Upon completing part one of my article of the same title, I had no intention on writing a second part, feeling that I offered a sufficiently cogent case for blacks and others to rethink their loyalty to a political party that purports to have their best interest at heart. However, based on the overwhelming responses I received from readers, both positive and negative, it appears that more information is due. One reader accused me of not telling the "whole truth", and another implied that I started too far back in history. Therefore, in the interest of satisfying my detractors, and for the benefit of others, here you go!
In 1913, a Democrat by the name of Woodrow Wilson became the 28th President of the United States. Though many would like to portray Wilson as a visionary, his presidency is replete with discriminatory practices and statements that drew the ire of many black leaders of the time. In an article by Charles Paul Freund (Reason Online, 12/18/2002), he writes:
"Woodrow Wilson allowed various officials to segregate the toilets, cafeterias, and work areas of their departments. In extreme cases, federal officials built separate structures to house black workers. Whites replaced most black diplomats; numerous black federal officials in the South were removed from their posts; the local Washington police force and fire department stopped hiring blacks."
Freund also mentions that Wilson told one protesting black delegation "segregation is not a humiliation but a benefit, and ought to be so regarded by you gentlemen." Additionally, with regard to the notorious film "Birth of a Nation", Wilson, arranged for preview screenings for his cabinet, for Congress, and for the Supreme Court. While Wilson was president of Princeton University, "he turned away black applicants, regarding their desire for education to be unwarranted", notes Freund.
In 1948, the Democrat segregationist splinter party known as the Dixiecrat Party was formed, with the late Senator Strom Thurmond running for President under its banner. It is worth noting, however, that during this time, Strom Thurmond was a former Democrat. Nevertheless, years later he changed his views regarding race, and become the first southern senator to hire black staff members.
The Davis-Bacon Act, which passed in 1931, requires contractors on federally financed construction projects to pay workers the "prevailing wage". It was authored by Republican legislators and signed into law by Republican President Herbert Hoover. This legislation was "a way to reduce out-of-state competition and discourage the use of non-white labor", according to Dr. Richard Vedder of the Mackinac Center for Public Policy. In a study by Dr. Vedder and Lowell Gallaway at the Center for the Study of American Business, they note:
"Before Davis-Bacon passed in 1931, employment of blacks in construction trades was rising relative to whites in 38 states outside the South, but afterward the trend reversed. Employment in construction trades rose 31.5 percent overall from 1910 to 1920 - 31.3 percent for whites and 46.5 percent for blacks. However, between 1930 and 1940, while construction jobs overall declined during the depression by 21.7 percent and by 21.6 percent for whites, black employment declined the most, by 24.9 percent. The difference between black and white unemployment rates in construction occupations grew from 1.2 percentage points in 1930 to nearly 2.5 points in 1940, 3.9 points in 1980 and an estimated minimum of five percentage points in 1990."
Despite this evidence, current Presidential candidate Dick Gephardt on his campaign website states that "[Dick Gephardt] fought Republican efforts to repeal Davis-Bacon". Former President Clinton promised to veto any legislation to repeal the Davis-Bacon Act, as Republican lawmakers have been attempting to eliminate this insidious policy for several years. The Congressional Budget Office has projected that this Act will cost taxpayers over $10.5 billion over the next 10 years.
There is a plethora of evidence to combat the Democratic rhetoric that they are the "party of blacks", or the "party of the little people". From Bill Clinton's acknowledgement that J. William Fullbright, a rabid segregationist who opposed the 1964 Civil Rights Act, was his 'hero' and saw him as a 'visionary', to Senator Ernest Hollings' reference to an African delegation in 1993, stating that "rather than eating each other, they'd just come up and get a good square meal in Geneva." -- the annals of American history are littered with racist ideology and policy that do not exclude either political party. However, the time is has long past for truth to be known about the soiled linen in the Democratic laundry, so that black voters and others can rid themselves of a Pavlovian conditioning and deal with the real issues that are devoid of color.
Sean Turner is a member of the Project 21 Advisory Council of the National Center for Public Policy Research, a regular columnist for RenewAmerica.us, GOPUSA.com, and a contributor to a number of news and political websites. Readers can email him at [email protected].
Thursday
August 7th, 2025
8:40PM
