OPINION:
There is a long-held and common misconception that the Democratic Party is the best advocate for Black Americans — and this belief has led to Black Americans being a most reliable voting bloc for the Democrats.
A review of our nation’s history makes us ask why. Abraham Lincoln, our nation’s first Republican president, issued the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863, freeing all enslaved people in areas rebelling against the United States. He also made the 13th Amendment a centerpiece of the Republican Party platform during his 1864 presidential campaign.
The 13th Amendment — pushed through the GOP-controlled Congress despite intense Democratic opposition — abolished slavery in 1865. Three years later, the 14th Amendment, which gave full citizenship to freed slaves, passed with 94% GOP support in Congress and, again, fierce Democratic opposition.
In 1869, with the passage of the 15th Amendment, Black men were finally granted the right to vote. (Guess which party voted overwhelmingly for it and which voted overwhelmingly against it.) Moving into the 20th century, the Jim Crow laws, a dehumanizing system of segregation of all Black Americans, was advanced by Democratic President Woodrow Wilson.
The Civil Rights Act of 1957 was signed into law by GOP President Dwight D. Eisenhower and the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was finally passed thanks to the GOP’s efforts to end a Democratic filibuster. It’s worth noting that this filibuster was led by Democratic Sen. Robert Byrd, a leader of the Ku Klux Klan.
Black Americans — all Americans, in fact — fared better during the most recent GOP presidential term of former President Donald Trump. We had lower unemployment, lower food prices, lower interest rates, lower fuel costs, lower inflation and general global stability. Maybe it’s time for Black Americans to take another look at the Republican Party this election year.
JEFFREY E. KNIGHT
Washington, Virginia
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