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MLK Jr.’s link with GOP lauded by black leader |
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Wednesday, 28 February 2007 |
By JOHN NORTH
The Democratic Party takes for granted its roughly 89 to 92 percent support from African-Americans in elections by supporting policies that keep blacks mired in poverty and crime and out of the workforce.
Or so said Frances Rice, a retired lieutenant colonel of the U.S. Army and chairwoman of the National Black Republican Association, during a Feb. 19 speech at the Crest Center near Asheville.
Rice
chastised the Democrats as racists and pointed out the civil rights
record of the Republican Party during the 2007 Buncombe County
Lincoln-Reagan Day Reception and Dinner. The gala, hosted by the
Buncombe GOP, drew more than 200 of the party faithful.
Her keynote address, titled “Why Martin Luther King Jr. Was a
Republican,” noted that the slain civil rights leader was a registered
Republican who recognized that it was the GOP that pushed through
approval of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
The Republican Party, formed before the Civil War as the anti-slavery
party, counted most blacks as members for nearly a century until the
1960s, Rice said.
Earlier, Rice was introduced to the Buncombe GOP by Bill Lack, an area
coordinator for the local party. He noted that Rice is an Atlanta
native who entered the Army as a private and retired 20 years later as
a lieutenant colonel. While in the service, Rice earned bachelor’s,
master’s and law degrees.
When Lack finished by noting that Rice’s success shows the opportunity
available in America, the Republicans arose from their chairs and gave
her a sustained ovation.
Rice began her 50-minute talk by noting that “it’s great to be in the
North Carolina mountains celebrating two great American presidents” —
Abraham Lincoln and Ronald Reagan.
“For a person, such as myself, from humble beginnings — I was born in a
rundown shack” — to attain success and be invited to address “this
august group” is an honor and a privilege, she said.
“I decided tonight to speak to you from my heart,” Rice asserted. She
then recounted the GOP’s founding as “the anti-slavery party. The Civil
War, in her estimation, “was a war between the Democrats and the
Republicans — and thank God the Republicans won.”
She lamented that today’s Republicans “don’t have the same advantage as
your ancestors had” because “today, black Americans are aligned with
their Democratic oppressors. The Democratic Party is trying to keep
blacks in economic bondage.”
After a pause, Rice added, “This is a topsy-turvy world and how did we come to this place?”
She reiterated that 150 years ago, the GOP fought to free the slaves,
while “the Democratic Party fought mightily to ensure blacks remain
slaves.”
Rice, who noted that she grew up in the South in the 1940s, ‘50s and
‘60s, said she knows “the wounds (from slavery and segregation) are
still there.”
While she alleged that the Ku Klux Klan was started by the Democrats
“to terrorize blacks and whites,” Rice said the Republicans started the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People “to help
blacks advance.” She accused the Democrats of doing “all the could to
stymie education” of blacks, realizing that knowledge is power.
“Until the 1930s, almost all blacks were Republicans because they knew who was helping them,” Rice said.
“Then came (Franklin D.) Roosevelt and the New Deal,” following the
Great Depression, “offering something for nothing and some blacks went
to the Democratic Party.”
Ironically, during the civil rights movement of the ‘50s and ‘60s,
“many Democratic leaders were in the schoolhouse doors,” fighting
against the integration of blacks into previously all-white learning
institutions.
“Martin Luther King Jr. was a Republican, as was I, as were most black
in those days,” Rice said. “It was Republican (Sen.) Everett Dirkson
(of Illinois), who passed through civil rights legislation.”
Moreover, she credited then-President Dwight D. Eisenhower, a
Republican, with appointing Earl Warren as chief justice of the Supreme
Court to end school segregation.
In contrast, she asserted that then-President John F. Kennedy “voted
against the civil rights legislation, was against the 1963 March on
Washington and had the FBI wiretap Martin Luther King (Jr.).”
Moreover, U.S. Sen. Robert W. Byrd of West Virginia, a Democrat who
still holds office, was in the KKK, Rice said, adding, “All those
Democrats, north and south, were racists.”
In another ironic twist, she noted that, “after the death of John F.
Kennedy, many blacks were taken in by the Democratic Party, resulting
in a social wasteland ... And they have the audacity to blame the
Republicans”
When they were aligned with the GOP, “blacks prospered,” Rice said.
Despite problems in the black community that have been exacerbated by
Democratic policies, “Black Americans (if considered as an entity)
would be the 16th wealthiest country in today’s world. And that’s after
blacks left plantations with little more than the shirts on their
backs.”
Rice blamed the Democratic Party for fostering “a culture of dependency
— you can’t get a government check if there’s a man in the house ...
And that’s what socialism is — existing on government handouts.”
She then defined socialism as “giving a man a fish and he’ll eat for a
day,” contrasting with capitalism, wherein one “teaches a man to fish
and he will eat for a lifetime.”
Rice told of growing up with a mother who expected her to return with a
report of straight A’s and serving as valedictorian of several
graduating classes during her schooling.
After retirement from the Army, she and her husband, who is in the
Foreign Service, traveled the world extensively and settled in
Sarasota, Fla.
Nearby, however, she discovered Newtown, Fla., a poor black community.
“I wondered what this island of poverty was doing in this sea of
wealth,” Rice noted.
Checking further, Rice said she learned that black Democrats ran the
community, who would threaten white leaders with a march and
accusations of racism “if they didn’t give money for various
redevelopment projects that were lining the black leaders’ pockets.”
She felt compelled to reveal how the Democrats had built their power
base on the backs of black people and “the failed policies of the
Democratic Party lead to poverty.”
In an epiphany, Rice added, “I stood there and said, ‘I’m black, I’m
Republican and I’m proud!’ Next thing, I put my three degrees into
practice. I called for a black economic summit.”
Upon learning that Newtown had tried to get itself designated a
“front-porch community,” Rice and other persuaded the chairman of the
Sarasota GOP to drive four hours in his private car to personally
deliver to Gov. Jeb Bush their request for the designation.
Bush, who she praised for supporting buttom-up procsses, granted the
status. Later, a parade was held to celebrate the award and the
community came out en masse to see the governor. But “guess who came
out to protest — the NAACP. And they called Gov. Bush a racist,” Rice
recounted.
“But I think the people saw who was on their side — a white Republican,
and who was against them — the Democratic Party,” she said.
Today, she said, Newtown is a “showcase,”with about $270,000 spent on
its redevelopment plan. Moreover, a Wal-Mart store will be locating in
the community soon, bring about 400 jobs and low prices, Rice noted.
“Do you know why Democrats oppose Wal-Mart?” She asked. “Because it was started by Republicans.”
Later, she noted that the U.S. is in the midst of two wars — one against Islamo-Fascists and the other, a culture war.
“In the Islamo-Fascist war, the Democrats are deadset against the
president,” and if their proposals were followed, it could “leave us
vulnerable to the terrorists,” Rice said.
“In the cultural war, they’re for the perversions of Hollywood.”
As a result, “the only way to win is to take away their base of support — black voters,” Rice said.
The Democrats
“count on getting 89 to 92 percent of the black vote in every election
because they understand if they don’t get it, they’re toast,” she
asserted.
“We can dream about a change” and it’s quite possible, Rice said,
noting that, in surveys of blacks, “their values are conservative
Republican, but they vote liberal Democrat.”
She then added, “Blacks don’t know ... We must do something for the
children mired in poverty in the inner cities. We can do it because
most blacks are conservative. We can do it!”
Moreover, she announced that the NBRA is sponsoring a “Reparations
March on Congress for a Formal Apology to African-Americans” from the
Democrat-controlled Congress for the party’s alleged 200-year history
of racism and failed socialism that has trapped urban blacks in
poverty. The movement was launched on March 1 and will conclude on
Thursday, when Rice will deliver the petition for reparations to the
offices of Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader
Harry Reid.
To the Buncombe GOP, Rice said, “We, the Black Republican Association,
will be your stormtroopers, if you’ll give us your economic support to
get 25 percent of the black vote” for the Republican Party.
Rice received a standing ovation with her closing assertion that “there will NOT be a President Hillary Clinton!”
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