On Civil Rights, Virginia Foxx Revises History to Make Republicans Look Good
Is Rep. Virginia Foxx crazy? I don’t know, but she certainly says some crazy things. Consider a couple of things she said yesterday:
– “Actually, the GOP has been the leader in starting good environmental programs in this country.”
Maybe, if you go all the way back to the days of Teddy Roosevelt. More recently, the GOP is the party of global warming denialism and opposition to environmental legislation generally.
– “Just as we were the people who passed the civil rights bills back in the ’60s without very much help from our colleagues across the aisle. They love to engage in revisionist history.”
If it’s revisionist history you want, you’ll get it whenever Foxx opens her mouth. She’s certainly old enough to remember that it was a Democratic president, Lyndon Johnson, who was largely (but not solely) responsible for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Furthermore, Republicans were broadly against civil rights, and in fact it was to a great extent their opposition to civil rights that flipped the South from the Democrats, who had long held it, ushering in a new regional and demographic alignment in American politics and paving the way for Republican electoral success over the next few decades, pretty much up to the present. It was only in 2008, with a hugely popular presidential candidate, that the Democrats were able to break through in parts of the South — notably Virginia and North Carolina — that were for the most part solidly Republican. Even with Obama, though, the South remains a Republican bastion, and democrats continue to have a problem winning over white men.
Did some Republicans support civil rights in the ’60s? Of course. A lot of them did — and a lot from parts of the country that are now solidly Democratic, now that the GOP has moved to far to the right. But it’s crazy to think that they did it on their own, or that they were largely responsible for it, or that Democrats not only had nothing to do with it but were actively against it. That last one is insulting, not just to President Johnson but to the many Democrats who were on the front lines of the struggle, and to those who stood with their president to change America for the better.
But, then, this is Virginia Foxx we’re talking about. We shouldn’t be at all surprised by her misrepresentation of historical fact.
(Cross-posted from The Reaction.)
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7 Responses to “On Civil Rights, Virginia Foxx Revises History to Make Republicans Look Good”
Well said Michael. Your argument broke down and backed up with what really happened… All I can add it, you'd better get ready to duck or at least be prepared for a three or four part lecture on what a childish lefty you are. [sigh]
Steve is right. The persistence of reality won't be enough to stem either revisionist apologism or deflective tit for tat nonsense. Not in this era of elastic standards… and worse.
Democrats call themselves the party of Jefferson, this isn't much different.
Of course you just proved my point.
And btw, I think Jefferson envisioned a more inclusive America than today's GOP does. . . even if he was a slave owner. Not so simple eh?
I think Jefferson envisioned a revolution long before we got to this point.
Jefferson wouldn't recognize, and probably wouldn't accept what has transpired, especially since the 1930s.
He probably would feel vindicated about the worst with cities and related politics (as exhibited on this thread, incidentally), and might actually apologize to Hamilton (though not for post-1930 Washington).
As usual, you libs are short on the facts and great at revisionist history. It was a Republican minority under Kennedy's administration that first introduced several bills to protect the constitutional rights of blacks, including a comprehensive new civil rights bill. In February 1963, to head off a return by most blacks to the party of Lincoln, Kennedy abruptly decided to submit to Congress a new civil rights bill. Democrat racist geared up over the next few months to filibuster the bill, and then Kennedy was assassinated. Mindful of how Democrat opposition had forced the Republicans to weaken their 1957 and 1960 Civil Rights Acts, President Johnson (a southerner) warned Democrats in Congress that this time it was all or nothing. To ensure support from Republicans, he had to promise them that he would not accept any weakening of the bill and also that he would publicly credit our Party for its role in securing congressional approval. The House of Representatives passed the bill by 289 to 124, a vote in which 80% of Republicans and 63% of Democrats voted “yes”. The Senate vote was 73 to 27, with 21 Democrats and only 6 Republicans voting “no”. Source: http://www.gopusa.com/opinion/mz_0808.shtml