Black History, The Democrats, and a Conversation

10/03/2024

03/12/2014

On this day in history, March 12, 1956 Democrat Congressman Howard Smith, from Virginia, introduced the Southern Manifesto on the floor of the House of Representatives.

The Southern Manifesto attacked the Supreme Court ruling of Brown vs. the Board of Education, which desegregated public schools. The document urged state legislatures, in the south, to pass laws to prevent school desegregation. It also urged southerners to exhaust "all lawful means to resist the chaos and confusion that would result from school desegregation."

The Southern Manifesto was signed by 100 Democrat congressmen--19 from the Senate and 81 from the House of Representatives.

11/07/2013

On this day in history, November 7, 1982, Democrat George Wallace was elected Governor of Alabama. It was Wallace's third term as governor.

Wallace was also governor during the early 1960's. He fought to keep Alabama's segregation laws and against Martin Luther King Jr.'s civil rights protests in Montgomery and Birmingham. Wallace also fought against the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Voting Rights Act ended Jim Crow voting laws.

The election was the first major test of the Democrat's campaign to control the black vote WITHOUT Jim Crow laws.

The campaign began on May 17, 1970 with an article that appeared in the New York Times. The article claimed that Richard Nixon used racist tactics to win the White House, in 1968, when it was Wallace that ran a racist campaign. Wallace also ran for president that year.

Wallace received a large percentage of Alabama's black vote in 1982. He received 48.3 percent of the vote from Montgomery County. Wallace also received 46.5 percent of the vote from Jefferson County, where Birmingham is located.

09/23/2013

On September 18, 1958, Arkansas Democrat Governor Orval Faubus delivered a speech, to the people of Arkansas, about closing Little Rock's public schools to stop school integration.

Governor Faubus called for a local vote to close Little Rock school's in defiance of Republican President Dwight Eisenhower and the U.S. Supreme Court. President Eisenhower ordered the 101 Airborne Division to protect nine black students that attended Little Rock High School and took over the Arkansas National Guard the year before.

During his speech Governor Faubus said, "Our own educational people have testified that a suitable educational system cannot be maintained on an integrated basis. Why then should we attempt to keep these schools open?"

On September 27, 1958, the people of the Little Rock School District voted 129,470 to 7,561 to close their public schools. The schools were closed for a year.

On June 18, 1959, a Federal court declared the state's school-closing law unconstitutional. The school board announced that the schools would reopen in the fall.

09/18/2013

On September 17, 1911, the New York Times published a comment by Georgia Democrat Senator Hoke Smith about blacks competing for jobs against whites.

In the article Senator Smith said, "I believe that it's a mistake for the Negro to seek, in any way, to force himself into competition with the white man. We find, with few exceptions, that they succeed only in the simpler walks of life. And only then when they receive the benefit of direction from the white man."

09/15/2013

On this day in history, September 14, 1874, the Democratic White League attacked the state house, the New Orleans Police Department, and the black state militia. During the one-hour long fight, 38 blacks were killed.

This is a photo of a monument that was placed in downtown New Orleans in 1932. The original inscription said "In Honor of the Heroes of the White League."

In 1989, the monument was moved to a less prominent location.

09/02/2013

On this day in history, September 2, 1957, Arkansas Democrat Governor Orval Faubus ordered the Arkansas National Guard to surround Little Rock High School. They were sent to stop nine black students from attending on the first day of school.

Governor Faubus, who was a supporter of school segregation, claimed that preventing the black students from entering the school kept peace in the community.

On September 4th, the nine students tried to enter the school, but they were turned away by the National Guard.

08/04/2013

On July 30, 1866, New Orleans Democrat Mayor John T. Monroe ordered police and militia to attack a meeting of unarmed black republican activists during--what became known as--the New Orleans Massacre.

During the attack, 34 blacks were killed. This cartoon on the left entitled "Massacre of Innocents" appeared in Harpers Weekly to illustrate the event. Democrat President Andrew Johnson, on the right, is also shown as a Roman Emperor watching apathetically as Mayor Monroe leads the attack.

This event also played a role in the impeachment trial of President Andrew Johnson.

07/21/2013

In July of 1848, Frederick Douglass criticized the Democrat Party for refusing to tolerate anti-slavery Democrats within their ranks. Douglass published his comments in the North Star.

In his column Douglass wrote, "From the moment it became known that Silas Wright was opposed to the extension of slavery, he was hunted and persecuted by the leaders of the Democrat Party to the day of his death!"

07/14/2013

On this day in history, July 14, 1941, Georgia Democrat Governor Eugene Talmadge fired the entire Board of Regents of the University of Georgia system because they supported a defender of civil rights.

Governor Talmadge also fired professors and administrators from the University of Georgia for the same reason.

Governor Talmadge demanded that the Board fire Walter Cocking, the Dean of the School of Education for the University of Georgia. Talmadge wanted Cocking fired because he discovered that Cocking wanted black and white students to attend schools together.

After the Board refused to fire Cocking, Talmadge replaced the board members and purged the University of Georgia of all Cockings' supporters and defenders.

07/11/2013

On July 10, 1902, Virginia's new state constitution became law. Their new constitution institutionalized Jim Crows laws that prevented most blacks from voting, in Virginia, throughout most of the 20th century.

Virginia Democrat Senator Thomas Staple Martin was one of the convention leaders that produced the law. About 89 percent of their delegation were Democrats.

Their constitution remained in effect until July 1, 1971. This is a photo of Senator Thomas Staple Martin.

07/08/2013

On this day in history, July 8, 1876, South Carolina Democrat Senator Matthew Calbraith Butler led a violent mob that killed six black men and destroyed the homes of many black families Hamburg, South Carolina.

The event is known as the Hamburg Massacre.

It began during a fourth of July celebration of the residents of Hamburg, which was a town of ex-slaves. During the parade of the town's all-black militia, Senator Butler demanded that they stop so that he, and his supporters, could cross the road.

Butler was allowed to pass, but he returned later that week and demanded the arrest of the militia captain, Dock Adams. Butler then insisted that the entire militia surrender their weapons to him.

When they refused, hundreds of men appeared armed with guns and cannons. The militia was badly outnumbered and outgunned.

In August of 1876, Harpers Weekly published this cartoon of Lady Justice and demanded retribution for the blacks that were killed.