Democrats Fought Against Civil Rights

Dear Editor,

History proves Democrats supported segregation and racist policies.

According to the National Archives, the Smithsonian magazine and USA Today, 18 Democrat senators voted against the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.  Democrats also used a Senate maneuver called a filibuster for 60 days to keep the bill from being voted on.  This remains the longest filibuster in US history.

Senators who fought against the Civil Rights bill include Robert Byrd (W.VA. and former KKK leader), Al Gore Sr.  (TN and father of the 2000 Democrat presidential nominee Al Gore Jr.), Sam Ervin (NC), William Fulbright (AR who Bill Clinton says was his mentor), Senators McClennan (AR), Robertson (VA), Russell (GA), Stennis (MS), Talmadge (GA), Strom Thurman (SC) and others.  President Kennedy, and later President Johnson, needed and received support from almost every Republican to pass the Civil Rights Act.

In 1957, Arkansas Gov. Orval Faubus fought efforts to integrate a Little Rock high school.  In Mississippi, federal troops were required to allow college student James Meredith to enter Ole Miss University.

Why do minorities still support a Democrat Party that supported and fought for segregation?  How can Democrats say racism is wrong if they actually practiced racist policies and fought against fair and equal treatment of minorities?

Abraham Lincoln, a Republican, signed the Emancipation Proclamation ending slavery.

History proves Republicans have been on the right side of history and have supported equal rights for minorities.  Remember that the next time you vote.

Ken Orms