Opinion Editorial by Kaela Carpenter
The Democratic Party was formed by the anti-federalists, who opposed the ratification of the 1787 constitution. Founded by Andrew Jackson, (who supported slavery and would play a large role in the Indian removal), the party advocated westward expansion, Manifest Destiny, and greater equality among white men. When the Civil War began in 1860, it was a war between the mostly Republican north and the mostly democratic, slaveholding south. However, the portrayal of the history of the Democratic National Committee (DNC) on their website reads: “For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights, health care, Social Security, worker’s rights, and women’s rights.”
For the DNC to say that they have been fighting for civil rights for the past 200 years is to ignore the history behind the relationship between Democrats and civil rights. By definition, civil rights “is the rights of citizens to political and social freedom and equality.” This includes the African American slaves at the time. However as seen above, the Democratic Party was willing to split up the United States in order to continue to hold human beings as slaves. Additionally, Andrew Johnson, the 17th President of the United States, vetoed a bill that extended the rights of emancipated slaves by stating that “any person born in the United States, regardless of race, is a U.S. citizen.”
Along with the fact that the Democratic Party did not fight for equality and civil rights in its history, their claim that they have also been fighting for “health care, Social Security, worker’s rights, and women’s rights” for more than 200 years is false as well. Health care and the government’s involvement in it did not truly exist until the 1900’s. Social Security did not exist until 1935 when Franklin Roosevelt sighed it into being, and by doing so he went against the Democratic Party’s original intent to keep government small and forever changing the way the party ran. Additionally, women’s rights were not put in place until 1919. Worker’s rights are the only point they make that they could argue to have fought for 200 years.
Unions, organized to ostensibly protect the rights and interests of the group were headed by heavily democratic leaders. However, while the unions may have helped protect the rights of the workers, the eventually began to bully business owners. So while the workers were being ‘protected,’ who was protecting the business owners?
Because the DNC is ignoring their own history and choosing to wash it away and pretend it never happened, it is hypocritical for the Democrats to continually insult President Trump for stating falsehoods while they are trying to erase their own history. This is one of the main problems with the DNC, they bully and bash others for mistakes and statements that pale in comparison to the lies being told within the DNC.
Editors Note: The views of our Guest Contributors do not necessarily reflect the views of Yellowhammer.
About the Author: Kaela Carpenter is an intern at the Reid Law Firm. She is a student at Samford University. Kaela can be reached by e-mail at [email protected]. To learn more about the Reid Law Firm go to www.reidlawalabama.com
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