Democrats attacked thousands of African-American schoolchildren in Birmingham, Alabama

On this day in 1963, police in Birmingham, Alabama -- under the command of the Democrat police commissioner, Eugene "Bull" Connor -- attacked several thousand African-American schoolchildren who were demonstrating peacefully for their civil rights.  At the time, it should be noted, Connor was the Democratic National  Committeeman for Alabama.  Connor's men used high-pressure hoses, clubs and dogs in their assault, and then jailed nearly a thousand children.

A member of the Ku Klux Klan, Connor had been a Democrat state legislator and a delegate to the 1948 Democratic National Convention.  A year after attacking the African-American children, Connor was elected, as a Democrat, president of the state Public Service Commission.

Bull Connor, Democrat.

Michael Zak is a popular speaker to Republican organizations around the country, showing office-holders, candidates and activists how they would benefit tremendously from appreciating our Party's heritage of civil rights achievement.  Back to Basics for the Republican Party is his acclaimed history of the GOP from the Republican point of view.  Each day, his Grand Old Partisan blog -- http://grandoldpartisan.typepad.com -- celebrates 154 years of Republican heroes and heroics.  See www.republicanbasics.com for more information.

Comments

Great stuff! I always say black republicans are the key to this country's future. They GET IT.

[DANEgerus]

"George Bush is our Bull Connor." -- Rep. Charlie Rangel (D-NY) met with wild applause and cheering at a Congressional Black Caucus town hall meeting

Actually... Charlie Rangel (D) is our Eugene "Bull" Connor(D).

[DANEgerus]

Congrats on the instapundit link!

[Bart]

Specific examples, "May 02, 2008 at 06:27 PM" ? Ever hear of Michael Steele in Maryland? See:

http://michellemalkin.com/2006/11/02/hot-steele-in-maryland/

"Instead, Esquire derided him this week as a “lawn jockey” along with other black conservatives –- more of the liberal racist smears that have been lobbed at Steele from the very beginning of his campaign."

Or:

http://donklephant.com/2006/10/31/dems-support-steele-in-maryland/

"I was certainly ashamed when my fellow Dems put him in black face earlier this year. Disgusting stuff."

[mxnwilson]

Finally, someone has remembered who the real racists are. I was born in 1942, and can remember well the acts of George C. Wallace (former Governor of Alabama) and Lester Maddux, (former Governor of Georgia). I recall both of them supported segregation in the schools, and they were both Democrats.

Great stuff! I always say black Republicans are the key to this country's future. They GET IT.

Not that it's the full explanation, but have you noticed how, when a black Republican comes along as a candidate in an important election, the Democrats invest an extra-special effort to not only defeat, but denounce him/her? And folks on the left sling horrible racial insults, and their fellow travellers explain that it's OK, this black Republican is basically a traitor to the race, and had it coming?

Could you offer some specific examples of this tactic being used by Democratic candidates? It seems hard to believe that, if the Democratic Party is inherently racist and the Republican party is the benefactor of African Americans, there is not even one African American Republican on the Hill. Perhaps you'd like to show some figures on all those fine Black Republican candidates that have been defeated by those nefarious means you referred to. While you're at it, you could explain what sort of sleight of hand the Democrats have pulled to convince 64% of African Americans to register as Democrats and only 7% to register as Republicans.

[JPS]

Specialist G:

"I'd be more interested in hearing you explain why there are no African American Republicans in Congress. Those 'racist' Democrats have 43."

Not that it's the full explanation, but have you noticed how, when a black Republican comes along as a candidate in an important election, the Democrats invest an extra-special effort to not only defeat, but denounce him/her? And folks on the left sling horrible racial insults, and their fellow travellers explain that it's OK, this black Republican is basically a traitor to the race, and had it coming?

It's almost as though some on the left don't want people thinking that conservatism is a non-racist, indeed perfectly sensible, alternative to left-wing politics for minorities.

[E. O'Neal]

The Democrat Party emblem in Alabama during that era was a rooster above a banner reading, "White Supremacy for the Right".

[Denny, Alaska]

This is one of those pesky historical facts that Democrats choose to ignore. Or forget. Or lie about.

But I'm sure Senator Obama (D-Mr. Hopey) will work hard to introduce a resolution on the Senate floor (with support from Senator Byrd (D-Sheets) denouncing such historical distortion.

I'm sure he will.

[Specialist G]

I'd be more interested in hearing you explain why there are no African American Republicans in Congress. Those "racist" Democrats have 43.

[Art]

"Heard any interesting charges of racism in the Democratic party lately?" - willis

Heard any of Rev. Wright's sermons or Julian Bond's speeches lately?

Why didn't KKK Grand Kleagle Robert Byrd (D -West Virgina) make the switch? Didn't he get the memo? The racist Dems became Dixiecrats, not Republicans.

Democrats - Same old racists, different color.

[willis]

"Maybe you should explain to your readers why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican in the decades after the events described in this article."

Maybe you should explain why blacks returned home to the south in record numbers after we switched to Republican. Perhaps you can also explain why we have better race relations in the south today than in the north. Can you say Watts, Detroit, Howard Beach? Heard any interesting charges of racism in the Democratic party lately?

[Gringo]

@ Scott Olson
Maybe you should explain to your readers why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican in the decades after the events described in this article.

Here is a book review that will be of assistance: The Myth of the Racist Republicans.

http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.928/article_detail.asp

[Gringo]

@ Scott Olson
Maybe you should explain to your readers why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican in the decades after the events described in this article.

Here is a book review that will be of assistance: The Myth of the Racist Republicans.

http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.928/article_detail.asp

[Laura]

Maybe you should explain to your readers why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican in the decades after the events described in this article.

Heh. The switch did not occur, as you seem to be implying, once some Democrats became interested in civil rights issues.

No, southern voters didn't go Republican until the Reagan revolution in 1980. That was one of the reasons it was called a "revolution." The GOP had finally found a Republican southerners would vote for (which is the reason he won by such huge margins).

...why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican...

It was certainly not because of the R's support of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (which had been filibustered repeatedly in the previous decade by such Democratic Party luminaries as Al Gore Sr., Willian Fulbright and Strom Thurmond.

[JorgXMcKie]

Scott Olsen: because they got tired of being run by elected racists?

[Michael Zak]

Thanks for the message. Good question, which I answer in my speeches and in my book. See the Amazon and B&N links at http://www.republicanbasics.com.

Cheers,

[Scott Olson]

Maybe you should explain to your readers why the southern states switched from being majority Democratic to majority Republican in the decades after the events described in this article.

[Americaneocon]

Thanks for the update! I teach this history every semester.