Letter to the Editor

Democrats Failure of Black America


Martin Luther King, unknown to most, was a Republican. He believed Black America should strive to achieve the most of each opportunity through a dream of equality.

Most in Black America aligned themselves as Democrats through the social programs of the New Deal created by President Franklin D. Roosevelt, although he appointed a life member of the Ku Klux Klan, Sen. Hugo Black, Democrat of Alabama to the Supreme Court and in 1944, FDR chose as his vice president Harry Truman, who had joined the Ku Klux Klan in Kansas City in 1922. Prior to Roosevelt's New Deal, a majority of Black America had been Republican, thanks in part to President Abraham Lincoln's yeoman efforts to end slavery.

While Black America has been loyal to the Democrat party, Black America has been taken for granted by the Democrat party, using racial divisions and pandering from social dependence of government to maintain the base of Black America without providing any substance in return. Even today, the driving force behind policies like affirmative action is the liberal belief that Black America can't make it in America without assistance from the left. Such government assistance and lowering of educational standards have only weakened Black America. These lower educational standards, such as Ebonics, where English is mixed with slang, only places Black American youths at a disadvantage.

The Republican Party believes in standards of aspiration, provided by education, hard work, and a strong family to teach inner values to their children. The Republican Party is the party of Abraham Lincoln, the first Republican president. Under President Lincoln, the Republican Party was formed as the anti-slavery party, which believed in a color-blind society, where "all people are created equal".

The Democrats? They supported slavery and were the ones turning water hoses and dogs on black protesters in the 1960's. Remember Governor George Wallace? Democrat. Bull Connor? Democrat. United States Attorney General, Robert Kennedy, Democrat, used wiretapping to spy on Martin Luther King. The President of the Senate and current United States Senator, Robert Byrd (Democrat - West Virginia) has commonly used the term "nigger" in the past. He was not only a former member of the Ku Klux Klan, he was a "Grand Kleagle" - an official recruiter who signed members for $10 a head. He joined because it "offered excitement" and because the Klan was an effective force in "promoting American values."

Although he no longer claims to be a Klan member, this Democrat leader filibustered the 1964 Civil Rights Act for more than 14 hours. He has also opposed the nomination of the United States Supreme Court's only two black justices, liberal Thurgood Marshall and conservative Clarence Thomas. During the vote of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, 82 percent of Republicans in the Senate voted for it while only 64 percent of Democrats supported it.

As recently as the 1980s, Sen. Ernest Hollings, Democrat of South Carolina, publicly referred to blacks as "darkies" and Hispanics as "wetbacks" without suffering any punishment from his party.

In 1983, Republican President Ronald Reagan signed into law "Martin Luther King Day" as a national holiday. However in 1985, then Governor Bill Clinton, Democrat, signed Act 985 into law making the birth dates of Martin Luther King and Robert E. Lee, the general who led the Confederate Army, state holidays on the same day in Arkansas.

For 12 years, Governor Clinton did nothing to remove the Confederate symbol in the state flag nor did he make any attempt to repeal a law that designated "Confederate Flag Day" as the Saturday immediately proceeding Easter each year. President Clinton has been hailed as "America's first black president" and seen favorably in Black America; but what has he done for Black America? On May 5, 1993, he praised ex-Arkansas Senator J. William Fulbright, as "my mentor" as he gave the nation's highest civilian award - The Presidential Medal of Freedom- to a man who spent the vast majority of his public career and life as a proud segregationist, who voted against the 1964 and 1965 Civil Rights Act.

Republican President George W. Bush has appointed more black Americans to higher positions than any other American president. If President Bush were a Democrat, many, if not most in Black America would find his record commendable; but since he is a Republican, he gets no credit for the positive initiatives he has undertaken that would benefit Black America including a voucher program for disadvantaged students in predominately black areas who are mired in under performing schools, allowing parents a choice where they can send their children to school. However, this program has been blocked by Democrats.

If anyone in Black America votes or run for office as a Republican, they are immediately characterized as a traitor by the Democrat Party, often slandering and using fear tactics to hold on to a base they have taken for granted.

In 2006, Ken Blackwell and Lynn Swann each ran for governor in Ohio and Pennsylvania respectively, while Michael Steele ran for the senate in Maryland. Each faced racism as Oreo cookies were thrown at them, portraying them as black on the outside; but white inside.

While there are racist on the right and the left, according to a study at Yale, white Republicans were more likely to vote for a Republican candidate who is black while white Democrats were less likely to vote for black Democrat candidate.

Does the Democrat Party take advantage of those in Black America? Is it good for Black America to be represented mainly by one political party? Black America can not gain political leverage if the Democrat Party is not forced to compete. The traditional solutions of the Democrat Party have not truly served Black America. It is time for Black America to believe they can do better and achieve the dream envisioned by Martin Luther King.

More information about the Democrats failure of Black America can be found at www.nationalblackrepublicans.com

Frank Aquila is a Manteca resident and president of the South San Joaquin Republicans. He can be reached at mantecarepublicans@yahoo.com