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LISTEN NOW! (Or WATCH FULL PROGRAM!) It is so important for us to stand up for what is right and true in our generation as our forefathers were in their generation. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a forerunner in the civil rights movement. Known for his many words and speeches about the injustice of race in America, one of his best-known speeches is his “I Have a Dream” speech that echoed out from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. He shared his hopes and dreams for America, while also quoting words from the Declaration of Independence. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident that all men are created equal’”. This reality is so vital for us to understand. It is a precious thing to be an American and be afforded the freedoms that can be exercised in America. Sadly, a brief look at America’s history reveals that not all men have been treated equally. Professor of Political Science & Law at Vanderbilt University, Carol Swain reveals just a few of the realities that have taken place in our government.
As she points out, history reveals a stark difference between the positions of the Democratic Party and the Republican Party towards slavery and Jim Crow Laws. “The Democratic Party was the party of slavery and Jim Crow, and the Republican Party was the party of emancipation and racial integration. Democrats were the Confederacy; and Republicans were the Union.” But, around the 1960’s & 70’s, these positions were supposedly swapped. How did this happen? Swain continues, “Fabricated by left-leaning academic elites and journalists, the story went like this: Republicans couldn’t win a national election by appealing to the better nature of the country; they could only win by appealing to the worst. Attributed to Richard Nixon, the media’s all-purpose bad guy, this came to be known as “The Southern Strategy.”” Supposedly, for the Republicans to win the Southern States, that had to win over the votes of the racists. As Swain highlights, there have been three separate lies about this “Southern Strategy”.
The first lie states that Republicans began to position their strategy to white racists in the 1960’s. Swain details what actually happened. “Republicans actually became competitive in the South as early as 1928, when Republican Herbert Hoover won over 47 percent of the South’s popular vote against Democrat Al Smith.”The same can be true of the political races carried out by Dwight Eisenhower in 1952 and 1956. The second lie proposes that those in the South who were against the Civil Rights Acts of 1964, moved to the Republican Party. Again, not true. “Of the 21 Democratic senators who opposed the Civil Rights Act, just one became a Republican. The other 20 continued to be elected as Democrats, or were replaced by other Democrats” Lie number three proposes that Republicans have significantly maintained victories in the South since this strategy was implemented. “Richard Nixon, the man who is often credited with creating the Southern Strategy, lost the Deep South in 1968. In contrast, Democrat Jimmy Carter nearly swept the region in 1976 – 12 years after the Civil Rights Act of 1964.” As Swain continues to debunk these fabrications, “The truth is, Republicans didn’t hold a majority of southern congressional seats until 1994, 30 years after the Civil Rights Act.”
When we look at the present voting records of the South, we see that there has been a tremendous change in the way voters cast their ballots compared to what was done 40 and 50 years ago. Now, votes are no longer cast based on skin color, but on values. “The racism that once defined it, doesn’t anymore. Its values today are conservative ones: pro-life, pro-gun, and pro-small government. And here’s the proof: Southern whites are far more likely to vote for a black conservative, like Senator Tim Scott of South Carolina, than a white liberal.”
It is so important that we know what is being taught in schools. This is a classic example of a “smear campaign” targeted at the Republican Party with the goal of labeling the party as “racists”. If you don’t know the truth, you are easily susceptible to being deceived into believing what is being told to you. As Sharyl Attkisson writes in her new book The Smear: How Shady Political Operatives and Fake News Control What You See, What You Think, and How You Vote, when someone can’t change the truth, they smear the one sharing the truth. This is the same thing that the religious leaders tried to do to Jesus. He was the Messenger of Truth, and they called him the devil. The same types of smear campaigns are being carried out towards those in President Trump’s Faith Advisory Board. Don’t buy it. If we buy into a lie, we lose the nation. Nations stand because God allows them to stand.
It’s important that we not get caught up in these attacks of lies and distractions. Charles Barkley has recently shared his perspective on the national focus of Confederate Statues. “I’m not gonna waste my time worrying about these Confederate Statues. That’s wasted energy!” Instead, he describes what he is going to focus his time on. “I’m gonna keep doing great things. I’m going to keep trying to make a difference. Number one, in the black community, because I’m black; but I’m also going to try and do good things in the world.” If someone were to ask Barkley what his thoughts are on these statues, he points out this reality. “I’m 54 years old. I’ve never thought about those statues a day in my life.”
See the full discussion about understanding the importance of these many topics and so much more. Also shared in this segment: political parties, Jim Crow Laws, racism, Abraham Lincoln, Brown v. Board of Education, segregation, desegregation, Civil Rights Act of 1964, Prager University, Charles Barkley, Confederate Statues, and racism. Greg and Steve shared in this segment.
screen capture from CBN.com
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