JustChristian
New Member
North Carolina Tentmaker said:
To look back at the attitudes of the two major parties on race it must be recognized that the parties have undergone tremendous change over the last 50 years. In 1958 the democrats owned the South. I would agree that it was this Democratic party that harbored the most animosity towards blacks in America. Along came George Wallace.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Wallace
To stop desegregation by the enrollment of black students Vivian Malone and James Hood, he stood in front of Foster Auditorium at the University of Alabama on June 11, 1963. This became known as the "Stand in the Schoolhouse Door." After being confronted by federal marshals, Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, and the Alabama National Guard, he stood aside.
Wallace again attempted to stop four black students from enrolling in four separate elementary schools in Huntsville in September 1963. After intervention by a federal court in Birmingham, the four children were allowed to enter on September 9, becoming the first to integrate a primary or secondary school in Alabama.[7][8]
Wallace disapproved vehemently of the desegregation of the state of Alabama and wanted desperately for his state to remain segregated. In his own words: "The President (John F. Kennedy) wants us to surrender this state to Martin Luther King and his group of pro-Communists who have instituted these demonstrations."[9]
Then there was Orval Faubus in Arkansas.
On September 2, the night before school was to start, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus called out the state's National Guard to surround Little Rock Central High School and prevent any black students from entering in order to protect citizens and property from possible violence by protesters he claimed were headed in caravans toward Little Rock.
A federal judge granted an injunction against the Governor's use of National Guard troops to prevent integration and they were withdrawn on September 20.
When school resumed on Monday, September 23, Central High was surrounded by Little Rock policemen. About 1,000 people gathered in front of the school. The police escorted the nine black students to a side door where they quietly entered the building as classes were to begin. When the mob learned the blacks were inside, they began to challenge the police and surge toward the school with shouts and threats. Fearful the police would be unable to control the crowd, the school administration moved the black students out a side door before noon.
U.S. Congressman Brooks Hays and Little Rock Mayor Woodrow Mann asked the federal government for help, first in the form of U.S. marshals. Finally, on September 24, Mann sent a telegram to President Eisenhower requesting troops. They were dispatched that day and the President also federalized the entire Arkansas National Guard, taking it away from the Governor.
On September 25, 1957, the nine black students entered the school under the protection of 1,000 members of the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army.
Yes, these were southern democrats but anyone claiming that these people are representative of today's Democratic party doesn't know their history.
Today's Democratic view on racial issues was initially demonstrated by President Kennedy in responding to these crises in the South. The "Freedom Riders" from the north who went down to the South to support the blacks under siege were Democrats. President Johnson overcame southern resistance and convinced Congress to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which outlawed most forms of racial segregation. Johnson signed it into law on July 2, 1964. In 1965, he achieved passage of a second civil rights bill, the Voting Rights Act, that outlawed discrimination in voting, thus allowing millions of southern blacks to vote for the first time.
The Great Society, federal aid to education, and the war on poverty were all efforts to generally improve the lot of poor people but especially poor black people.
The Republican party opposed all these efforts. Now the South is solidly Republican exactly the opposite of the situation earlier. Equal Opportunity, Affirmative Action, Head start and many other programs were championed by the Democrats and opposed by the Republicans.
In short, Today's democratic party best represents the issues of black people in the U.S. while today's Republican party does not.
) Of course, I am not that far from DC, so that may be one reason... 
