Herman Cain is going to need a bigger shovel for this hole he’s in.
Look, I know Republicans have a pretty terrible opinion of African-American voters, but it’s just another thing entirely to see African-American Republicans with terrible opinions of African-American voters.
The one African-American running for the GOP presidential nomination said Wednesday the black community was ‘brainwashed’ for traditionally siding with liberal politicians.
“African-Americans have been brainwashed into not being open minded, not even considering a conservative point of view,” Cain said on CNN’s “The Situation Room” in an interview airing Wednesday between 5-7 p.m. ET. “I have received some of that same vitriol simply because I am running for the Republican nomination as a conservative. So it’s just brainwashing and people not being open minded, pure and simple.”
Ho boy. Yeah, see…some free political campaign advice there, Herman. When you’re trying to convince a voting bloc to back you, it’s best not to insult them as “brain-washed” and “not open minded”. In fact, I believe that’s the chief complaint I hear from the Tea Party about how liberals supposedly feel about them. Given this evidence, I’m going to say that particular complaint is projection, plain and simple.
Cain went on to explain that his interactions with African Americans led him to be optimistic about his own chances with the demographic.
“This whole notion that all African-Americans are not going to vote for Obama is not necessarily true,” Cain said.
He continued, “I believe a third [of African-Americans] would vote for me, based on my own anecdotal feedback. Not vote for me because I’m black but because of my policies.”
So now African-American voters have to prove they’re not racist bigots at the ballot box by voting for the party accusing them of being racist bigots at the ballot box. In the immortal words of Dr. Peter Venkman, “That was your whole plan, huh?” Wow.
Look, I understand the concept that calling the Tea Party names and insulting voters in 2010 didn’t exactly make them want to vote for the Dems last year. But it’s kind of odd to see Herman Cain, a successful, intelligent African-American, to base his entire campaign off the notion that black voters are dumber than a boxcar-sized block of tofu, and the only possible reason they could vote for Democrats is that we’re too stupid to know any better because we just haven’t looked at how great Republican policies are for us.
Well, let’s see, African-American unemployment was over 20% under Reagan, fell, shot up to 15% under Bush 41, dropped steadily under Clinton, shot back up again after Bush’s financial crisis to 15% again, (after the banks collapsed the economy based on selling crappy subprime loans to minority homeowners.) Yeah, Republican policies really, really were great for black people. Let’s have more of those.
Also, the Republicans making assumptions that we’re all welfare-taking affirmative action sad sacks that are just parasites on the awesome white people’s country. Cause our ancestors originally came here for the free room and board and quaint cuisine. Yeesh.
I ask if they think we’re really this stupid, but the answer is so obvious it’s depressing.
Last week a hard-core conservative friend told me I couldn’t possibly be part of President Obama’s base (i.e., a solid Democrat), as I’d declared just moments before, because I’m not black. So I’m kinda looking forward to him trying to explain how conservative whites who vote for Cain can’t possibly be part of the Republican base for that same reason.
Please don’t hold your breath waiting for that answer.
That doesn’t even make sense. I’m a Scotch Irish lass who is hard core base of President Obama. He’s got all kinds of colors and the rainbow too.
Poor deluded brainwashed igits.
Heh, I saw a Herman Cain 2012 bumper sticker on a car here in Lexington, KY. the other day. My eyes nearly jumped out of my head I was so shocked. All I could think of was “Former Godfather’s Pizza CEO and radio talk show host . . . Herman Cain.”
Kneegrow, Please
He thinks he’ll get a third of the Black votes. LOL
Like he’d even win the GOP nomination to begin with.
Cain appears to be a ‘vanity candidate’ to me.
Herman (Monster) Cain’s ideas shows about as much understanding about the role of federal government as OJ has of non-violent conflict resolution in marriage. His 9-9-9 flat tax nonsense shows just how little he understands about how federal funding actually works. National sales taxes are extremely anti-poor and regressive as well as hampers interstate commerce, hence why we don’t have one. His plan is the Bush Tax cut and Reaganomics on steroids and acid. 9% on income for billionaires? You could take 50% of the richest people’s money and their collective still be worth more than half of the continent Africa. But don’t let a thing like Math and logic get in they of all that buck dancing, Herman.
Herman (Monster) Cain is riding high on the same kind of slave catcher, shuck and jive right stupidity that made Alan Keyes and J.C. Watts the flavors of the month a few years ago and got ‘Hip-Hop’ Micheal Steele into the RNC chairmanship. Cain says the kind backwards, self-loathing, super racists ignorant dribble that right wingers eat up like my cat eats Purina One. This is white racist guilt at its finest – if a white guy said half the crazy crap Cain says, they’d be drummed off stage as a closet Klansman (except on Fox, of course). Once they’re done with all their fun, they’ll put Herman Cain back into on the lawn with lantern in hand.
THE
AFRICAN AMERICAN RETURN
TO THE
REPUBLICAN PARTY:
IS IT
“JOIN US”
OR
“Welcome Back Home “
By
Russell Consultants & Associates
June 30, 2011
Black & Republicans in the 1800’s
This discourse is merely an opinion, that is primarily based on a perception, derived from the research and observation of an historical record, which clearly revealed the strong connection between African-Americans and the strong anti-slavery movement that later became known as the Republican Party. African-Americans or “Negro’s” as they were known in that time, were fiercely pursuing various levels of freedom and human dignity.
During this period blacks could only peer from behind the bars of racial discrimination, and so desperately prayed for someone from the other side to unlock the door. Pioneers like Sojourner Truth fervently fought for better human rights for slaves and women, she gained her freedom with the assistance of sympathetic white people, and was the first prominent African American woman to become directly involved with the white women’s suffrage movement.
Frederick Douglas fought courageously with support from whites to become one of the foremost leaders of the abolitionist movement. He fought to end slavery within the United States decades before the Civil War. The American Anti-Slavery Society sponsored a tour of lectures to be given by Douglas, making him America’s first great black speaker against slavery. In 1847 he began publishing an anti-slavery paper called the North Star.
The whites, who were tired of the inequality and mistreatment of blacks, formed a social relentless anti-slavery movement that flourished in 1854 as the “Republican Party”. Frederick Douglas eagerly accepted the invitation, and attended the first meeting of the Republican Party in 1854 and campaigned for its nominees. The record reflects a massive wave of white people, fighting politically and socially to free blacks from their incarcerated existence.
This relentless effort was embraced by a big network of republicans composed of political, business and religious leaders. During this comfortable and gratifying period of slavery that was garnished with atrocities, rapes, and the deepest fathoms of human depravity, many white Republicans fought to free the slaves and to stop the cultural destruction of black people. Harriet Tubman during this period led approximately 300 slaves to freedom during nineteen trips.
Her actions brought forth the Fugitive Slave Law and the offer of awards by slave owners for her capture. She too found comfort, love and safety from Republican whites that introduced Harriet to the Underground Railroad, which was a secret network of abolitionists, freed blacks, sympathetic whites and Quakers who helped runaway slaves. Harriet became so devoted to the task that she became the most influential of the black conductors for the Underground Railroad.
The Republicans had set out on a maiden voyage to freedom and respect for enslaved, impoverished Americans who were of African descent. Facing threats of death and injury and seemingly insurmountable odds, they prevailed from a meager passionate beginning, to a legal declaration against the inhuman treatment of black Americans. These human rights efforts were even supported by Republican President Abraham Lincoln.
President Abraham Lincoln announced his intention on September 22, 1862 to abolish slavery, and did sign an executive order on January 1, 1863 literally wiping out slavery by proclaiming the freedom of 3.1 million of the nation’s 4 million slaves. He even started the promise with a good-faith act of immediately releasing 50,000 slaves, with more and more being released as the army advanced. Within 11 years of the Republican Party’s birth, slavery was ended.
The Republicans supported Frederick Douglass efforts to launch another fight for blacks, in the adoption of constitutional amendments that guaranteed voting rights and other civil liberties. After the outbreak of the Civil War, the white Republicans choose Harriet Tubman to serve as a soldier, spy, and a nurse, which she did with distinction. President Abraham Lincoln invited Sojourner Truth to the White House in 1864 where he personally greeted her upon arrival.
To ensure the abolition of slavery everywhere in the U.S., President Lincoln pushed for passage of the Thirteenth Amendment. Congress passed it in February 1865 and it was ratified by the states by December 1865. This of course intensified the Civil War where many white Republican gave their lives to end slavery. President Abraham Lincoln even called for blacks like Frederick Douglass to serve as his adviser during the Civil War.
The legal victory of the Thirteenth Amendment was effective after the Republicans led a ferocious and effective national campaign to totally abolish slavery. Further, the Fourteenth Amendment pushed by Republicans was ratified in 1868 that granted blacks citizenship. The Fifteenth Amendment also pushed by Republicans was ratified in 1870 that granted blacks the right to vote. Republicans passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 which prohibited racial discrimination in public facilities.
Notably, the Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877 was another attempt by Republicans to get the Democrats to stop the lynchings and respect the rights of blacks. This was a major historical accomplishment hard-fought during an 11 year period. The Republicans passed the Civil Rights Acts of 1866 granting black’s protection from the Black Codes and prohibiting racial discrimination in public accommodations as well as the Reconstruction Act of 1867.
Nearly 5 years after the 13th amendment was adopted the United States elected its first black senator Hiram Rhodes Revels of Mississippi in 1870, a Republican who served for 1 year. Revels completed the unfinished term of Jefferson Davis who was the former president of the confederacy. In the Senate, Revels supported civil rights for blacks. After completing his term in the United States Senate, Revels was named president of Alcorn University (now known as Alcorn State University).
The Republican Party compelled Blanche K. Bruce to be the first African American to serve a full term, for 6 years in the United States Senate as a Republican. Bruce was also appointed register of the treasury by President James Garfield in 1881 and 1897. He served as the recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia from 1891 to 1893. Frederick Douglas was also appointed Minister Resident and Consul General to Haiti by President Benjamin Harrison on July 1, 1889.
The Republican Party kept “moving forward” to encourage blacks in education, law, and business, in seeking and fulfilling their right of independence and self-sufficiency. Booker T. Washington rose from slavery and illiteracy, to become the foremost educator and leader, and the most prominent spokesperson for African Americans after the death of Frederick Douglass. He too was supported by the official white and unofficial black Republican Party.
Another black supported by the Republican Party was Ida B. Wells who was a journalist, an advocate for civil rights and an anti-lynching crusader. She helped to found the National Association of Colored Women in 1896 and the Negro Fellowship League, and she worked closely with National Association for the Advancement for Colored People (NAACP) which would be started later by the Republicans.
The Republican Party inspired Mary Terrell a lifelong civil rights and political activist fighting for equal rights for black women. In 1896 she became president of the National Association of Colored Women, and actively involved in the NAACP. At the age of 90 she was in the boycott of Washington, DC restaurants that refused to serve blacks. She won that fight in the Supreme Court in 1953, which upheld the right of blacks to equal service in DC restaurants.
Blacks & Republicans in the 1900’s
In the 1900’s few educational opportunities were available to blacks, but Mary Bethune whose parents were former slaves was supported by a Republican Quaker women in attending school. With that inspiration Mary Bethune became an educator, presidential advisor, civil rights advocate, and one of America’s most influential African American leaders. She united all major black women’s organizations across the nation into one group, the National Council of Negro Women.
As President of the National Council of Negro Women for 14 years, Bethune led campaigns against segregation and discrimination. Presidents Coolidge, Hoover, Roosevelt and Truman sought her advice on issues concerning black Americans, and Franklin Roosevelt appointed her director of the Division of Negro Affairs of the National Youth Administration. She was the first black woman to ever head a federal agency.
To advance civil rights for blacks, Republicans started the NAACP on February 12, 1909, the 100th anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln. The first black head of the NAACP was black Republican James Weldon Johnson who became general secretary in 1920 and wrote the lyrics to the song “Lift Every Voice and Sing”.
William T. Coleman an African American Republican began his law career in 1947, and in 1948 served as a law clerk to U.S. Supreme Court Associate Justice Felix Frankfurter, becoming the first black to serve in that capacity for the nation’s highest court. Coleman was the secretary of transportation in the Ford Administration, and held a number of other public service and national community positions. In 1959 President asked William T. Coleman, to serve on the President’s Commission on Employment Policy, which dealt with increasing minority hiring in the government.
Republican President Dwight D. Eisenhower appointed Chief Justice Earl Warren to the U.S. Supreme Court, which resulted in the 1954 Brown vs. Topeka, Kansas Board of Education decision ending school segregation. Coleman was co-author of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s (LDF) brief on the infamous court case, and helped defend freedom riders and civil rights workers. He successfully argued cases concerning the admission of blacks to segregated universities, and established the constitutionality of interracial marriages.
It was President Eisenhower who pushed to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and sent troops to Arkansas to desegregate schools. In 1958, Eisenhower established a permanent US Civil Rights Commission that had been rejected by prior Democrat presidents, including President Franklin D. Roosevelt. Eisenhower actually took action to effectively end segregation in the military, by enforcing Democrat President Harry Truman’s Executive Order in 1948 to desegregate the military.
The Republicans, after nearly 100 years of victories and defeats was still pushing the agenda for blacks in America. It started in the 1850’s with taking off the chains, releasing human ownership, and then gradually escalated to a pursuit of civil liberties, equal rights, and education and now was entering the 1950’s. The Republicans also were instrumental in the founding of the nations Historically Black Colleges and Universities.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. a Baptist Minister was another infamous black leader that arose during the mid-1950′s who worked with the Republicans for equality for black Americans. He was involved in a Supreme Court decision in 1956 which ended Alabama’s segregation laws that had been enacted by the Democrats. After this success, Dr. King was made president of the newly established Southern Christian Leadership Conference.
Dr. King also solicited help from the black Republican A. Phillip Randolph to help draft and organize the March on Washington in 1963. Dr. King led the 1963 March on Washington where he delivered his most famous “I Have a Dream” speech, and became a national hero as he promoted non-violent means to achieve civil rights reform, and was awarded the 1964 Noble Peace Prize for his efforts.
It was Republican Senator Everett Dirksen who pushed through the landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act, and was to the passage of civil rights legislation in 1957, 1960, 1964 and 1965. Dirksen wrote the language for the 1965 Voting Rights Act bill, and also crafted the language for the Civil Rights Act of 1968 which prohibited discrimination in housing.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hailed Senator Dirksen’s “able and courageous Leadership”, and “The Chicago Defender”, the largest black-owned daily at that time, praised Senator Dirksen “for the grand manner of his generalship behind the passage of the best civil rights measures that have ever been enacted into law since Reconstruction”. In 1966, Edward William Brooke III was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and re-elected in 1972.
He was the first African American Senator born in Washington, DC and the first African American Senator to serve since the Reconstruction era. He graduated from Howard University in 1941 and from Boston University Law School in 1948. Brooke moved to Massachusetts and became the first African American to win a statewide office in Massachusetts when he was elected attorney general in 1962. He was re-elected in 1964.
President Johnson made a prediction that there would be an “exodus” from the Democratic Party because of Johnson’s signing the Civil Rights Act of 1964. During the 1966 presidential campaign, Republican candidate Richard Nixon was personally thanked by Dr. King for his help in passing the Civil Rights Act of 1957. President Richard Nixon was also responsible for the passage of civil rights legislation in the 1970’s, including the Equal Employment Act of 1972.
President Nixon’s motivated the NAACP to start “Affirmative Action” with his 1969 Philadelphia Plan that set the nation’s fist goals and timetables. President Nixon called upon black Republican Art Fletcher to craft the affirmative action plan. The plan was designed to counter the harm caused to blacks when Democrat President Woodrow Wilson kicked all of the blacks out of federal government jobs and prevented blacks from obtaining federal contracts in 1912.
In 1970, President Nixon pushed an ideology called the “Southern Strategy,” to get both black and white Christians in the South to stop voting for Democrats that supported discrimination against black people, and to vote with the Republican Party. The unique perception of Christianity mixed with heart-felt racism, and human atrocities incited the Republicans to defend the core principle of Christianity, which is to “love your neighbor as yourself”.
Republican President Ronald Reagan made Dr. Martin Luther King’s birthday a national holiday, which was followed by several Republican Party appointments to high government posts and positions. Nearly, a century and a half later the Republicans are still pursuing the advancement of African-Americans today, who no longer carry the titles “negro”, or “black”, but are seemingly recognized nation-wide as being Americans from African descent.
In 1989, then Republican President George Herbert Walker Bush positioned Dr. Condoleezza Rice on the staff of the National Security Council as Senior Director of Soviet and Eastern European Affairs in the National Security Council, and appointed her Special Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs.
President George H. W. Bush in 1990 appointed Michael L. Williams an African American man to be Assistant Secretary of Education for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education. He was initially appointed to the Texas Railroad Commission by former Governor George W. Bush in December 1998. Williams was the first African American in Texas history to hold an executive post in the Texas state government.
He also was awarded the Attorney General’s “Special Achievement Award” in 1988 by former U.S. Attorney General Ed Meese for the conviction of six KKK members on federal weapons charges, and served as Special Assistant to Attorney General Richard Thornburgh at the U.S. Department of Justice. There is a continuing pattern of Republicans assisting the ascent of African-Americans into positions of respect, importance, and dignity.
The Republican Party has supported African-Americans in the 21st century in the attainment of many positions including being a Justice of the United States Supreme Court. Clarence Thomas an African-American man served as an Assistant Attorney General of Missouri for 3 years then served as Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the United States Department of Education for 1 year. President Reagan appointed Thomas as Chairman of the United States EEOC for 2 years.
Clarence Thomas served as a Judge of the United States Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit for 1 year, and was later nominated by President George H. W. Bush as an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court, officially taking his seat on October 23, 1991. Supreme Justice Clarence Thomas holds a position by Republican appointment which has very high probabilities to not occur again anytime in the near future.
In November 1994, Congressman JC Watts was elected to represent the fourth district of Oklahoma in the U.S. House of Representatives. In 1996, he delivered a powerful, inspiring speech at the Republican National Convention. The Republican Party even selected him to give the Republican response to President Clinton’s 1997 State of the Union Address. Watts also served as an honorary co-chairman at the 2000 Republican National Convention
Watts won re-election in 1996, 1998 and 2000. Fellow congressmen quickly recognized his leadership qualities and elected him chairman of the House Republican Conference, the fourth-highest position in the House, in 1998 and again in 2000. The Republican Party selected JC Watts to be the chairman of the premier training organization for Republican candidates across America called the GOPAC, in March 2003.
African Americans & Republicans in the 21st century
Dr. Condoleezza Rice became the first black woman in our country’s history to be entrusted with the security of our nation as the National Security Advisor on January 22, 2001 at a time of unprecedented threat; she also was the first woman to hold that position. In her appointment by George Walker Bush (son) on January 26, 2005, she became the first black woman in our country’s history to hold our nation’s highest cabinet office, as the 66th Secretary of State.
In 2010, the Republican Party endorsed Jennifer Carroll an African-American woman as Florida’s 18th Lieutenant Governor. Upon her election, she became the first African American woman ever elected to this position in Florida. She ran for the Florida House of Representatives in 2003 and was the first African American female elected in the Florida Legislature’s history. As a legislator, she was Deputy Majority Leader for 1 year, and Majority Whip for 2 years.
The Republican Party elected an African-American man named Tim Scott on November 2, 2010 as South Carolina’s Congressman for the 1st Congressional District. In 1995, Scott was elected to the Charleston County Council where he served for 13 years. He was elected Chairman 4 times and chaired the Economic Development Committee 5 times. In 2008, Scott served in the SC House of Representatives as Chairman of the Freshman Caucus and House Whip.
Michael Steele became Maryland’s first African American County Republican Party chairman, and in 1995 he was selected Maryland State Republican Man of the Year. In December 2000, Steele became the first ever African American to be elected as chairman of a State Republican Party and served as a member of the Executive Committee of the Republican National Committee.
In 2002, President Bush appointed Michael Steele to serve on the Board of Visitors of the U. S. Naval Academy. In January 2003, Steele made history becoming the first African American elected to a Maryland state office and the first Republican Lieutenant Governor in Maryland. Michael Steele was later elected as the first African American Chairman of the Republican National Committee and helped attain victories for Republicans in the 2010 mid-term election.
The Republican Party supported J. Kenneth Blackwell an African-American man who ran and won the seat as Ohio Secretary of State. He is the state’s constitutional officer chiefly responsible for elections, the management of business records, and the protection of intellectual property and corporate identities. Blackwell’s public service includes terms as mayor of Cincinnati, an undersecretary at the U.S. Department of Housing & Urban Development and U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations Human Rights Commission.
Republican Governor Bob Taft of Ohio selected Jennette B. Bradley as a running mate she became the first African-American female Lieutenant Governor in the nation. She was elected to office in November 2002 and served until 2005 as Lt. Governor and Director of the Ohio Department of Commerce. Gov. Taft, subsequently, appointed her to become Ohio’s 45th Treasurer of State which she served until the end of 2006.
On March 2, 2005, President George W. Bush recognized Jackie Robinson posthumously with the Congressional Gold Medal for breaking baseball’s “color barrier,” and becoming the first African American in the major league. He was also a pioneer in the nation’s civil rights movement and exemplified the utmost courage, determination, character and competitiveness. On June 23, 2004, President George W. Bush awarded Edward William Brooke III with the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Republican President George W. Bush appointed more blacks to high-level positions than any president in U.S. history and who spent record money on education, job training and health care to directly help black Americans prosper. According to the Washington Post, in one year alone under President George W. Bush, over $500 billion was spent on over 80 poverty-related programs, showing that Republicans still take actions to help blacks at the state and federal levels.
During the Bush Administration federal spending on education increased nearly 40 percent, with record expenditures for important programs that predominantly affect blacks. The No Child Left Behind Act, a civil rights measure designed to achieve education reform, was fully funded to the tune of $13.1 billion. President Bush also spent $18.8 million for Historically Black Colleges and Universities, and Pell Grant funding nearly doubled, helping more than 5.5 million students attend college in the 2008-09 school year.
Of particular importance to blacks was President Bush’s faith-based initiative that put church-based social services programs on an equal footing with secular programs when competing for government grants. During President Bush’s tenure, over 1,200 community health centers opened or expanded nationwide, which helped provide treatment to nearly 17 million poor people. The number of people covered by affordable and portable Health Savings Account-eligible plans increased 35 percent from 2007 to 2008, and $10 billion was spent for Medicaid.
More than 40 million Americans were provided better access to prescription drugs through the market-based Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit. The Bush administration secured $7.1 billion for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to repair and enhance the levees, make the entire hurricane protection system better and stronger, and begin to restore the wetlands surrounding the Greater New Orleans Area.
Since the Gulf Coast School Library Recovery Initiative began in May 2006, the Laura Bush Foundation for America’s Libraries awarded more than $2.5 Million to 54 Gulf Coast schools. Black Americans also benefited from President Bush’s tax cuts that were provided to all Americans who pay taxes. Poor blacks received an additional gift of $1,658 per family under the Earned Income Tax Credit program. When the economy is growing, creating more job and business opportunities, blacks also prosper.
In 2011, Herman Cain and African American man announced his candidacy for the Republican nomination for President of the United States. He is herald as another Republican supported African American success story for other African Americans to mirror. Over 150 since its beginning the Republican Party is still pushing and supporting African Americans in their pursuit of academic, business, and ultimate political achievements.
[This document provides a factual synopsis of only a small fraction and picture image of the historical bonding between African Americans and the Republican Party. Thousands of “unknown” and “un-named” whites and blacks have suffered tremendously to bring African Americans to the level of personal achievement that we see today in the sports, movie, music, and entertainment industry. This composition did not intend to cast much reflection on the activities of the Democratic opposition to all of these Republican feats, except, to include the following excerpt]:
A Short History of Reconstruction,
(Harper & Row Publishers, Inc., 1990)
By
Dr. Eric Foner,
The renown liberal historian who is the DeWitt Clinton Professor of
History at Columbia University.
Dr. Foner in his book explores the history of the origins of Ku Klux Klan and provides a chilling account of the atrocities committed by Democrats against Republicans, black and white. On page 146 of his book, Professor Foner wrote: “Founded in 1866 as a Tennessee social club, the Ku Klux Klan spread into nearly every Southern state, launching a ‘reign of terror‘ against Republican leaders black and white.” Page 184 of his book contains the definitive statements: “In effect, the Klan was a military force serving the interests of the Democratic party, the planter class, and all those who desired the restoration of white supremacy. It aimed to destroy the Republican party’s infrastructure, undermine the Reconstruction state, reestablish control of the black labor force, and restore racial subordination in every aspect of Southern life.”
Heartbreaking are Professor Foner’s recitations of the horrific acts of terror inflicted by Democrats on black and white Republicans. Recounted on pages 184-185 of his book is one such act of terror: “Jack Dupree, a victim of a particularly brutal murder in Monroe County, Mississippi – assailants cut his throat and disemboweled him, all within sight of his wife, who had just given birth to twins – was ‘president of a republican club‘ and known as a man who ‘would speak his mind.”
“White gangs roamed New Orleans, intimidating blacks and breaking up Republican meetings,“ wrote Dr. Foner on page 146 of his book. On page 186, he wrote: “An even more extensive ‘reign of terror’ engulfed Jackson, a plantation county in Florida’s panhandle. ‘That is where Satan has his seat,‘ remarked a black clergyman; all told over 150 persons were killed, among them black leaders and Jewish merchant Samuel Fleischman, resented for his Republican views and for dealing fairly with black customers.“
THE UGLY TRUTH
In a letter to the North Carolina Democratic Party, North Carolina Lieutenant Governor Richard H. Moore wrote: “We can no longer ignore the fact that many of us grew up being taught a much sanitized – and inaccurate – history…. The truth is ugly.”
The ugly racist history of the Democratic Party prompted Wayne Perryman to write his book “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into The Love Affair Between Blacks and Democrats”. Perryman then filed a lawsuit against the Democratic Party on December 10, 2004 – that went all the way to the US Supreme Court – demanding an apology on behalf of black Americans. However, after admitting their history of racism under oath in court, the Democrats refused to apologize and, with an army of lawyers, used the legal technicality of “standing” to avoid a court order against them, knowing they can take the black vote for granted.
The question is not “Why did black Americans in 1964 leave the Republican Party?” its “Why after over 150 years of blood, sweat, and tears did black American’s abandon their first love the Republican Party?” Another question that deserves an answer is “What have the Democrats done in 47 years that is anywhere comparative to the Republican Party’s sincere and heartfelt investment in African Americans?”
May this document fill the void of Black History that has been denied from the true understanding that African Americans have of their great leaders and the people that motivated, financed, and socially supported those great leaders. There is NOTHING in this document that can be refuted by ANY DEMOCRAT in 2011.
African Americans should not be simply joining the Republican Party, they should be responding to that colossal, gigantic sign above the door of the Republican House saying “Welcome Back Home”, in a mass exodus from the Democratic Party.
Link instead of copy and paste.
Where did all those horrible racist Democrats go when the Democratic Party stood up for civil rights?
Wow.
I never knew that there was no limit to the amount of horseshit one could post in a single comment on this blog. Thanks for showing me this important lesson.
Geez! Out of all that rambling, here are two things you seem to either gotten wrong or not mentioned at all:
Hayes-Tilden Compromise of 1877 – It ended Reconstruction and enabled the South to eventually enact segregation. The Republicans wanted one of their own in the White House so bad – they were willing to sell out all those newly elected black Republican politicans in the South. Despite the compromise stated that Southern Democrats would have to respect black rights’ – it provided no means to enforce this. Your glossing over the full ramifications of the Hayes-Tilden act is pretty sad.
The Southern Strategy – Southern Democrats who long since hated Abraham Lincoln for the very reasons you mentioned decided to join his party after loosing the fight for segregation. Richard Nixon openly courted these old Southern Democrats. And eventually, the entire region would become Republican.
When he first announced his candidacy for President back in 1980, Ronald Reagan engaged in a little “Southern Strategy” of his own. He made his announcement in a Mississippi town where 3 civil rights workers were shot and killed during the sixties. The crowd was all white and many were carrying Confederate flags.
So, somehow the party that was more than willing to accommodate the likes of Jesse Helms and Strom Thurmond, who both remained racists until their dying days and had Reagan announce his candidacy in a town with a troubling racial past using coded racial language is still the same one headed by Abraham Lincoln?
Mr. Russell, there’s a thing called “party realignment.” It’s a very important political concept that explains how parties change their platforms in reaction to current events. This process started between the Democratic and Republican parties immediately after the Civil War and was completed a decade or so after Civil Rights were passed. The parties have switched places and this meandering pose you’ve posted here conveniently ignores that.
I’m really getting sick and tired of conservatives trying to pull this crap.
t fucking l; d fucking r
The thing is, “Bishop”, you’re not gifted with insight, you’re just (a) garrulous, and (b) dead wrong*.
* The other possible interpretation is that you’re a bald-faced liar. Care to show us which, conclusively?
For a dump like that, the proper penalty is to be forced to eat the print-out (in large font) :)
As an African-American independent voter, Cain is 100% right
Most African-Americans have become slaves to the Democratic party, and they’ve put themselves in a position where neither side really gives a damn about them.
Democrats don’t have to keep their promises or do anything at all to improve the quality of life for the African-American community because they know no matter what: they’re getting 90% of our community’s vote every single election. The Democrats know that most blacks have a blind hatred for Republicans, so the liberals can lie to us, ignore us, do anything and we still guarantee them votes. It’s like a relationship with a woman who has a boyfriend that cheats on her and treats her bad. She knows it, but still has dinner on the table every night and continues to look out for him. No incentive to improve anything.
As far as the Republicans go, they’ve already acknowledged our community’s stance. They’re thinking “No matter what the issue is, no matter what our opinions are, 90% of black people will vote for Democrats. Most of them think we’re devils, so there’s no chance in changing their minds. So why should we try to court them at all?”
Democrats ACT as if they have our best interests at heart, just long enough to string us along and rack up votes for them. Republicans don’t cater to us because they can’t win with us. We’ve put ourselves in a horrible position on the political landscape where our opinions are not valued, no one is fighting for our votes because we willingly give it away.
I’m not in any way telling people how to think, I’m simply asking people to START thinking. People literally died fighting for the right to vote, and the way some just give theirs away is sickening.
errrrrrybody’s black on the intertrons, innit?
GTFO.
No they haven’t become “slaves” ..that’s just stupid Herman talk. The republicon teabag party is full of liars, racists, and homophobes. Who the fuck in their right mind wants to join a party that shits on everyone except Koch fascist filth. Brainwashed idiots..that’s who.
Sorry, Jay, but when you have a party that has openly embraced segregationists like Strom Thurmond and Jesse Helms – it shouldn’t surprise you that African-Americans have been suspicious of the Republican Party for the last 40-50 years.
And when you have the legendary (and late) GOP strategist Lee Atwater openly admitting he was fueling white racial antagonism against blacks by using coded language because overt racial epithets were no longer accepted – why should we “come home” to the GOP?
Atwater was instrumental in the campaigns of Reagan and Bush 41. And he was a mentor to both Karl Rove and Bush 43.
In the past 3-4 years, the GOP racism has become more overt. They are no longer using the coded language perfected by Atwater. We have emails with racist depictions of Obama and his family being exchanged among party leaders. We have GOP presidential candidacy signing a pledge that said blacks were better under slavery than today. We have Tea Party candidates making overtly racist statements like, “Most black men are drug dealers.” And the list goes on.
Sure the Democratic Party may be stringing us along but until you can explain why the vast majority of the old segregationists decided become GOP (despite hating Lincoln almost as much as MLK) – what do you expect?
Why should any African American (including Herman Cain) be comfortable in a political party with this background?
I am also an independent, but there’s no way I would ever support the GOP. Not with the track record they have had within the last 40-50 years.
Let me remind you Jay, it was the white vote that placed Obama as head of our country. I’m insulted by your talk that dems use black people. You are either a troll for T-Bags or know nothing of our recent history, either way you’re wrong.
How incredibly disengenuous and condescending.
Have you considered the idea that Black people have weighed the pros and cons of both parties and realized one stands with things they support; ie Affirmative Action, Equal Rights, Hate Crimes, Discrimination, Minimum Wage Increases, ProChoice, etc? Consistently, the Democratic Party and their allies has stood on those issues while the GOP has worked tirelessly to chip them away. Not to mention how the Republican Party has not only stood back and watched but encouraged racism in order to gain power. And how they have done everything they could to denigrate and imply Obama is less than because of the color of his skin?
Black people have watched, taken note and they do think, despite you nasty suggestion they do not.
I think it’s perhaps YOU that have been brainwashed.
okay.
first, Herman Cain is nothing more than Alan Keyes 2.0 to me. period.
and this claim that Black people are ‘brainwashed’ into voting Democrat
is a crock. there are Black Republicans, but the couple i’ve run into
have been more leftist than one would think. Cain never paid the Black
community any mind; how do you announce you’re running to a predominately
WHITE crowd in Atlanta unless you know there’s an icicle’s chance in hell
you have with Black people?
and to the person who posted that long diatribe? i got something for you
right here from another Black Republican: Jackie Robinson. put this in
with whatever you’re smoking: (from his autobiography, I Never Had It Made)
“I was not as sold on the Republican party as I was on the governor. Every chance I got, while I was campaigning, I said plainly what I thought of the right-wing Republicans and the harm they were doing. I felt the GOP was a minority party in term of numbers of registered voters and could not win unless they updated their social philosophy and sponsored candidates and principles to attract the young, the black, and the independent voter. I said this often from public, and frequently Republican, platforms. By and large Republicans had ignored blacks and sometimes handpicked a few servile leaders in the black community to be their token “niggers”. How would I sound trying to go all out to sell Republicans to black people? They’re not buying. They know better.”
Beautiful Chris, just beautiful. – I thank you.