MEMPHIS, TN - The Republican Party’s historical contribution to ending slavery and advancing civil rights for minorities in America should not be forgotten as Tennessee and America celebrate Black History Month.

In remarks Monday at a press conference outside the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tennessee Republican Party Chairman Robin Smith, a member of the Tennessee Human Rights Commission recounted many of those historical facts.

“History reflects a strong foundation and relationship with African Americans and the Republican Party to pursue freedom, equality and civil rights,” Smith said. “The history of the Party of Lincoln vividly and concretely displays the nature of the Republican Party: to believe in the people rather than the government; to share values that are good and decent and inspire individuals to pursue their God-given rights and success; and to commit to partisanship with a purpose rather than for power.”

The complete text of Smith’s prepared remarks are below.

Feb. 12 is President Abraham Lincoln’s birthday.

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www.tngop.org Feb. 11, 2007

Bill Hobbs
Communications Director
Tennessee Republican Party
2424 21st Avenue, Suite 200
Nashville, Tennessee 37212
Phone: (615) 269-4260
Email: billhobbs@tngop.org

Prepared Remarks

The Tennessee Republican Party salutes the memory of those who have sacrificed, those who lost their lives in their commitment to civil rights and those who continue to remind the citizens of our nation of the need to stand for that which is good, decent and humane in the fight for the dream of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: “to be judged by the content of your character, not the color of your skin.”

History reflects a strong foundation and relationship with African Americans and the Republican Party to pursue freedom, equality and civil rights.

The founding of the Republican Party as a third political party resulted in the divide over the issue of slavery. Abraham Lincoln asked the opinions of his closest advisors and counsel and stood against the political advice of the day to steer away from the abolition of slavery.

During the years of the Civil War and Reconstruction, the Republican-led Congress added Constitutional Amendments that declared the rights of freed slaves to be citizens, own property, vote and enjoy equal treatment. Not one single Democrat supported the Constitutional Amendments declaring civil rights.

Democrats fought through hate to intimidate African Americans to abstain from their voting rights and to undo legislation passed by Republicans to prevent equal access and dignity. To circumvent the U.S. Constitution, Democrats employed poll taxes, literacy tests and gerrymandering districts, holding African Americans from exercising their right to vote.

The targets of the Ku Klux Klan, founded in Tennessee by Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the first grand wizard, were blacks pursuing their rights and white Republicans who led efforts to protect their fellow citizens’ rights. From 1882 to 1964, it is estimated that 3446 African Americans and 1297 white Americans died from lynching.

President Theodore Roosevelt received created a furor due to the counsel he sought from Booker T. Washington and having entertained him as the first African American to dine in the White House.

Until 1935, every African American federal legislator was a Republican with the first African American Air Force and Army four-star generals appointed by Republicans.

The founding of the National Association of the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was founded on February 12, 1909. February 12: The shared date of Abraham Lincoln’s birth.

Republican President Dwight Eisenhower mobilized the 82nd Airborne to allow children of color to attend public school in Little Rock, Arkansas in the face of hateful resistance from the Democrat Governor.

In 1957, the Civil Rights Act was signed into law by President Eisenhower following a filibuster conducted by 18 Democrats in the U.S. Senate that lasted five days and five hours attempting to kill the legislation. The 1964 Civil Rights Act was signed by Democrat President Lyndon Johnson following KKK member and Democrat Senator Robert Byrd’s filibuster of 14 hours. Klansman Byrd, who remains a Democrat Senator today, was joined by 22 other Democrats voting against this humane legislation. Tennessee’s Democrat Senator Al Gore, Sr. joined Byrd and others in voting against the Civil Rights Act.

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was memorialized by President Ronald Reagan in declaring a national holiday in his honor.

President George H.W. Bush appointed Clarence Thomas to the Supreme Court as a Justice.

President George W. Bush appointed the Colin Powell to serve as Secretary of State, the first African American to do so with Condoleeza Rice appointed to the post as the first African American woman to lead internationally.

During the last eight years, home ownership and small business ownership among African Americans has reached historical records.

This is not an exhaustive list. Yet, the history of the Party of Lincoln vividly and concretely displays the nature of the Republican Party: to believe in the people rather than the government; to share values that are good and decent and inspire individuals to pursue their God-given rights and success; and to commit to partisanship with a purpose rather than for power.

The Civil Rights Museum exists due to the hard work of many, especially Dr. Benjamin Hooks, who was just a few weeks ago awarded the U.S. Congressional Medal of Honor by President Bush.

Without question and argument, there remains the need to be vigilant and vocal for that which is right regarding the equal treatment regardless of skin color. Let February’s designation as Black History Month provide a time to revisit the historical record to celebrate the achievements and victories but acknowledge the possibility of the human heart to stray from truth to that which is politically expedient.

President Roosevelt paints the picture that bests captures the desire, priority and vision of the Tennessee Republican Party: “Above all we must stand shoulder to shoulder, not asking as to the ancestry or creed of our comrades, but only demanding that they be in very truth Americans, and that we all work together, heart, hand, and head, for the honor and the greatness of our common country.”

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