Since the Presidential election of 2016, there has been much talk about what it means to be Republican or Democrat. As a result, I decided to do some research specifically as it pertains to Blacks in Country.

Given the level of discord, acrimony, and in some cases hate, I decided to do some research on Politics in Country and seek to discover why Blacks seem obligated to support the Democratic Party. Simultaneously, I wanted to see if Blacks support of the Democratic Party was legitimate.

My findings indicate that Blacks support of the Democratic Party is illegitimate and misguided. Here are some of the facts gathered from my research.

• The Republican Party was established to oppose slavery. The 13th Amendment, abolishing slavery, passed in 1865 with 100% Republican and only 23% Democratic Party support.

• The Republican Party wanted to end slavery and Grant freed Blacks citizenship. The Democratic Party opposed.

• Lincoln Vice President, Andrew Johnson, was pro-Union but also a pro-slavery Democrat. After Lincoln’s assassination, Johnson opposed Republican Party efforts to recognize the civil rights of Blacks.

• The 14th Amendment, giving citizenship to Blacks, passed in 1868 with 94% Republican and 0% Democratic Party support.

• The 15th Amendment, the right to vote, passed in 1870 with 100% Republican and 0% Democratic Party support.

• The Ku Klux Klan was an arm of the Southern Democratic Party. Its mission was to terrorize Blacks and “nigger-loving” Republicans who sympathized with them.

• In the 1950s, President Eisenhower, a Republican, integrated the US military and promoted civil rights for minorities. Eisenhower was responsible for the development of the Highway System, which literally developed paths for Blacks to relocate.

• President Eisenhower’s primary opponent on civil rights prior to 1957 was Lyndon Baines Johnson, then the Democratic Senate Majority Leader.

• In the 1960’s the Democratic Party engineered a subversive and clandestine strategy to get blacks dependent on government to secure their votes. Formally known as Welfare.

• The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was supported In the House of Representatives by 80 percent Republicans and 63 percent of Democrats. In the Senate, by 82 percent Republicans and 69 percent Democrats.

• Credit has to be given to the Republican Party for the Civil Rights Act of 1968, the Fair Housing Act, providing for equal housing opportunities regardless of race, religion, or national origin.

Barry Goldwater’s opposition to the Civil Rights Act of 1964 attracted some racist Democrats to the Republican Party. However, Goldwater was not a racist or at least not an overt racist like many Democrats of the time, such as George Wallace and Bull Connor. He publicly supported racial equality and his opposition to the 1964 Act was consistent with his support of states rights. Regardless, his views were inconsistent with the mainstream, and he lost the 1964 Presidential election to LBJ in a landslide.

Goldwater’s opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act provided liberals an opening to characterize the Republican Party as racist. They have echoed that narrative since. That is unsubstantiated myth. Every political party has its racists.

The liberal media narrative that Republicans are more racist than Democrats is unsubstantiated innuendo and assertions. It is a classic example of a Lie that becomes true, simply by repeating it many times. Sadly, that has become a tactic used by Politicians. In essence, Politicians believe that if they tell you we are Angels numerous times, then you will start believing.

In the 1960s, the Democratic Party changed its strategy in dealing with Black Americans. Thanks to Republican initiatives on civil rights, blatant racial oppression was no longer a viable political option. Whereas before that time Southern Democrats had overtly and proudly segregated and terrorized blacks, the national Democratic Party decided to be subtle and get them dependent on government as much as possible. As LBJ so elegantly put it, “I’ll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years.” At the same time, the Democrats started a campaign of lies and innuendo, falsely equating any opposition to their Welfare State with racism.

From a political perspective, the Democratic Party strategy of black dependency has been extremely effective. Lyndon Baines Johnson knew exactly what he was doing. Black Americans routinely voted well over 90 percent Democratic for fear that Republicans would cut their government benefits and welfare programs. Fact is before LBJ’s Great Society welfare programs, the black illegitimacy rate was about 23 percent, but it tripled to about 72 percent by the 1970s. It was a Democrat as President in the 1990’s, who began the dismantling of the Welfare program. That certainly threw a monkey wrench at the buzzword “Democracy” and it was probably about the time that the Democratic Party realized that with an influx of new immigrants they might not need a majority of the Black vote to win Elections.

Liberal Democrats ran most major American city governments for decades, and most of those cities have large black sections that are essentially dysfunctional ghettos. With Gangs and drug dealers, with burned out homes on every block in some areas, they destroyed cities like Detroit and Chicago. The land values are so low due to crime, blight, and lack of economic opportunity that condemned homes are not even worth rebuilding. Who wants to build a home in an Urban War Zone? Yet Blacks continue to elect liberal Democrats and blame presumed “racist” Republicans for their problems.

A convincing argument can also be made, that the Democratic Party support for affirmative action is racist. Affirmative action is the antithesis of Martin Luther King’s dream of a Color-Blind society. Not only is it “reverse racism,” but the premise is that Black Americans are incapable of competing in the free market on a level playing field. It is predicated on the notion of white supremacy, though “benevolent”, rather than the openly hostile white supremacy of the pre-1960s Democratic Party. My issue with Affirmative action has always been, yes, it is great to get me into an “Ivy League” school but does it get me the Professional or Career opportunity.

These days, Political philosophy and thus Party lines are sometimes blurry. It depends on the person or candidate running for office. Far be it for me to suggest that you should vote for an individual because he or she is Republican or Democrat or Black. However, seems to me that Blacks need to get a Political attitude adjustment. My findings indicate that Blacks support of the Democratic Party is illegitimate, misguided, and unsubstantiated. Seems to me more reason why Blacks should support the Republican Party going forward. The Way Forward (Black America) is clear.

Years ago, I became a Registered Republican. Many in the Black community uttered dirty remarks. It is refreshing to see that some Black celebrities now realize the “Way Forward”. The Black community should embrace this change. For too long the leadership held to the Civil Rights platform apparently not recognizing that Era is over. It is time to move forward and stop complaining, fighting, and marching.

To effect change and bring about your ideals you must be in the room. You must sit at the table. You must articulate the issues and needs. You must have a Road Map and be ready and able to implement plans and solutions.

The Democratic Party is not your conduit or path to solutions. The situations and conditions that affect the Neighborhood will not leave via the assistance of the Democratic Party. The only thing leaving the “Hood” from the assistance of the Democratic Party, are the “so called” Senators and Representatives. In fact, the Democratic Party added insult to injury with the installation of the previous Executive Branch of Government. The previous Administration was ineffective. What was accomplished was not meaningful and what would have been meaningful was not accomplished.

For too long the Black community placed their eggs in the basket of the Democratic Party. They waited decades for the chickens to hatch. Finally, there is an epiphany. Those who thought the ideology of the Democratic Party would bring forth progress and salvation have realized they were WRONG. In the past eight years, there was a Democratic Party administration in the White House and the Black Community received nothing. Chicago and other inner city neighborhoods are rapidly approaching extinction status.

The President in office was Black and presumably, from Chicago yet the community looks the same. In fact, I would argue that Chicago looks worse than it did in 2008. Setting expectations, the Black Community should not count their chickens before they are hatched in interaction with the current Administration but anything is better than nothing. However, my bet is the Black community will get attention and assistance to begin moving forward.

The Democratic Party is all about Handouts, keeping you poor and in pursuit but never attaining. The Republican Party is about ideas and Puritan Work Ethic. Look around you, everything you see was once an idea. If the current leaders of the “Way Forward” are looking for prominent Republican Party members to contribute, they should invite Alan Keyes and Colin Powell. There is work to be done and enough glory to go around.

Here are keys to the success of the “Way Forward”:

• Empower and encourage young Black people to become Entrepreneurs

• Train them to be computer literate

• Encourage them to focus on developing Industries missing from our infrastructure

• Encourage them to “Think” and improve on existing Industries

• Encourage them to look at Manufacturing and Farming and not relegate themselves to Services

• Encourage them to utilize and promote their own talents and not be copycats

• Instill in them that not everyone is academically inclined. There are roads, buildings, bridges, and other important segments of our infrastructure that need attention.

• Encourage them to research George Washington Carver, Uncle Ben, and persons of that Ilk so that they can aspire to creativity and ingenuity.

The NAACP and Urban League are in need of an attitude and focus adjustment. The Way Forward is not about complaining, fighting, and marching. The “Way Forward” is not about Jobs, corporate sit-ins, or Internship. Jobs are initial but short-term solutions. Apprenticeship and Entrepreneurship are long-term solution and the “Way Forward”.

If you need something done, be willing and able to do it yourself with the necessary business support. You must be in the room where ideas are being discussed and decisions made. You must sit at the table. You must articulate the needs and issues. You must have a Road Map and be ready and able to implement plans and solutions.

LFT