Barack Obama: Beneficiary of a GOP Legacy
The election of an African-American president, and even the possibility of such a candidacy, are direct legacies of the Republican Party.
As a disemboweled GOP struggles to marshal an effective opposition to President Barack Obama, it can at least take heart in a singular fact: Obama’s historic election as the first African American president, and even the possibility of such a candidacy, are direct legacies of the Republican Party.
The GOP originated in the mid-19th century as a barely choate coalition of former Whigs, evangelical Christians, and New England intellectuals who had little in common save a loathing of slavery and a devotion to its demise — either by restricting its growth into the territories (the course favored by moderate Republicans) or by outright abolition (favored by the so-called radicals).
President Abraham Lincoln, initially a moderate and one of the party’s principal organizers in the West, nonetheless used the war power of the government to effect the dream of the radicals, smashing the Southern plantation class before pushing the 13th Amendment through Congress.
Ending slavery on this continent forever.
The second Republican president, Ulysses S. Grant, continued Lincoln’s “new birth of freedom” by supporting and then signing into law the 15th Amendment of the Constitution (guaranteeing black suffrage in every state) and the Civil Rights Act of 1875.
In addition, Grant designated the Ku Klux Klan, an anti-black terror organization which had risen from the disaffected Confederate officer corps and which had been killing hundreds of African Americans throughout the South, as “insurgents” in “rebellion against the authority of the United States.” Grant used both the federal army and the newly created Justice Department to wage a vigorous anti-Klan campaign, which effectively crippled that organization for decades.
In the aftermath of the Civil War, African Americans slowly and painfully began to enter political life as voters and as candidates, and they did so overwhelmingly as Republicans. The first African American senator, Hiram Rhodes Revels, was a Republican from Mississippi. He was followed in the Senate by Republican Blanche Bruce, also of Mississippi. In the House, every African American congressman from the election of John Willis Menard (R-Louisiana) in 1868 until the turn of the century was a Republican. The first African American governor, P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana, was also a Republican.
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Matt Patterson is a National Review Institute Washington fellow and the author of "Union of Hearts: The Abraham Lincoln & Ann Rutledge Story". His email is mpatterson.column@gmail.com.
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27 Comments
1. David Thomson:“None of this is to take away from the contributions Democrats have made to civil rights, especially in the last 40 years.”
The Democrats have done vastly more harm than good in the last 40 years. They have introduced well meaning affirmative action policies which have badly backfired. Blacks who received unearned promotions rightfully sense they have no reason to be proud of their new status. The same people who must still earn their way in athletics often get a free pass in the rest of their lives. On a gut level, Democrats have no reason to get the country past race. They prefer to constantly reopen old wounds. This should not be in the least bit surprising. Continuing racial friction empowers the Democratic Party and helps it to win elections.
Jul 10, 2009 - 2:14 am 2. Joe C.:It is not coincidence that when the majority of Blacks started voting Democrat, that’s when their lot as a group deteriorated.
Jul 10, 2009 - 3:59 am 3. "progressive"watch:No disputing the general observation. So,what’s the point? The foundation was somewhat laid,but no relevant point was made.
Jul 10, 2009 - 4:17 am 4. David Thomson:“It is not coincidence that when the majority of Blacks started voting Democrat, that’s when their lot as a group deteriorated.”
The Democrats turned most of them into self pitying victims. By the way, this nonsense has actually been going on longer than 40 years. Affirmative action grading was already well established in many northeastern universities by the late 1950s! Blacks were often not expected to earn their degrees. This is how Martin Luther King, Jr. obtained his advanced degrees—-and he apparently was not an exception.
Jul 10, 2009 - 4:56 am 5. sheesh:Then why do blacks hate Republicans so much? Golly geewhizzikers, that must be so very frustrating to see nothing white middle-aged faces at your conventions. It’s not like the black folk aren’t welcome, but it sure seems like they don’t FEEL welcome. Why? Why? To quote Glenn Beck on this issue (and every other issue), “It just doesn’t make any sense.”
I don’t know. I think we conservatives should find somebody to blame. We need a villain, somebody who’s really drak and scary, maybe with some foreign-looking appearance, someone with uppity celebrity with dreadlocks maybe who dresses funny and likes to mouth off all the time . . . Hey, I got it it! Whoopie.
Jul 10, 2009 - 5:54 am 6. Kondratieff:Good work, Mr. Patterson.
It appears to me a video is here to be made. Perhaps it could help wake up at least the MSM bimbos (both male and female), who in turn might influence the two born-last-night generations.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:10 am 7. abi:The Republican and Democratic party of old, is not the party of now. I do not believe that many black people actually know their political history, or what each party stands for. I sure didn’t when I started voting many years ago..
Afirmative action is misdirected, well intentioned , but misdirected.
Being from the south, I have a much different view then the people from the NE. I see the supporters of the Dems as the “gimme” party. “As long as you see that I get something for nothing, I will vote for you”, seems to be the attitude…Welfare etc is treated as an “entitlement”, so what can you expect? No questions asked either… it’s a degrading attitude. The Dems encourage such programs for dependency.
When Obama was running for pres it was disgusting to hear the blacks talk about “we gottcha now” …”whitie’s goin down”…not…”he’s going to be a great leader”, “he has a lot of good experience”..which would have been a lie..none the less.., etc…it all had to do with the color of his skin, and still does.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:25 am 8. SusieQ!:Sheesh…you spewing drivel again or as usual.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:30 am 9. Alexander:@sheesh
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:33 am 10. blotto:It’s not frustrating to me. It’s pathetic. It is a reflection of the lack of courage on the part of the coddled to throw off the victim/entitlement mentality. 96% of blacks and some 50% of all others apparently prefer victimhood and protected class status to freedom and liberty.
First Mr. Patterson has got to be consistent: either they are black Americans or African-Americans. I prefer black Americans. The hypenation was started by the left to encourage disunity. And it succeeded.
Also Mr. Patterson overlooks how the Dems stole and successfully succeeded in enslaving black Americans-again. The confluence of the MSM, poor public education in inner cities, anti-American, white progressive professors and mostly a Dem party using taxes and spreading the wealth (welfare, affirmative action) to buy black votes.
For fifty years it has worked to buy, wholesale, black votes. And nothing has improved (and in fact the lives of many blacks has worsened) in the lives of black Americans, but because of conditioning, they still vote Dem. Clever progressives in the media and politics and to much lesser degree trolls (don’t feed him) have revised the history of the GOP and blacks.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:37 am 11. Byron Dickens:There are those who talk about doing things and then there are those who do them.
Jul 10, 2009 - 6:40 am 12. john from cinncinatti:after a free lunch, comes the question what do you want? wait what? it isn’t a free lunch? how do you want me to pay? i don’t want to sound ungrateful but Daniel Day Lewis in last of the Mohicans line put it down,”i am subject to no one”. i expect the government, instead of don’t tread on me, it should be, don’t regulate unnecessarily.
Jul 10, 2009 - 8:00 am 13. sallie:So, if you want to change some things, do something constructive, do the things that you can, VOTE IN 2010.
Vote out ANY up for reelection that did not read the bills they are passing..ANY
Do something constructive, help someone else get to the voting booth, encourage them to vote by ABSENTEE ballot if necessary, (except if you’re in Minnesota because it won’t count if it’s for the”wrong” person)..you’ll be proud…
Jul 10, 2009 - 8:25 am 14. Ruebacca:To Sheesh.
The Black community has collectivly gone red. Early this year 18 of the 24 members of the congressional Black coacus whent to cuba to meet the leaders of cuba who they love. None of them meet or tried to meet a singel disadent and no one protested a single exicution.
If the Black community had is way we would have communal farms and the government would take over every bussness. Obama is make a good start of it right now.
If you are red you have no place in the Repbulican party. It’s not a Black thing it’s a Red thing. Thats my opinion.
Jul 10, 2009 - 8:41 am 15. Margaret:I agree, the Democratic party of now is not the Demo of old.
If we put as much effort into putting the right people into office as we do griping, we would be fine.
In general, except for obama, we know what people stand for. We know what their backgrounds are. Maybe we should spend time “enlightening” others.
What party they belong to should be irrelevant. Of course that will NEVER happen.
I am afraid there will be a civil war here in the next few years. Mexicans and Blacks on one side, the rest on the other. Mexicans and Blacks will wipe up the streets with the anglos. Why? Because the anglos are so afraid to make a wrong move, say the wrong thing, because the situation in Washington has not been challenged, because the press has not been challenged about their lies and half truths. The cause is “party politics as usual”…
Republican party is full of limp wristed little guys who have never known a hard days work and look at the rest of us as the great unwashed.
Dems are even worse as they pray/play on the “underclass” and keep them down.
You teach a man to fish so that he has food everyday, you don’t hand it to him… Giving someone everything they need on a consistant basis makes them subservient. The Demo party of old did not do this. Making your own way is democracy, free enterprise is not finding a store to cash your welfare check.
We need new blood in Washington. (: Franken does not qualify
Also, you dems that belong to a church do realize that abortion upon demand is in their platform now dont’ you. So, how can you vote for the Dems and still go to church and look your God in the eye? The Republicas would deny a woman her right to choose, take your pick guys.
MG I’m glad there’s an independent way out.
Jul 10, 2009 - 9:17 am 16. Shef Rogers:Yup, Obama got in because of a republican–and his name is George W. Bush.
Jul 10, 2009 - 9:19 am 17. Toronto Girl:You have to wonder about the intelligence of a people who would vote for someone strictly based on their skin colour, their look, or the way they talk. It’s not like those that voted for Obama are going to use logic or facts to see that he was wrong for the country to begin with. They are the lowest of society in terms of rational thought and clarity of mind. Race-baiters, professional victims, angry, child-like and ignorant. Every last one of them.
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:04 am 18. Mike Murray:I concur.
Excerpted from: Are Principles Your Pals?
http://emmeffemm.com/id37.html:
“…And, just as the nature of recent-past concerns over threats to Earth’s climate might come as a shock to today’s youth, so too might issues surrounding civil rights. The political parties had histories with respect to social justice that might shock, given today’s discourse on the subject.
If you are ignorant of America’s racial past, you might want to bone up a little on history; it just could surprise you…”
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:25 am 19. Old Soldier:“So, what’s the point?”
The point is that it took a long time and a lot of work for the party of John C. Calhoun to get the vast majority of Blacks back on their plantation.
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:32 am 20. country girl:BO had such great democratoc backing, Soros and the guys, because BO can be controlled completely.
The republicans put mcCain up becase he’s a weiner and the fix was in.
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:34 am 21. WestWright:As is oft said, no good deed goes unpunished. BTW, I am not so sure Abe Lincoln would have freed the slaves if there was any other way to defeat the South. notice that he at first only freed the slaves EXCEPT in the Northern States. My understanding of Lincoln have had 1 180 degree turn from what I learned in Public Civics…he was out 1st tyrant as president and his presidency was the beginning of the end for our Founders vision of strong and free states…
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:48 am 22. steveg:Dem’s have a long history as being the racist party, and have established themselves now as the race hustling party. And their timing has been perfect.
Jul 10, 2009 - 10:59 am 23. Marc Malone:#21 Westwright – You are right. See, Lincoln was a moderate Republican. Only when he became more Classical Liberal (today’s Conservative) did the slaves get freed. This happened when the North was on the verge of losing the war (not on the battlefield, but in public opinion).
As for being a tyrant, he jailed dissidents. This is actually allowed under the Constitution, the suspension of habeus corpus during wartime. He jailed the poisonous press, and even a politician or two. FDR did the same kind of thing. He imprisoned the Japanese, and censored all press. The nonsense the press did during the Iraq war would never have been tolerated in the old days. But Bush=Hitler. Riiiight.
Jul 10, 2009 - 11:46 am 24. Delia:Oh great. Barack DohBama is ‘OUR’ fault?
AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!
Jul 10, 2009 - 2:13 pm 25. Carol/la:Yep, BO is all “our” fault. Dems are race baiters and they fall for it every time. We had a sappy anglo running against BO. McCain was a war hero, no doubt, he IS a hero. However, being a hero does not make you a good presidential candidate, especially when you will not stand up for yourself and what is right. When he would not stand up for Palin, I lost all respect for him, it was his duty. AND it appears Bo is easily controlled. Promise him a teleprompter and he’ll follow you anywhere…
So, IT IS our fault, because we as a nation didn’t listen better, look deeper, talk more and louderlouderlouder. We showed we are people that will vote for color and not ethics and background. I believe color should not be a factor, but it was, and is
Jul 10, 2009 - 7:36 pm 26. Douglass Arnold:Barrack is a half white 42 percentg arabic and 9 percent black President yet somehow the notion is we elected a black president
Jul 12, 2009 - 12:03 am 27. Patrick of Atlantis:You didn’t mention that the Republican Party nominated the most feckless of candidates, John McCain. It’s hard not to believe that the fix was in on the selection of Obama. McCain was too aged to win the hearts and minds of the largest voting bloc, nubile women; and the way McCain turned on his own supporters for using Obama’s middle name, Hussein, was just mind blowing.
Jul 12, 2009 - 2:50 pm