I recently watched a movie called “Posse” with Mario Van Peebles and all in all, it was a pretty good movie. It was about a group of mostly black cowboys in the late 1800’s “taking care” of the bad guys who they felt had wronged them. They were kind of bad guys too, but at least they were likable. One of the themes running through the movie was “Education Makes You Free.” I thought that was kind of interesting and found it to be especially relevant today. Just before the credits started to roll at the end of the movie, it made note of a “grandfather clause” that was used in the 1800’s to prevent blacks from voting. I had heard the term before in reference to “grandfathering” something in to exempt it from the enforcement of a new law, code or custom, but did not know where the term itself came from. I did a little research and was surprised to learn that the “grandfather clause” term came from the connecting of blacks to their grandfathers in order to prevent them from voting. In other words, if your grandfather was a slave and could not vote, then you could not vote. Politicians are very creative.
It appears that the “Grandfather Clause” came about as a result of the U.S. Congress ratifying the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution on February 3, 1870, which prohibited Federal and State Governments of the United States from denying any citizen the right to vote based on their race or color. It was also interesting to learn that not one single Democrat in Congress voted to pass this amendment. After the passage of the Fifteenth Amendment, the Democrats immediately started looking for ways to again restrict blacks from voting. It didn’t take long before the so called “party of the people” came up with a scheme they called the “grandfather clause,” which were laws passed from 1890 to 1910 in many Southern States to again prevent blacks from voting.
Even after the U.S. Supreme Court found enactments of the “grandfather clause” unconstitutional, most blacks were still unable to vote in the United States. In fact, things didn’t really change much until Congress passed the Voting Rights Act of 1965, which finally provided all blacks with the federal protection they needed to not only register to vote, but also the protection they needed to have access to the polls in order to vote. Again without getting the recognition they deserved, Republicans played a major role in getting this Voting Rights Act passed, even with many Democratic opposing it.
It is hard to understand why so many blacks continue to vote for Democrats today when it is clear that it has always been the Republican Party that has done so much more for their advancement in America. Thankfully, there are many people and organizations out there that are working to help change things by educating people and working to help unite Americans as one. The NAACPC is one such organization that, along with its founders, are not only working hard to put an end to identity politics in America forever, but are also working to help create a color blind society in America as well. It is a fairly new organization that is already making a big impact on the American landscape by spreading the truth about black history in America.
Another force that is adamantly opposed to racism today is the Tea Party movement. Contrary to what the main stream media says, contrary to what the liberal newspapers say, contrary to what Congressional Democrats say, and contrary to what many liberal internet and blog outlets say, the Tea Party supporters are not only “not racist,” but most are appalled at the race baiting that continues to plague politics today. Tea Party supporters consists of racial uniters, not racial dividers. If you have ever attended a Tea Party gathering of any sort, you would know that Tea Party supporters don’t care about the color of one’s skin, what they do care about is the accountability of our elected political leaders and the direction this country is heading. Hopefully, as more blacks learn the true picture of what Republicans have done for them over the years, they will realize the Democratics are not their friends and will recognize that the Republican Party is the true “party of the people,” regardless of race.
As noted in the film “Posse,” truth is education and education will keep you free.