Things that make you go 'hmmmm'

Much talk has been made lately as to the necessity of maintaining existing civil rights initiatives. Should they be allowed to languish into nothingness or should the legislative underpinnings of these civil rights initiatives remain in place. Well, as an African-American, I would simply say, let us maintain the course of these legislated solutions. I can not see what it would hurt by maintaining these legal provisions, nor can I see any good that would be gained by allowing them to fade away. From my perspective, this is simply a no-brainer.

As I was looking at this issue, I ran across what I would consider some very interesting information. Check this out. The Republican Party was started in 1850 by those, who among other things were anti-slavery activists. When Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, won the white house, he subsequently issued the emancipation proclamation on January 1, 1863. After this the Republicans worked to pass the thirteenth Amendment(did away with slavery), the fourteenth Amendment(guaranteed equal protection for ex-slaves), and the fifteenth amendment(secured the vote for ex-slaves)

During reconstruction, while Republicans were a majority in congress, they passed a Civil Rights Act in 1866 recognizing blacks as U.S. citizens. In 1875 Republicans led the way again with the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which was later declared unconstitutional by the U.S. Supreme Court.

In his signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat, praised the Republicans for their commitment to the Act. As a matter of record, it was an Illinois Republican by the name of Everett Dirksen who proclaimed, in the words of Victor Hugo, "Stronger than all the armies is an idea whose time has come." He continued, "The time has come for equality of opportunity in sharing in government, in education, and in employment. It will not be stayed or denied. It is here!", in defense of the Act. Mr. Dirksen subsequently received the Leadership Conference of Civil Rights Award, presented by Mr. Roy Wilkins(former NAACP president), for his strong civil rights leadership. Oh yeah, Republicans had to overcome a Democratic filibuster that lasted over 50 days to bring the Civil Rights Act to a vote.

Even here in Wilmington, we had a history of Republicans working with our community to correct the problems of past racial injustices and to include our community in economic and political life in Wilmington. This alliance was so successful that in 1898 the Democrats conspired a bloody rebellion that washed away the economic and political gains in the African-American community here in Wilmington. Remember, it was black and white Republicans that were disenfranchised.

During the presidential campaign in 1956, African-Americans voted 3-2 in favor of Republicans. In the 1960 presidential campaign, an interesting series of events occurred. Dr. King was arrested during a sit-in in Greensboro, NC. When then presidential candidate, Mr. John F. Kennedy heard of this he called Dr. Kings wife, Mrs. Corretta Scott King with words of encouragement. When Dr. King was released from jail, he made a statement expressing his appreciation for candidate Kennedy’s call. Dr. King specifically said his statement was not to be interpreted as an endorsement of Kennedy. However, in the absence of a call from the Republican presidential candidate, Mr. Richard Nixon, the African-American community viewed this action by candidate Kennedy favorably. The result was a vote in the African-American community 7-3 Democrat. This shift in political allegiance appears to have continued up to the present time.

Am I saying that we should all go out and vote Republican this very minute? No, that would not necessarily be the wise thing to do. However, I would suggest that we become more informed as to why we vote and for whom we are voting for. Are we in fact voting for and supporting ideas that strengthen and uplift our communities? Or are we responding to warm and fuzzy symbolism that produces nothing short of broken dreams for the majority of our people. This must be answered by each of us. All of us should vote according to our conscience. The important idea here is that we inform our conscience with our political history. But doesn't this make you go 'hmmmmm'?