% Black and 25% White. The convict lease system was simply slavery by another name.

PLESSY VS. FERGUSON 1896

In 1890 Louisiana passed a law requiring trains to provide equal but separate accommodations for the White and Black races called the Separate Car Act. A committee comprised of White, Creole, and Black citizens convinced Homer Plessy to test this new law. Homer was seven eighths White but only one eighth Black. Under Louisiana law, however; he was considered Black. On June 7, 1892 Plessy bought a first class ticket and sat in the White section of the train. The committee hired a detective to insure that Plessy would be arrested for violation of the Separate Car Act so the law could be challenged in court. In a seven to one decision the court decided that the Louisiana law did not violate the 14th Amendments equal protection clause.

There was only one dissenting vote given by Republican John Marshall Harlan. Judge Harlan to his credit wrote, "In the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant, ruling class of citizens. There is no caste here. "Our constitution is colorblind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law. The humblest is the peer of the most powerful. The arbitrary separation of citizens on the basis of race, while they are on a public highway, is a badge of servitude wholly inconsistent with the civil freedom and the equality before the law established by the Constitution. It cannot be justified upon any legal grounds."The court said that the law did not imply that Blacks were inferior. Louisiana simply had a right to establish a public policy. In my view Plessy vs. Ferguson was to segregation what Dredd Scott was to slavery. It was a horrible decision and clearly violated the 14th Amendment. This was both a high and low point for the Republican's. Harlan did the right thing but other Republican's sided with the three Democrats on the court. This decision insured segregation in the South until 1964 when the Civil Rights Act was passed.

Homer Plessy

Justice John Marshall Harlan

LYNCHING IN AMERICA

Ida B. Wells-Barnett was born a slave on July 16, 1862 in Holly Springs Mississippi. When she was 16 and attending Shaw College her parents and 10 month old baby brother died in a yellow fever epidemic. Her parents had been active in the Republican Party. Ida had six remaining siblings that relatives wanted to place in foster homes but rather than see her family split up she dropped out of Shaw and found work at a black elementary school. She resented that the white teachers were paid 80.00 dollars a month while she was only paid 30.00 dollars a month. The discrimination that she faced made her interested in the politics of race and in improving the education of blacks. In 1883 she moved to Memphis where teachers were payed better. While on summer breaks she attended Fisk University in Nashville. She also became interested in the cause of women's rights which the Republican Party was heavily involved in. On May 4, 1884 a train conductor told her to give up her seat and move to the smoking car which was filled with passengers. Wells refused to give up her seat 8 years before Homer Plessy refused to give up his seat on a train and 71 years before Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat on a bus. The conductor and two men dragged her out of the car. She sued the railroad and won in a lower court but lost when the case was sent to the Tennessee State Supreme Court.

She began writing articles for a weekly newspaper. In 1889, the year my maternal grandfather was born, she became part owner of the Free Speech and Headlight an anti-segregationist newspaper. In 1892 three of her good friends, who were black, owned a store in Memphis named the Peoples Grocery Company. The store sat across the street from a white owned grocery store. The whites resented the competition and a mob invaded the black grocery store. During the fight three white men were shot and injured. Ida's three friends were arrested and jailed. A large lynch mob stormed the jail and killed her three friends. After the lynching Ida used her paper to encourage blacks to leave Memphis and over 6,000 did leave. Others boycotted white businesses. Ida bought a pistol after receiving death threats. The death of her friends drove her into investigative journalism and she began an anti-lynching campaign. Ida discovered that blacks were lynched for such things as failing to pay debts, not stepping aside to make way for whites, competing with whites economically, being drunk in public and supposedly raping white women.She published a pamphlet named Southern Horrors: Lynch Laws In All It's Phases. Ida published an article exposing the myth that white women were at risk of sexual attack by black men. Most liaison's by black men and white women were consensual. Three months after the lynching a mob destroyed her newspaper office in retaliation for her articles. In 1893 she decided to move to Chicago where she continued her anti-lynching crusade. Most lynchings occurred in the South but lynchings occurred all over America. Wells married, raised a family and traveled all over Europe speaking out against lynching. She died on March 25, 1931.

Wells parents were Republicans but Wells herself it seems was an independent. She was probably irritated with the Republican Party regarding the compromise of 1877 and the fact that she was a feminist. Women were fighting for the right to vote at that time. Wells had to fight the double whammy of being both Black and a woman in the late 1800's and early 1900's. This was her quote on what she thought of both political parties of the time. "I am not a Democrat, because the Democrats considered me a chattel and possibly might have always so considered me, because their record from the beginning has been inimical to my interests. I am not a Republican, because, after they — as a party measure and an inevitable result of the war — had ‘given the Negro his freedom’ and the ballot box following, all through their reign — while advocating the doctrine of the Federal Government’s right to protecting her citizens — they suffered the crimes against the Negro, that have made the South notorious, to go unpunished and almost unnoticed and turned them over to the tender mercies of the South."

Marion Indiana

Duluth Minnesota

Oklahoma

The Lynching Memorial In Montgomery

THEODORE ROOSEVELT AND THE BROWNSVILLE AFFAIR

Like Rutherford B. Hayes before the Compromise of 1877 Theodore Roosevelt was very progressive on issues of race. He took a lot of heat for inviting Booker T. Washington to the White House for dinner. The Brownsville Affair was the low point of Theodore Roosevelt's presidency. A large number of Black soldiers had been stationed at Fort Brown in Brownsville Texas since July 28, 1906. They were part of the 25th Infantry Regiment. On August 12, 1906 a White woman had supposedly been assaulted in Brownsville. The people were incensed so it was decided that the Black soldiers would be confined to barracks in order to lower tensions. The next night a White bartender was killed and a Hispanic police officer was wounded in a shootout. White citizens of Brownsville blamed the soldiers for the shooting. Their White commanders at Fort Brown confirmed that the soldiers had been in their barracks all night. The Brownsville mayor and others insisted that some of the soldiers had been involved. Supposedly spent shells were found from Army rifles at the scene but it was believed that these shells were planted. The county court did not return indictments due to lack of evidence but the White citizens continued to complain.

President Roosevelt on the recommendation of his Army Inspector General decided to dishonorably discharge 167 soldiers because of their "conspiracy of silence". Fourteen men were later reinstated into the Army. Some of the men had over twenty years service and others were nearing retirement. These men were cheated out of retirement pay and benefits. The news of their discharge was withheld until after the midterm Congressional elections so the Republicans would benefit from the Black vote. Blacks had been loyal Republicans because of Abraham Lincoln. When the news became public Blacks and some Whites were outraged. Black leaders like Booker T. Washington and others pleaded with Roosevelt to change his mind but to no avail. They were shocked at Roosevelt's behavior since he had eaten dinner with Washington and had spoken out against lynchings. Some Republicans in Congress worked to reinstate the soldiers. Out of the 153 men discharged only 11 men eventually returned to the Army. The Army did not set things straight until 1972. Republican president Richard Nixon pardoned the men and awarded them honorable discharges. These honorable discharges were mostly posthumous because all of these soldiers were dead except for two men. Two Democrat Congressmen, Hubert Humphrey and Augustus Hawkins gained passage of a tax free pension for Dorsie Willis, the last surviving soldier. He was born in 1886 and died in 1977.

Soldiers of the 25th Infantry Regiment

Dorsie Willis

WOODROW WILSON AND THE REBIRTH OF THE KLAN

Because of the Republican Party Blacks were hired to civil service jobs throughout the Federal government during the late 1800's and into the early 1900's. The so-called progressive hero of the modern Democrat Party, Woodrow Wilson, fired these Black employees. Wilson is viewed as a progressive by liberal historians because he was a big government man. He was one of our most racist presidents, however. The reverend Thomas Dixon Jr. was a good friend of Woodrow Wilson. Dixon wrote a novel called the Clansman. The Clansman glorified the Klan and gave a distorted view of the South after the Civil War. The famous movie director, D.W. Griffith, made a movie in 1915 called the Clansman. The title was later changed The Birth Of A Nation. This movie was the first ever to be shown in the White House. It depicted Blacks as villains and rapists. The Black characters in the movie were played by White actors in black face. Wilson loved it and said "It is like writing history with lightning, and my only regret is that it is all so terribly true." Because of the popularity of this movie the Ku Klux Klan was reborn on top of Stone Mountain Georgia with the burning of a fiery cross. This was on Thanksgiving night 1915. The burning cross could be seen for miles. This Klan was different from Nathan Bedford Forrest's Klan. The new Klan burned crosses, wore white robes, and expanded their hatred to Jews and Catholics. This new Klan grew into a nationwide organization. There were Klaverns in every state of the Union and in the District of Columbia by the 1920's. Indiana had more Klan members than any state in the Union. In 1927 forty thousand Klansman marched on Washington D.C. If you look at pictures of that Klan parade you will not see one Confederate battle flag. They were all American flags.

WOODROW WILSON

PACKING THE COURT AND OTHER RACIST ACTIONS BY ROOSEVELT

During the mid 1930's the Supreme Court would strike down many of Franklin Roosevelt's New Deal programs as unconstitutional. Programs like the National Recovery Act for example. This angered Roosevelt to the point that he came up with a plan to pack the court after the 1936 presidential election. Roosevelt won by a landslide over Alf Landon in 1936. If Roosevelt had his way the court would expand from nine members to fifteen. He would get to appoint the extra judges pretty much guaranteeing that his liberal policies would not be overturned by the court. There was a general outcry from the public over this obvious usurping of presidential power. The Republicans were vastly outnumbered by Democrats in Congress. By themselves they had no power to stop Roosevelt. Roosevelt's overreach gave birth to what has come to be called the Conservative Coalition of the Republican party with the segregationist Southern Democrats who also opposed Roosevelt's liberal policies. This coalition of Republicans and Democrats was able to stop Roosevelt's attempt to pack the court. Because of this success the Conservative coalition would fight Roosevelt for the rest of his remaining time in office and for years afterward. Roosevelt was a racist. He picked a former Klansman, Hugo Black, for a seat on the supreme court. He invited every white member of the 1936 Olympics team to the White House with the exception of Jesse Owens. Heavyweight fighter Joe Louis promised to vote for Roosevelt's Republican opponent Wendell Willkie because of his support for an anti-lynching bill in 1940 that Roosevelt refused to support even though his wife Eleanor did support it. Roosevelt was running for president and needed racist Democrat support. He also contributed to the deaths of many Jews in the Holocaust because of his restrictive immigration policies aimed at European Jews even though he knew of Hitler's harsh anti Jewish policies.

THE INTERNMENT OF AMERICAN'S OF JAPANESE DESCENT

On February 19, 1942 Democrat President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066. From 1942 until 1945 American's of Japanese descent were rounded up and transported from their homes, businesses, and jobs to internment camps This order altered the lives of nearly 120,000 people. Two thirds of whom were American citizens. The third that weren't American citizens were the immigrants and parents of native born Japanese American citizens. They were called Issei. The 2nd generation native born were called Nisei. On March 24, 1942 evacuees were given six days notice to rid themselves of all belongings except what they could carry. If you were 1/16th Japanese you were evacuated to an internment camp along with children and the elderly. They had to hurriedly sell property at bargain basement prices. One large hotel was sold for five hundred dollars. Many had their property confiscated or destroyed while they were imprisoned. In some cases the internees had to build their own living quarters in the camps before sewers and other infrastructure was built for them. These camps were located in remote areas. Many of the Japanese lived in places not fit for human habitation. They were mostly one room living spaces per family. In some cases camps were placed on horse tracks and horse stalls were cleaned up to make room for people. These camps were in arid deserts and swamps. They stretched from California to Arkansas. There were guard towers where armed soldiers guarded the internees. One man said that he was an American citizen and they couldn't hold him. When he tried to leave the camp he was shot down. These people were imprisoned without due process. American's of German and Italian descent were not treated this way.

Hawaii's population of American's of Japanese descent were treated a lot different than the west coast Americans of Japanese descent. Some were relocated to the mainland camps and four thousand leaders in the Japanese American community were housed at "Once Lost" a Hawaiian internment camp. For the most part the Hawaiian Japanese community were not imprisoned. Much of the reason that there was a large part of the Japanese American population that were carpenters and craftsmen needed to rebuild Pearl Harbor. Japanese Americans made up forty percent of the population of Hawaii. In Oakland California it was a felony for anyone of Japanese descent to be living there after order 9066 was issued. Fred Korematsu was arrested on May 30, 1942. He had lost his job, his property and his Italian-American girlfriend. Korematsu filed a lawsuit that went all the way to the Supreme Court. The Democrat bigot and former Klansman Hugo Black wrote the majority opinion supporting Roosevelt. Korematsu charged that his imprisonment violated the 14th Amendment since only Japanese Americans were being treated this way and the 5th Amendment because they were imprisoned without due process.

The Roosevelt administration argued that the president could do this to protect the American people under his war powers. In December 1944 the Supreme Court ruled in Roosevelts favor. The court split 6-3 in its decision. One of the dissenters, who was also a Democrat, to his credit, stated that the government's policy was based on racism. Hundreds of Japanese Americans were allowed to volunteer in the Army and in spite of how badly they had been treated fought bravely in the European theater. They were not allowed to fight in the Pacific. In 1988 Democrat California Congressman Norman Mineta, who was an internee, sponsored the Civil Liberties Act of 1988. Republican Alan Simpson was also a sponsor. Most Democrats voted for the bill and most Republicans voted against it. President Reagan, a Republican signed the bill into law. The Act officially apologized to the internees and acknowledged that their treatment was wrong. Each surviving internee was paid twenty thousand dollars in reparations.

Once Lost in Hawaii

Soldiers of the 442nd Regimental Combat Team

THE DIXIECRATS

Although Democrat Harry Truman regularly used the N word and was a product of his upbringing in Jackson County Missouri he had a sense of fairness when it came to race. He didn't like how Black WW2 veterans were treated when they came back from the war, especially in the South. In 1948 he signed an executive order desegregating the military. Although this was a very courageous act on the part of Truman the Republican president Eisenhower actually brought about the desegregation of the military. Progressive Democrat Congressmen led by Minnesota Senator Hubert Humphrey proposed Civil Rights planks for the 1948 Democrat convention. This led many deep South Democrats to threaten to leave the Democrat Party. Truman attempted a compromise by proposing that only the 1944 planks that had been in Roosevelt platform would be used. The progressives were able to get their planks adopted, however. This prompted the deep South Democrats to form the States Rights Democratic Party. It came to be called the Dixiecrat Party. South Carolina governor Strom Thurmond was nominated as their presidential candidate. They opposed the elimination of the poll tax and wanted to maintain segregation. Thurmond won the states of South Carolina, Louisiana, Alabama, and Mississippi. He received over a million popular votes and 39 electoral votes. The Confederate battle flag became the symbol of this movement and this is where it got it's reputation as the racist symbol that it is today.

Strom Thurmond

BROWN VS. THE BOARD OF EDUCATION

Democrat Fred Vinson was appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court by President Truman in July 1946. Several cases challenging the Separate but Equal doctrine regarding racial segregation were before the court in 1953. Vinson believed that all Black facilities must be truly equal. One of these cases was Briggs vs. Elliot. Not wanting a close 5-4 decision he ordered that the case be heard a second time. Vinson died in September 1953 before the case could be heard. Republican president Eisenhower appointed former California Republican Governor Earl Warren as Vinson's replacement. The Warren court was considered one of the most progressive courts in American history. Warren, however; had one major black mark on his record. As Attorney General and later governor of California during WW2 he was very much in favor of the internment of American's of Japanese descent. Warren never apologized for much but in later years he admitted that he was very wrong on this issue.

Warren saw the case of Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka as a golden opportunity to overturn the Plessy vs. Ferguson ruling of 1896 regarding the separate but equal doctrine in public education. He wanted the courts decision to be unanimous, however. Warren did not want a split decision. He was able to get a unanimous decision overturning Plessy vs. Ferguson in 1954. I am a firm believer that the courts have way too much power. Power that was not granted to them by the Founding Fathers in the Constitution. On this case, however; the court got it right. Plessy vs. Ferguson was a clear violation of the 14th Amendment. The court muddied the waters, however; in a ruling the following year by saying that the schools should be desegregated with "All deliberate speed". Southern Democrat governments were determined to drag their feet in regards to desegregation. Nashville began segregating it's elementary schools in September 1957. The Klan blew up Hattie Cotton elementary school late one night in protest. This was only a couple of blocks away from my grandparents house and they were jolted awake by the explosion. I attended all White schools until the 10th grade when I enrolled at East Nashville High School at the age of 15.

Earl Warren

Black elementary students before Brown v.s the Board of Education

The desegregation of Nashville elementary schools

THE SOUTHERN MANIFESTO

In February and March 1956 Southern Congressman released a Declaration of Constitutional Principles better known as the Southern Manifesto in opposition to Brown vs. the Board of Education of Topeka. They opposed the racial integration of public places. The manifesto was signed by 101 Southern Congressmen. Ninety-nine Democrats and two Virginia Republicans. To their credit only three Southern senators did not sign. Texas senator Lyndon Johnson did not sign it. Nor to their credit did Tennessee senators Estes Kefauver.and Albert Gore Sr. Gore, however; did not sign the 1964 Civil Rights Act eight years later when it really counted. Kefauver died in 1963.

Senator Lyndon Johnson

Senator Estes Kefauver

Senator Albert Gore Sr.

THE DESEGREGATION OF LITTLE ROCK CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL - 1957

As the Little Rock Nine were trying to desegregate Little Rock Central High School in early September 1957 my mother was enrolling me in the all White Martha Vaught Elementary school in West Nashville. We did not go to pre-school or kindergarten then. Kindergartens were available but they were all privately run schools. We usually started school right after Labor Day. Little Rock decided to integrate it's high schools first. Nashville began the desegregation of it's elementary schools first which led to the Klan bombing of Hattie Cotton elementary. I would not attend a public school with a Black person until I was fifteen and in the 10th grade at East Nashville high school in 1965. The idea of integration never bothered me. I had been around Black people all of my life.

Orval Faubus, the Governor of Arkansas, had been a moderate on race but like George Wallace, who was also a moderate, he took the low road. Faubus was trying to gain favor with his White constituency when he activated the National Guard in order to prevent the Black students from attending Little Rock Central. The nine students who were trying to integrate Central High had all been hand picked and vetted by the N.A.A.C.P. They were not only bright students but they were picked for their toughness in order to endure the abuse that they were about to receive. An Eisenhower appointed Federal judge Ronald Davies ordered the integration of Central High to proceed on September 3, 1957. It is important to note here that Eisenhower appointed Republican judges were instrumental in ruling against the segregation laws of the South. Judges like Alabama native and Republican Frank Johnson who had ruled in favor of Rosa Parks during the Montgomery Bus Boycott of the year before. The Democrat judges later appointed by John Kennedy were an impediment to progress on civil rights.

On September 4 1957 the Arkansas National Guard barred entrance to the students. The students were surrounded by screaming and angry White mobs. In the meantime president Eisenhower tried to persuade Faubus to remove the Guard from Central high school. Judge Davies ruled on the 20th that the Guard must be removed. Little Rock police tried to escort the students into the school but mobs made their job nearly impossible. The next day Eisenhower ordered 1,200 troops of the 101st Airborne from Ft. Campbell to deploy to Little Rock and provide protection for the Black students. They would escort the the students for the remainder of the 1957-58 school year. Although the Black students had some pleasurable moments with White students many were not. One girl had acid thrown in her face and another was kicked down some stairs. One girl was expelled for reacting to the attacks on her and the students were not allowed to participate in extracurricular activities. Governor Faubus made legal challenges against the Black students and closed all the high schools in Little Rock for the entire school year of 1958-59 in order to keep them from being segregated. Of the nine students who tried to integrate Central High only Ernest Green would receive his diploma there on May 25, 1958. He was the only senior among the Little Rock Nine. Martin Luther King would attend his graduation ceremony.

THE 1957 CIVIL RIGHTS ACT

President Eisenhower's Attorney General proposed a civil rights bill in 1957 designed to show support for Black equality after the 1954 Brown vs. The Board of Education decision. This was the first civil rights act since 1875. It's goal was to make it possible for more Blacks to have the opportunity to vote. Eisenhower wanted a civil rights bill with real teeth in it. In 1957 only 20% of Blacks in America were registered. Most Democrats were against the bill but Lyndon Johnson was able to push through a watered down version acceptable to Democrats. He did not want the powerful version of the bill that the Republican's wanted but he did want a weak bill because he thought that the passing of a civil rights bill would help his chances for being elected president in 1960. Many liberals criticized Johnson for this but Johnson was trying to walk a political tightrope. He didn't want to alienate his Southern Democrat base for pushing too hard for this bill. He knew that a Southerner had not been elected to the presidency since before the Civil War. Excluding Woodrow Wilson, a Virginian who had been president of Princeton University in New Jersey and Harry Truman who was seen more as a Midwesterner than a Southerner. In order to have a chance at the presidency he had to have support among Northern Democrat liberals. The 1957 Civil Rights Act and 1960 Civil Rights Act were both signed into law by President Eisenhower. The 1960 Civil Rights Act hoped to close some of the loopholes in the 1957 Act. They would be the basis for the Justice Department and the N.A.A.C.P.'s push for voting rights in the South in the early 1960's.

THE BLUE BOMB - 1960

During the presidential campaign of 1960 both Richard Nixon and John Kennedy cautiously tried to appeal to Black voters without alienating White voters. Nixon was a lifetime card carrying member of the N.A.A.C.P. and was very progressive in regard to civil rights. Kennedy had a civil rights advisor to his campaign named Harris Wofford. In both the 1952 and 1956 presidential races Eisenhower had won a number of Southern states and Nixon had been his Vice President. Kennedy was trying to unite the northern liberal wing of the Democrat Party with the Southern segregationist wing in order to win the election. This is why Kennedy picked the Southerner Lyndon Johnson as his Vice Presidential running mate.

In October 1960 Martin Luther King was arrested during a sit-in demonstration in Atlanta. Kings arrest was made difficult when a judge sentenced him to four months of hard labor over a minor traffic violation. His wife Coretta Scott King was six months pregnant at the time and Kennedy telephoned her expressing sympathy for King and concern about his welfare. At that time in the South Black men might enter prison and not come out alive or they were abused while in jail. The next day Robert Kennedy personally called the judge and persuaded him to have King released from jail. Kennedy knew that if his involvement in this episode became public it could hurt him with White voters. His campaign aides printed up a pamphlet on blue paper that came to be called "The Blue Bomb". The pamphlet emphasized Kennedy's phone call to Coretta King and highlighted Nixon's silence on the matter. The pamphlet was passed out in Black churches all over the country.

Historically Blacks had voted Republican but Roosevelt's New Deal programs during the Depression had eroded much of this support for Republican's. Martin Luther Kings father had been a lifelong Republican but he changed his party allegiance after he found out about the Kennedy's helping his son. The 1960 presidential election was one of the closest in history. Only one hundred thousand votes separated the candidates nationwide. There was a significant increase in Black votes for Kennedy. This combined with the mafia's assistance in Illinois was instrumental in winning the election for Kennedy.

THE 1964 & 65 CIVIL RIGHTS ACTS

John Kennedy needed Southern Democrat support to win the presidency in 1960. This was why he picked Southerner Lyndon Johnson as his vice presidential candidate in 1960. If he hoped to be reelected in 1964 he could not afford to lose the South. Kennedy wanted real change in the South in regard to civil rights but he wanted it to be on his timetable. A gradual change that would not alienate his Southern support. The activists pushing for change in the South like Robert Moses, Medgar Evers, James Farmer, Martin Luther King, James Lawson and the Nashville students also had a timetable for change. Their timetable and Kennedy's timetable were not the same. In their minds the time for change was long overdue. Kennedy was trying to control events but events were controlling him.

The violent reaction of White Southerners against the Freedom Riders, James Meredith, and the Children's March in the Spring of 1963 forced Kennedy to confront civil rights as a moral issue. A comprehensive Civil Rights Act was drafted and pushed through congress. Kennedy would be assassinated before the Civil Rights Act was passed. Personally I do not believe that Kennedy would have been able to overcome Southern Democrat opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It took the ruthless skill and drive of Lyndon Johnson to get it done. The powerful segregationist Senator Richard Russell of Georgia felt confident that Kennedy couldn't get it done. When Kennedy died and Johnson came out in favor of the Civil Rights Act Russell knew that Johnson would get it done. In my view Johnson was not as sincere about civil rights as he appeared. Johnson used the N word on a regular basis and I supported segregation in the South for years. I am not aware that he ever had some great life changing epiphany about race. Johnson realized early on that as a Southerner he had to convince the rest of the country that he was a progressive on race if he was ever going to have a chance of becoming president. Being president was his lifelong ambition. After the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act Johnson was heard saying that " I will have those niggers voting Democrat for the next two hundred years".

Johnson could never have passed civil rights legislation without the Republican Party. He didn't have enough Democrat votes to get it done. Eighty percent of Republicans supported it and less than seventy percent of Democrats supported it. Democrat senators filibustered the bill for seventy-five days. Some Republicans like Barry Goldwater and Ronald Reagan were against the passage of the civil rights act. In their defense I do not believe that they had racist motives for opposing the bill. Instead they had strong constitutional reasons for opposing the proposed legislation. The 1964 and 65 Civil Rights Acts were redundant. They were simply a reaffirmation of law that already existed. The 14th Amendment was passed by a Republican Congress in 1868 and the 15th in 1870. The 14th Amendment granted Black people their civil rights and the 15th granted them voting rights. Goldwater and Reagan were simply saying that there was no need for new law that was essentially the same thing. Goldwater would have signed the 1964 Civil Rights Act if not for 2 provisions that he wanted taken out. These provisions remained in the bill and for that reason he didn't sign it. Reagan was still a private citizen in 1964 and could not have signed the bill if he wanted to.

I believe that the opposition of these 2 men to the bill gave rise to the myth that the Republican party changed after 1964. That and the fact that 5 deep South traditionally Democrat states voted for Goldwater in the 1964 election. These states were Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina. Goldwater did not want to run for president in 1964. He knew that he would be running against the martyred president Kennedy rather than Johnson and he had no real chance of winning. His real shot would have been against Kennedy in 1964 if he had lived. Kennedy was not that popular while alive. He had won in 1960 by the skin of his teeth and the reason he was in Dallas on November 22, 1963 to shore up lagging support. Goldwater was the father of the modern conservative movement. He only ran to preserve what had been accomplished and to keep conservatism alive. Although Goldwater lost in a historic landslide his campaign paved the way for Ronald Reagan.

Goldwater's father was Jewish and his family had a history of being open minded on race. He would tell a story about being asked to leave a golf course once because Jews were not allowed to play on there. He told the man " I am only half Jewish. Can I play 9 holes?" Although this story is probably not true it seems to illustrate the fact that he and his family had experienced antisemitism. As commander of the Arizona Air National Guard he desegregated his units before Truman's executive order that desegregated the US military in 1948. Goldwater was an accomplished pilot and he flew supplies into the Navaho reservation when they were snowed in using his own money and time. He also had a meeting with Johnson prior to the campaign telling Johnson that he did not want to make race an issue. Johnson agreed in the meeting but did not live up to his end of the agreement. Goldwater never mentioned race and he vowed not to criticize Johnson's handling of the Vietnam war which he didn't. The Southern Democrat states only supported Goldwater in 1964 because he had been against the civil rights act. Yet Goldwater opposed it on well thought out constitutional grounds. The Southern Democrats on the other hand were hiding as usual behind their tired and worn out states rights argument. Four years later it was not a Republican who won the deep Southern states but the segregationist Democrat George Wallace. He won every state that Goldwater won except for South Carolina. Arkansas voted for Wallace instead of South Carolina. Democrats will tout Nixon's southern strategy as evidence of Republican's appealing to the segregationist South but Nixon was simply trying to capture the upper South voters who had voted for Eisenhower in the 1950's.

As I have stated the Democrats have skillfully sold the lie that since the passage of these civil rights bills Blacks flocked to the Democrat Party and White segregationist Southerners have flocked to the Republican Party. This is not true. Of the twenty one Southern senators that voted against the civil rights acts only one switched over to the Republican Party. Strom Thurmond of South Carolina was the only one to switch parties. Most of those twenty seats remained Democrat for another tweny-five years. Al Gore Senior was one of those who voted against the Civil Rights Act. Another myth espoused by the Democrats is that since the implementation of the Southern strategy Republicans have dominated the South. This has not proven to be true. Nixon lost the deep South in 1968. Democrat Jimmy Carter swept the South in 1976 and Bill Clinton won the South in 1992. The Republicans didn't win a majority of Southern congressional seats until 1994. The South now votes overwhelmingly Republican because it has changed and it's values have changed. Our values are pro-life, pro-gun and pro small government. Southern conservatives are more likely to vote for a Black Conservative like Tim Scott of South Carolina, Herman Kane, Allen West, and J.C. Watts. The South votes values and not skin color.

Another myth is that Blacks changed Party affiliation overwhelmingly to the Democrat Party after the 1960's civil rights acts. Actually most Blacks did this in the 1930's even though many could not vote.This was because of Franklin Roosevelt and the New Deal. They enjoyed some of the relief provided by the New Deal. Roosevelt allowed Blacks to work in defense plants during the war and Eleanor Roosevelt was very progressive in her view of Black people. There were still many Black Republicans in the early 1960's but many more became Democrat after the passage of the civil rights legislation. The Democrat Party has done such a good job of selling the lie that Republicans are racists that the vast majority of Blacks have voted Democrat over the last fifty years or so. Trump has made some inroads into reversing this trend.

From 1870 until 1935 every Black member of Congress was a Republican. The first Black Democrat was elected in 1935. From 1935 until 1979 every Black Senator was Republican. Democrats have accused Republicans of a war on women but even this is not backed up by historical fact. The first female member of Congress was a Republican along with the first Hispanic and first Asian member of Congress. In 1920 the Republicans were able to overcome fifty two years of Democrat opposition and pass the 19th Amendment which gave women the right to vote. Since the 1960's the Democrat Party has continued to oppress Black in ways that many of them don't realize. Black families have been decimated by Democrat welfare programs. After the Civil War and until the early 1960's most Black families consisted of a man and woman raising children together. Because of Democrat welfare programs a man is not present in a majority of Black families and seven out of ten Black births are out of wedlock. These fatherless homes contribute to a huge increase in criminal activity.

Democrat opposition to school choice has kept Blacks trapped in failing schools. They don't trust Black parents to pick their own schools. Politically correct policing under Democrat mayors have made large cities war zones where the Black on Black murder rates resemble yearly casualty rates in Iraq during the worst years of the war there. Some have argued that the Blacks are experiencing a modern form of slavery. They traded the plantation of the old South for the slavery of the Democrat plantation. Republicans and Conservatives have opposed the quota system in higher education for valid reasons but they are accused of racism. John Kennedy first used the word Affirmative Action in 1961. It was implemented by Nixon in 1970. He is actually the one who implemented the quota system. They believed that because of historical discrimination the bar had to be lowered for Blacks. This has crippled Blacks and has set them up to fail. Conservatives believe that it is demeaning to believe Blacks are not as capable as Whites. They have repeatedly proven that they can compete with Whites. College admission have set Blacks up for failure. High Black dropout rates confirm this view. White students with the same low standards would be set up to fail as well. Blacks are every bit as capable to be policemen, firemen, businessmen, lawyers, doctors, politicians and college students as Whites. Democrats believe that 50 years after the first affirmative action programs the program is still needed. Maybe it was in the very beginning but not now.

As far as the voter ID issue Democrats say that it is a ruse to keep Blacks from voting because some Blacks aren't capable of acquiring an ID. This is condescending. A person needs an ID to fly, drive, buy a beer, cigarettes and cold medicine. Somehow Blacks can provide picture ID's for these things but not to vote. The Democrat race merchants constantly whip out the race card to keep Blacks in line. Playing on their fears much the way they did poor Whites during the era of slavery and segregation. The Democrats and their mainstream media are constantly comparing the Republican Party to the Klan or White supremacists. If a Republican says something that can be taken out of context the Democrat race merchants in the media will exploit it. Like the recent comment by a Mississippi senatorial candidate during her campaign. She was referring to a supporter when she said, “If he invited me to a public hanging, I’d be on the front row.” Of course this had nothing to do with race but the media spent hours implying that it did. As usual she apologized for the remark when it wasn't necessary.

Democrats make actual racist or anti-semitic comments and are never called on the carpet for them. Democrat Robert Byrd of Virginia was a longtime recruiter and Klan official that supposedly apologized for his past. Which makes it okay for the Democrats. He once used the term White niggers in a speech and this was totally ignored by the media and the Democrats. Bill Clinton said this about Obama when he was trying to get Ted Kennedy to support Hillary for the 2008 Democrat nomination "this guy would have been carrying our bags", Joe Biden also said this about Obama. "I mean, you got the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," Hillary Clinton once called Bill Clinton's campaign manager a "fucking Jew bastard" Louis Farakhan, who Obama and many Democrats have been cozy with, compares Jews to termites. Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson have also made anti-semitic remarks. I have tried to give an honest appraisal of the history of race regarding the Democrat and Republican Party. Like all history it is not all cut and dried and all black and white. History is more complicated than that. The Republicans are not totally clean in all of this but in my view they stand head and shoulders above the Democrat Party in regard to race in American history.