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Thank you for your reply, Aloha. Just to clarify, I didn't say the Democrat party was the only one perpetuating the notion of victimhood. Other organizations

Thank you for your reply, Aloha. Just to clarify, I didn't say the Democrat party was the only one perpetuating the notion of victimhood. Other organizations do as well, but the Democrat party are the biggest, in my opinion. Here's why I feel that way: The Democrats like to hoist around this big banner of Civil Rights and claim that it was them who brought equality to America in 1964, but this is a lie. The Democrats set civil rights back by almost 100 years. During the Reconstruction era, it was Republicans (Thaddeus Stevens and Charles Sumner, in particular) who steamrolled Democrat president Andrew Johnson and got huge civil rights bills and the 14th Amendment passed over Johnson's veto. These Republicans granted the freedmen citizenship and the right to vote, much to the chagrin of the Democratic party. They also outlawed segregation, made it illegal to deny public services and amenities to the freedmen, and attempted to pay restitution to the freedmen in the form of 40 acres of land and enough money to build a house. The Democrats blocked that from happening though. Basically, the freed slaves were given every civil right that black people enjoy today back in the 1800s, but when the Republicans lost power in Congress, the Democrats took it all away. Some like to distance themselves from this history and claim that during the early 20th Century that the Democrats and Republicans switched roles, but this is also an attempt to rewrite the facts. In truth, Lyndon B. Johnson, a Democrat, did sign the Civil Rights Act of 1964, but the Democrats didn't want it, and it was only because of the Republicans in Congress that the act passed and became law. Ever since then, especially right before an election, you'll notice that it is the Democrats who race-bait and try to get everyone all stirred up again. It is Democrats who preach the false narrative that Republicans hate black people. In other words, they are using, as they always have, racial prejudices, or at least the illusion of such, to get votes. I was born in the 1960s, and I've seen a lot of Democrat candidates promise the moon to black voters, but I've never really seen them deliver. The state of equality between blacks and whites has largely gone unchanged. In my opinion, The Democrat party uses and abuses black people to get power. Please don't misunderstand. I know that Republicans have screwed things up too, and I know that there are segments of the nation where racial prejudices are still thriving. I'm simply giving my reasoning for calling out the Democrat party in my original post. If you'd like to discuss that further, or point out where I'm wrong, I'd be happy to have that discussion. The entire purpose of my original post was to open up a dialogue and offer some things to think about.

Aloha 11y ago
I'm not really going to comment on the motives of the radical republicans, as they were very much outside the mainstream of american politics at the time. While they did seek to help the black man, it was not because of their belief in equality, but rather to punish the south, which in my opinion doomed the effort to failure from the start. LBJ was probably the most politically skillful president politically we've ever had - he knew where all the hidden levers were in Congress and used them to his full advantage to get the Civil Rights Act passed. I'm not a huge fan of LBJ's politics (I'm more on the libertarian side of the street), but I'm in awe of his abilities. The story as it goes as to how LBJ changed from someone with little opinion on race to a champion of civil rights is amusing, purportedly LBJ, Lady Bird, and their cook Zephyr were on a trip thru rural Texas, LBJ and Lady Bird stopped to use the restroom at a service station, about 5 miles down the road after, Zephyr asked LBJ to pull over, so she could use the restroom - he asked her why she didn't use it previously at the service station, she responded that there were no colored restrooms there, so he pulled over and did her business on the side of the road - that was purportedly the catalyst moment for him - he'd also had experience as a schoolteacher at a segregated mexican school in the 30's, which also shaped his view.
- innocentoldguy 11y ago
  Your statement about Thaddeus Stevens isn't correct. Yes, Stevens did want to punish the south, but he was staunchly opposed to slavery and was a strong proponent of civil rights (even more so than Abraham Lincoln was). Early in Stevens' legal career, he was hired by a Maryland slave owner who wanted him to represent the slaver in a court case to retrieve a runaway slave named Charity Butler. Stevens used his wit and skills in the courtroom to win the case, by proving that Charity Butler had not lived in Pennsylvania for six consecutive months, thereby failing the legal requirement to declare herself free. Stevens won the case, but was then distraught over having cost three people (Charity Butler and her children) their freedom. After that, he became a powerful force in the abolitionist movement. You cannot dismiss Stevens' actions as just wanting to punish the south. He wanted to eliminate slavery in America and fix the damage that had been done to those who were slaves, and he did an extremely good job.

Aloha 11y ago

I'm not really going to comment on the motives of the radical republicans, as they were very much outside the mainstream of american politics at the time. While they did seek to help the black man, it was not because of their belief in equality, but rather to punish the south, which in my opinion doomed the effort to failure from the start. LBJ was probably the most politically skillful president politically we've ever had - he knew where all the hidden levers were in Congress and used them to his full advantage to get the Civil Rights Act passed. I'm not a huge fan of LBJ's politics (I'm more on the libertarian side of the street), but I'm in awe of his abilities. The story as it goes as to how LBJ changed from someone with little opinion on race to a champion of civil rights is amusing, purportedly LBJ, Lady Bird, and their cook Zephyr were on a trip thru rural Texas, LBJ and Lady Bird stopped to use the restroom at a service station, about 5 miles down the road after, Zephyr asked LBJ to pull over, so she could use the restroom - he asked her why she didn't use it previously at the service station, she responded that there were no colored restrooms there, so he pulled over and did her business on the side of the road - that was purportedly the catalyst moment for him - he'd also had experience as a schoolteacher at a segregated mexican school in the 30's, which also shaped his view.

innocentoldguy 11y ago
Your statement about Thaddeus Stevens isn't correct. Yes, Stevens did want to punish the south, but he was staunchly opposed to slavery and was a strong proponent of civil rights (even more so than Abraham Lincoln was). Early in Stevens' legal career, he was hired by a Maryland slave owner who wanted him to represent the slaver in a court case to retrieve a runaway slave named Charity Butler. Stevens used his wit and skills in the courtroom to win the case, by proving that Charity Butler had not lived in Pennsylvania for six consecutive months, thereby failing the legal requirement to declare herself free. Stevens won the case, but was then distraught over having cost three people (Charity Butler and her children) their freedom. After that, he became a powerful force in the abolitionist movement. You cannot dismiss Stevens' actions as just wanting to punish the south. He wanted to eliminate slavery in America and fix the damage that had been done to those who were slaves, and he did an extremely good job.