Playing Politics with Race

It’s been said, “the greatest trick the Devil ever pulled was convincing the world he doesn’t exist.” The truth behind that statement lies in the power to deceptively trap your opponent by framing the debate around pre-cooked assumptions.

Liberals have been operating this Orwellian Magic for years, suggesting, for instance, that the only political choices we have across the spectrum are Socialist-communism on the Left, or Socialist-fascism on the Right. Either way, the choice is Socialism. Pretty nifty, huh?

Hillary Clinton’s latest controversy involves comments she made about Lyndon Johnson and civil rights. It’s another case in point for this political trickery. The deception here involves the Democrat party’s exclusive claim to be the only ones who care about African Americans.

Hillary said, “it took a president to get it done,” suggesting- in that annoying self-serving manner of hers- that presidential leadership, (ostensibly the kind she would provide), is a better qualification than the “I Have a Dream,” hopeful work of such folks as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. or Barack Obama!

Of course, it was wrong for Hillary to discount the more important work of Dr. King- as Obama correctly pointed out it was “ill-advised and unfortunate.” But, even more interesting, is the convenient omission of Sen. Everett Dirksen and the Republicans in Congress who voted, in greater numbers, (80 to 60 percent), to get the bill passed over Southern Democrat objections.

Johnson gets credit for signing the bill, but that shouldn’t excuse his well-known hostility towards African Americans. As a senator, his record was perfect. He voted against EVERY civil rights bill that came before him, even anti-lynching legislation!

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was JFK’s weaker version of an earlier GOP bill. As senator in 1957, he voted against civil rights. This bill of 1964 was modeled after the Republican Civil Rights Act of 1875. The old Act contained almost identical language, but was made ineffective due to the lack of enforcement in the Democrat South.

The 1964 bill was necessary to reverse the government prejudice first practiced by Democrat President Woodrow Wilson. Wilson, whose favorite film was the racist “Birth of a Nation,” removed African Americans from Federal positions and appointed KKK member Hugo Black to the Supreme Court over Republican objections.

The 1964 bill was filibustered by Dem. Sen. Robert Byrd for 14 hours. “Grand Kleagle” Byrd had been an official recruiter for the Ku Klux Klan. He also lobbied against military integration, calling African Americans “race mongrels.”

By contrast, Sen. Dirksen, a Republican who helped draft the 1964 legislation, fought consistently for civil rights beginning in the 1950s. It’s fair to say, that without his help, the bill would have never passed. Johnson reportedly told Hubert Humphrey, “you know this bill can’t pass unless you get Ev Dirksen.”

It’s fascinating how successful the Left has been over the years in painting Republicans as racists, while simultaneously ignoring their own blatant record of slavery, Klan terrorism, bigotry and segregation.

Bill Clinton’s political mentor was segregationist Sen. J. William Fulbright. Sen. Al Gore, Sr. not only voted against the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but tried to sabotage it behind the scenes!

This week we are celebrating the life and work of Martin Luther King, Jr.- a Republican who fought for Equal Rights based upon the concept of judging, not by the “color of one’s skin but by the content of one’s character,” (i.e. a difference between individual behavior that is chosen versus circumstances of birth which are not). The King Holiday was signed into law by President Reagan in 1983.

It’s interesting to note that JFK was opposed to Dr. King’s 1963 “March on Washington” that was initiated to promote civil rights legislation. The event, organized by black Republican Phillip Randolph, was thought to be harmful to Kennedy’s 1964 re-election prospects.

One shouldn’t forget that it was Kennedy who authorized wire-tapping on Dr. King. King once referred to JFK as “schizophrenic on civil rights.”

Other prominent African American Republicans, in addition to MLK, include:
Frederick Douglas, Harriet Tubman, Booker T. Washington, George Washington Carver, Hiram Revels (first black senator), Joseph Rainey (first black congressman), Ida Wells, Carter Woodson, Jackie Robinson, Colin Powell, Rod Paige, Clarence Thomas, Alphonso Jackson, Lynn Swann, Thomas Sowell, Denzel Washington, Condoleezza Rice and Dr. Alveda King, the niece of Dr. King and founder of King for America, Inc.

Liberal Democrats continue to enjoy nearly 90% African American support by propagating the myth that their party is the sole friend of civil rights. They have been running our inner-cities for decades, and yet there has been no significant improvement. The so-called “War on Poverty,” begun by LBJ’s Great Society, has managed to spend $7 trillion over the years without diminishing the poverty rate. What they have created since the Sixties, is a cycle of government-dependency that has decimated the once strong African American family. This is the very opposite of Individual Empowerment.

Liberal welfare policies, in effect, actually have more in common with the paternalistic plantations of old. In the words of Don Henley, “you can check out, but you can never leave!”

Someday, all the lies of the Devil will be exposed for what they are, and with That Truth, all will be set free. Until that day, I guess we can still Dream! (send comments to WFC83197@aol.com, or mail to P.O.B. 114, Jacksboro, TN 37757)