Walking Off the Democrat Plantation – The Providence of Change (part 1 of 3)

Written By: Providence Crowder

Ok, here’s the story.  I was born and raised a Democrat.  As odd as “being born a Democrat” may sound, that statement is as true as it is tragic.  Both of my parents were, my aunts and uncles were, and every influential adult in my life proclaimed to be . . . a Democrat.  I hadn’t considered questioning why because politics didn’t interest me much.  I inherently knew that I was one, and when I became of voting age, the fundamental rule was that I must vote the party line all the way down the voting ticket.  Why Democrat, you may ask?  Because all black people, as far as I was told, voted Democrat.  And since I was black, that made me Democrat.  So when I turned 18 years of age, I registered to vote and voted as any good black American would. I followed the example of those around me and saddled that Democrat donkey every election Tuesday without understanding the issues, without learning the party platforms, and without a thorough assessment of the candidates.  Heck, I didn’t even care to know such things; I just wanted the Democrats to win the election against those “racist” Republicans that I had been taught were against black people.  I wanted the rich to pay their fair share like we, the poor and working class Americans, were.  I didn’t even mind a little redistribution of wealth when it came to someone else’s fortune, as long as mine was left alone.

MY CHRISTIAN ROOTS

Moreover, my Christian roots ran deeper than my Democratic ones.  I was raised in a strongly conservative Christian home, and even though for a time I had strayed, I eventually grew to know and love Christ on my own as an adult.  Christianity became no longer my parent’s religion, but MY faith, MY conviction, MY choice.  I eventually began to seek godliness in all areas of my life; work, home, recreation . . . in everything.  My Christian worldview even caused me to, for the first time, examine my politics.

Upon a closer examination of my party, I learned that most of the Democratic Party’s platform stood against many biblical moral standards.  Generally, they rejected the biblical definition of marriage and they overwhelmingly supported abortion.  I learned that more often than not, when I voted for a Democratic candidate, I was voting against my family values.   That troubled me greatly and I began to question my loyalty to the party; and after I began to make my way through college and learn a little about economics, I discovered that the Democratic Party’s economic policies were detrimental for not only black Americans, but for all Americans!

Their socialist policies have managed to create a permanent underclass of poor blacks dependent on government programs and entitlements for survival.  Their policies have done what 400 years of slavery couldn’t do; destroy the black family.  The government has replaced the father in many poor black households by promising young mothers that they would provide for her and her children and pay her bills, as long as the father was not in the home.  Their policies have discouraged work by providing greater benefits and incentives for staying home.  Their policies have supported the genocide of black babies through the public funding of “murder on demand” corporations such as Planned Parenthood.  Their policies have turned affirmative action into an unfair quota system that discriminates against white men and at the same time puts into question the qualifications and merit of accomplished blacks.  After learning all this, I remembered on several occasions telling my husband, “You know I’m a Republican on paper.  I like the party but not the people.  They are spot on point and I agree with most of what they’re saying, but I will not vote for any of those racists.”

I was almost free, but the great escape didn’t come without challenge.  After all that I had learned, I still wanted a reason to vote Democrat because I subconsciously feared going against my cultural norm. I had just the reason.  Republicans were racist and did NOT want me to be a part of their party!  Though I had seen those black Republican weirdo sell-outs on TV (through sound bites played on MSNBC), it wasn’t until my first personal encounter with a black Republican, a friend and co-worker, that I would finally break the Democratic stronghold, break free from the groupthink politics that have left blacks politically inept; escape the mental slavery that the modern day plantation of “entitlements” and “government help” have used to entice many into laziness, dependency, and unproductivity.  Rachel Maddow and Keith Olbermann were starting to lose their grip on me.

HELP FROM A FRIEND

My dear conservative friend introduced me to some historical facts about the Democratic Party that helped push me to research for myself whether or not the claims he made were true.  What I learned crushed my beliefs that the Republican Party was full of racists who were trying to hold the black man down.  What I learned left me with no affinity for my inherited party; I was left, finally, with NO good reason to vote Democrat.

What I found out in my quest for political clarity was that the Republican party passed EVERY civil rights legislation in regard to black Americans, including the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 1965 Voting Rights Act, which was signed by a Democrat president but only passed because of a Republican congress’ overwhelming support.  Most Democrats in congress opposed it.  Republicans passed the 13th amendment, freeing black slaves; the 14th amendment, giving blacks their citizenship; the 15th amendment, granting blacks the right to vote.  Even still, whenever Democrats would take back control of the white house and congress, they would prevent blacks from buying land, they denied them fair wages for their work, and they undid many of the civil rights advancements of the Republicans.

Republicans were largely responsible for promoting and defending the civil rights of blacks while Democrats fought to lynch us, enslave us, and keep us as second-class citizens.  I discovered that even civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was Republican and so was abolitionist Frederick Douglass.  Other abolitionists, both black and white, were Republican.  In fact, I learned that the Republican Party (initially comprised of disgruntled Democrats, Whigs, and Free Soil party members) was established in 1854 as the anti-slavery party; they opposed the spreading of slavery into free states.

I had always been told that white people were the ones who upheld slavery and fought to keep black people down.  I had never heard the political aspect of the civil rights controversy.  White people who identified themselves as Republican (most also identified themselves as Protestant Christians or Evangelicals) fought to free black slaves.  They clearly identified their enemy as Democrat, or Southern Democrat, the ones who wanted to maintain and spread slavery.  John Mark Reynolds once said of the Republican Party, “When it came time to confront the original sin of the nation—slavery—the Republican Party was on the Lord’s side.” Once they were granted the right to vote, blacks voted Republican and worked alongside white Republicans to advance our freedom in this country.

Editor’s Note: Part 2, starting with “THE DEMOCRAT PARTY’S SHAMEFUL PAST” will be published tomorrow. Don’t miss it!