I grew up in a Republican home. I grew up with a Mother who was a ground-breaker both in the feminist movement and in the civil rights movement. She was a Charter Member of the NAACP and in her role as Executive Director of our region's Girl Scout council, she was instrumental in opening up scouting to minorities and started the first African-American troop. She marched in Birmingham and later in Buffalo, NY and she went out of her way to help our housekeeper move from domestic work to a professional position and teacher (1957). And if you read my post here, you know that one of the four women she admired most was Coretta Scott King. My father was of the same mind-set as my Mother, only he used his contacts in the sports world to try to promote the BEST players, no matter what color their skin. He came from a long line of Quakers, although was himself a Presbyterian by the time I was born, and he always reminded me that my ancestors had been very active with the Underground Railroad and had had their own farm confiscated when it was discovered they were giving shelter to run-a-way slaves. I was taught tolerance, I was taught that I had a responsibility to stand up to racism and intolerance. So, I always thought it strange that Republicans were considered somehow to be anti-civil rights or racist. I never saw it in my home nor in the homes of my friends. It wasn't until I got out in the work world that I came in contact with racism for the first time and it was a black employee who was so anti-white, she was nearly impossible to work with. The chip on her shoulder was more like a 2x4 and any attempt to be friends was treated with both disdain and disrespect and frankly, rudeness. When several of us finally gave up trying to include her in our activities and our lunch gatherings, she used that as proof-positive we were all racists, never taking responsibility for the fact that she just wasn't a very nice person.
A few years later, when I got involved with Republican politics, I saw the same thing.
So, today, when I read the following on Curiouser and Curiouser, it reminded me again of those days. But most of all, it makes me wonder -- how did the Democrats manage to convince the minorities of this country that they were the champions of the cause and that Republicans are not? It still doesn't make sense.
Interesting Factoid
In 1964 the US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act. In the Senate version of the bill, the votes were:
Democratic Party: 46-22 or 69 percent of Democrats in favor
Republican Party: 27-6 or 81 percent of Republicans in favorThat version of the bill was then sent to the House for a vote, and the results were:
Democratic Party: 153-91 or 63 percent of Democrats in favor
Republican Party: 136-35 or 80 percent of Republicans in favorAdd to that the knowledge that the Emancipation Proclamation was authored by Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, and you start to get a feel for who really put their votes behind what they believed were and who was just talking through their hats.
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