In the aftermath of Charlottesville, an awful lot of awful things have been said about Republicans and race relations – BUT you might wish to reconsider what you have heard.
The Democratic Party was responsible for passing Jim Crow laws, in addition to Black Civil Codes that forced Americans to utilize separate drinking fountains, swimming pools, and other facilities in the 20th century. (Wikipedia Commons)
However, the Left’s accusations of racism couldn’t be further from the truth that has played out in the halls of Congress over the last 150 years.
It is shocking that as talk of statues and historical racism is being bandied about, no one has mentioned the Democrats’ utterly shameful treatment of African Americans throughout history.
Over the last 100 years, Republicans have stood up for African Americans while Democrats not only stood on the sidelines, but in fact served as obstructionists to civil liberties.
Here are at least 12 examples in which Democrats voted against African Americans, and Republicans voted to free them:
Democrats voted against every piece of civil rights legislation in Congress from 1866 to 1966 – a whopping 100 years. That is a dismal record for today’s Democrats who would like you to believe that history has been on their side on this issue.
It hasn’t.
Democrats voted to keep Africans Americans in slavery, opposing the 13th Amendment which officially freed the slaves. Only four Democrats voted for it.
Republicans also passed the 14th Amendment which granted slaves U.S. citizenship; Democrats voted against it.
Republicans also passed the 15th Amendment which gave slaves the right to vote. Not a single one of the 56 Democrats in Congress voted for it.
Shame on them.
Furthermore, Republicans passed all of the Civil Rights laws of the 1860s — including the Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the Reconstruction Act of 1867 following the Civil War.
The Republican Party itself was founded as the “anti-slavery party” in 1854. The party subsequently gave us President Abraham Lincoln and ultimately, the Emancipation Proclamation which led to the liberation of slaves.
Republicans supported African Americans not only in the 1800s, but in modern times as well.
In the 1960s, with the exception of Democrat President Lyndon B. Johnson, who was instrumental in the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act in the wake of the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, the truth is that Democrats were the largest single blockade to civil rights.
But don’t take my word for it.
Long after slavery was over, the Democratic Party continued down their path to deny African Americans their rights. Wikipedia refers to this as the era of “disenfranchisement” when “Democrats worked to exclude blacks” from civil liberties.
PBS reported, “The Democratic Party identified itself as the ‘white man’s party’ and demonized the Republican Party as being ‘Negro dominated,’ even though whites were in control.”
The Democratic Party was responsible for passing Jim Crow laws, in addition to Black Civil Codes that forced Americans to utilize separate drinking fountains, swimming pools, and other facilities in the 20th century.
Even Democratic icons such as Kennedy voted against the 1957 Civil Rights Act while in the U.S. Senate. Sen. Al Gore, Sr., D-Tenn., also opposed it.
But you don’t hear the “antifa” movement or anyone else on the Left talking about Democrats’ shameful involvement in American history, nor do many speak of Republicans’ brave work on behalf of African Americans.
President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a Republican, appointed Supreme Court Justice Earl Warren who penned the Brown v. Board of Education decision that ended school segregation forever.
It was also a Republican, Sen. Everett Dirksen from Illinois (the “Land of Lincoln”), who wrote numerous pieces of legislation including the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which banned discrimination in housing.
It was Republican President Richard M. Nixon who introduced the “Philadelphia Plan” that serves as the blueprint for affirmative action today.
It was Republican President Ronald Reagan who in 1984 signed into law the holiday now known as Martin Luther King, Jr. Day.
That’s right, these were Republicans — not Democrats.
As more “antifa” protests are expected this summer and into the fall, leading up to their night of hell (Kristallnacht???) planned for November 4, it is vitally important that revisionist history is not permitted to be foisted upon Americans.
The truth about who was on the right side of history and who was in the wrong lies in the voting records and those records lie in the National Archives and the Library of Congress. No amount of statue-toppling nor spin from the Left can ever erase it.
Written by Jennifer Kerns and published by the Washington Examiner ~ August 18, 2017.
FAIR USE NOTICE: This site contains copyrighted material the use of which has not always been specifically authorized by the copyright owner. We are making such material available in our efforts to advance understanding of environmental, political, human rights, economic, democracy, scientific, and social justice issues, etc. We believe this constitutes a ‘fair use’ of any such copyrighted material as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. In accordance with Title 17 U. S. C. Section 107, the material on this site is distributed without profit to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving the included information for research and educational purposes. For more information go to: http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/17/107.shtml