We know that the last few elections have shown that Blacks vote Democrat ~93% of the time. Can one party really be skewed against Blacks? If one looks at Civil War history, the answer jumps out and grabs you by the throat.
The Civil War, mainly due to slavery, tended to dictate party platform. The Emancipation Proclamation (1863) exacerbated the North-South conflict, but it was exactly how Lincoln freed most slaves. But who remembers Lincoln was a member of the GOP/Republican Party?
While Republicans rejoiced, Democrat politicians and newspapers denounced Lincoln for freeing slaves. NY governor Horatio Seymour (1868 Democrat presidential nominee) denounced the Proclamation as “a proposal for the butchery of women and children.” The Louisville Daily Democrat called it “an outrage of all Constitutional law, all human justice, all Christian feeling.”
Then there’s the 13th Amendment banning slavery, the 14th extending the Bill of Rights to the states (giving Blacks full citizenship and all the privileges included), or even the 15th giving voting rights to Blacks. All of these amendments were enacted by the much maligned Republicans in the face of fierce Democrat opposition.
Even after the Lincoln assassination, racism was still rampant in the country. Why do so many differentiate by party today, rather than by pure racism? Andrew Johnson, an avowed southern Democrat racist (1808-1875), became president immediately after Lincoln. Johnson publicly offered to contribute $20,000 to the defeat of the ratification of the 14th Amendment.
For the very first time, Republicans had to override a veto—Johnson’s veto. The Freedmen’s Bureau Bill provided shelter and provisions for former slaves, and protection of their rights in court was passed, even before the 14th Amendment was ratified. Johnson seemed to do everything in his power to prevent Blacks from experiencing Lincoln’s “new birth of freedom”.
Knowing that 64 of 80 Democrats in the House had voted against the 13th Amendment in January of 1865, Republicans decided to keep precepts of the law safe from any future Democrat Congress. So they drafted and enacted the 14th Amendment, with every Republican voting for it, and every Democrat voting against it.
The 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting Rights Act were reforms that the Republican Party struggled for in vain during the Reconstruction era, a hundred years earlier. What about the higher percentage of Republicans than Democrats voting for the Civil Rights Act? People have to be told about this fact before it’s believed.
In the end, Johnson did more to extend the period of national strife than to heal the wounds of war. Johnson was only one of two American presidents to be impeached. The other Democrat came in modern times.
Still, Republicans were always worried that the Democrats would repeal the Civil Rights Act, or rescind the Emancipation Proclamation as many Democrats had demanded. That worry has since subsided, but other factors have come into the fray.
One can count the many Black activists that have moved Black America to practical rebellions. If one looks at people like Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Malcolm X, or Spike Lee one needs to ask oneself, “What is gained through these people?”
Why are Blacks like Clarence Thomas, Walter Williams, Thomas Sowell, Bill Cosby, Shelby Steele, Armstrong Williams, Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, JC Watts, Michael Steele, Star Parker, Alan Keyes, and Alveda King considered “sell-outs” when they have gained incredible amounts as Americans?
For some reason, people feel that because they’ve been promised pie-in-the-sky for 40 years and not received any of their wants, a particular party is still a racial godsend. They’re Americans, not Africans anymore. Don’t we want Latinos to accept American culture? We should demand the same from any American.
If the above words are so difficult to believe, it is recommended that one does a thorough examination of American politics. In fact one such person has---Michael Zak. It’s all in his book—Back to Basics for the Republican Party. All of the above facts can also be checked with actual history. Michael Zak conducted 15 radio interviews just in 2007, and is extremely knowledgeable with racial history for the past 150 years.
Imagine how American election results would be changed if people knew the real historic truth.
Kevin Roeten can be reached at roetenks@charter.net or kevin@kevinroeten.us.
