By William Haupt III | The Center Square contributor
Hiram
Revels (1822-1901) served as Mississippi's Republican U.S. Senator from
1870-71. He was born free, educated in Indiana and Illinois, and became a
minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. – Shutterstock
“There comes a time when one must take a position that is
neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience
tells him it is right.” – Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
Black History Month shouldn’t be treated as a separate
American history. It is sharing experiences of all African Americans, famous or
obscure, and how they helped strengthen and shape America. It’s about
revisiting the past so we better understand society today. It is a healthy look
at those who contributed to the socio-political health of America and what
helped make us a great nation today.
One hundred and fifty years ago this month, a
visitor-packed Senate gallery burst into applause as Senator Hiram Revels, a
Republican from Mississippi, approached the Chamber to take his oath of office.
Hiram Revels was about to become the first African American to serve in the
U.S. Congress.
Just weeks before this historic event, the Fifteenth
Amendment had been ratified. It prohibited the states from denying anyone the
right to vote, regardless of race or color. Republican Abolitionist Wendell
Phillips proudly labeled Hiram Revels as "the flesh and blood of the 15th
Amendment."
In 1870, as Mississippi sought readmission, the
Republican Party firmly controlled both houses of Congress and dominated
Southern state legislatures. The first essential order of business for the
Mississippi state legislature in January 1870 was to fill the vacancies in the
United States Senate.
Black legislators, representing one-quarter of the
legislature, petitioned fellow Republicans to elect a Black man for Senator.
Hiram Revels, who vowed to unify the nation, was chosen U.S. Senator.
"The legislature felt this would deliver a blow to
weaken the color line of prejudice." – Hiram Revels
When Common Core was adopted by the Obama administration
in 2010, text books were rewritten to "standardize education." But
their real goal was to "rewrite history." And in doing so many of our
most salient historical events were subordinated in the name of liberal
"political correctness." Many history-changing accomplishments of
Republican Black Americans have been entombed forever.
Common Core marks modern Black political history when
Blacks joined Democrats in support of the New Deal. But it began 80 years
earlier following the Civil War. Reconstruction ushered in a Black political
wave that swept the South. Vowing to make a difference in America, 23
influential Black leaders were elected to the U.S. Congress. They were all
members of the Republican Party.
In 1866, the Republican Congress passed the Civil Rights
Act and the Reconstruction Acts, which dissolved Confederate state governments.
And the 13th and 14th Amendments granted freedom and citizenship to former
slaves. Former Confederate states had to ratify their constitutions to give
equal rights to Black Americans or forfeit being represented in the U.S.
Congress.
"We have now guaranteed the absolute rights of every
U.S. citizen in America." – Sen. Lyman Trumbull (R-IL)
In several states, most notably, Mississippi and South
Carolina, Black Americans were the majority of the population. They immediately
joined the Republican Party, which controlled state legislatures. In 1870,
Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first Black member of Congress
elected to the U. S. House. In the next four decades, Southern Black
Republicans followed him to Congress from Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana,
Mississippi, North Carolina, Texas and Virginia.
In 1875, Blanche Bruce (R-MS) was the 2nd Black
Republican to serve in the U.S. Senate. In 1966, Edward Brooke (R-MA) was the
third Black American elected to the U.S. Senate. He authored the Fair Housing
Act of 1968, and he was awarded the acclaimed Spingarn Medal from the NAACP.
"I can't serve just the Negro cause. I've got to
serve all of the people in my state." – Edward Brooke
Common Core methodology created a new era of "Modern
American History" to marginalize the achievements of Black Republican
politicians between Reconstruction and the end of World War II. It also helped
camouflage the Jim Crow era when Southern Democratic Segregationists disenfranchised
many Black Americans from Reconstruction until the passage of the 3rd Civil
Rights Act in 1964.
Contrary to progressive myth, it was not until 1935, when
Chicago Mayor Edward Kelly convinced Arthur W. Mitchell to switch parties and
run for Congress, that the first Black Democrat was elected to the U.S. House.
Black Democrat William Dawson (D-IL) was elected eight years later in 1943.
"It was only because of Roosevelt's New Deal I
switched parties, nothing else." – Arthur W. Mitchell
Progressives have successfully buried Fredrick Douglas'
strong dedication to the Republican Party. The former slave became one of the
nation’s most prolific authors and orators. Douglas was also a patriot. A close
friend of Abraham Lincoln, he urged Black Americas to fight during the Civil
War.
Republican Douglas pushed to upend the status quo with
suffrage for all Americans, regardless of sex or color. At the time, the party
of Lincoln received enormous support from Black voters for their work to
improve the socioeconomic status of Black Americans before and after the Civil
War.
"I am Black and a dyed-in-the-wool Republican, and I
will never join another party." – Fredrick Douglas
Since the Depression, the left has patronized Blacks for
political gain. When President Joe Biden announced he'd only consider Black
women for the U.S. Supreme Court, he negated the achievements of all Black
jurists. Nominating anyone at the expense of their dignity, gender or race is
disgraceful politics.
"I have a dream that my four little children will
one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their
skin, but by the content of their character." – Martin Luther King Jr
Biden is setting the stage for progressive wokes to call
the GOP bigots and racists in the national media. Progressives will portray any
question for the nominee about her judicial philosophy or her professional
record as racist and sexist. It will be worse than the way Democrats treated
Clarence Thomas. As a Black conservative Catholic, Thomas knew Democrats would
not discredit his color or religion so they attacked his character. And Biden
was his biggest and most aggressive critic.
Vladimir Lenin told us, "A lie told often enough
becomes the truth." For years, the liberal media and the progressive left
have marginalized the accomplishments of Republican Black Americans. Many are
not even a footnote in a Common Core textbook. To them, race and gender dictate
politics. Our immutable characteristics do affect us in many ways, but race and
gender are not the sum total.
It was Carter Woodson's dream to have a month dedicated
to remembering the history of famous Black Americans. Yet progressives only
choose to honor those who fit into the "liberal" parameters they've
put them in. The left, the media and Common Core are doing an injustice not
honoring the trail-blazing Black Republicans who made great contributions to
American history.
"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere
ignorance and conscientious stupidity." – Martin Luther King
