As we all know by now, Howard Dean, the DNC laughingstock chairman, made some more incredibly insulting remarks about Republicans recently. In one of these, he claimed that all Republicans are white Christians. Our Democratic alter ego, Adam, is trying to support Dean’s ill-advised statement. He pulled a blank picture from Americablog to show that there are no black Republicans in Congress. So, I thought it was time for a history lesson. The following will help clear up some recent misconceptions:
Timeline of Black Republican History
1862 President Abraham Lincoln is the first president to meet with a group of black leaders
1864 The Republican National Convention makes the abolition of slavery a plank in its platform
1868 Oscar J. Dunn becomes Lieutenant Governor in Louisiana
P.B.S Pinchback and James J. Harris become the first African-American delegates to the Republican National Convention, held in Chicago
1870 Hiram R. Revels is elected to fill U.S. Senate seat formerly held by Jefferson Davis
Joseph H. Rainey, South Carolina, becomes the first African-American Congressman
Alonzo J. Ransier is elected Lieutenant Governor of South Carolina before being elected to the U.S. Congress in ’72
1871 Robert B. Elliot chairs South Carolina delegation to the Republican National Convention in Philadelphia
1872 John R. Lynch is elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives; he will be elected to US Congress in 73
1875 Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi becomes the first African-American elected to a full term in US Senate
1884 John R. Lynch is the first African-American to preside over the Republican National Convention; gives the keynote address
1901 President Theordore Roosevelt invites Booker T. Washington to dinner at the White House
1920 The Republican National Convention declares that African-Americans must be admitted to all state and district conventions
1954 President Dwight Eisenhower appoints J. Ernest Wilkins as Assistant Secretary of Labor
1960 Jackie Robinson, the first black Major League Baseball player, endorses Nixon for President
1966 Edward W. Brooke (R-MA) is the first African-American elected to U.S. Senate by popular vote
1968 Arthur A Fletcher is appointed Assistant Secretary of Labor; he will be a candidate for Chairman of the Republican National Committee in ’76 and appointed Chairman of the US Commission on Civil Rights in ’90
1975 President Gerald Ford appoints William T. Coleman Secretary of Transportation
James B. Parsons is named Chief Judge of the US District Court in Chicago, the first African-American to hold such a position
1980 NAACP President Benjamin Hooks is invited to address the Republican National Convention
1981 President Ronald Reagan appoints Clarence Pendleton, Jr, as Chairman of the US Civil Rights Commission
1982 President Reagan appoints Clarence Thomas as Chairman of the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
1989 President George H.W. Bush appoints Louis Sullivan as Secretary of Health and Human Services
President Bush appoints General Colin L. Powell as Chair of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff
President Bush appoints Condolezza Rice as Director of the National Security Council
1990 Gary Franks is elected to US Congress (CT)
1991 President Bush appoints Clarence Thomas to U.S. Supreme Court
1998 U.S. House of Representatives elects J.C. Watts (R-OK) to be Chairman of the House Republican Conference
2001 President George W. Bush appoints General Colin L. Powell as the Secretary of State; Roderick R. Paige as the Secretary of Education; Condoleezza Rice as Advisor of the National Security Council; Alphonso Jackson as the Deputy Secretary to Housing and Urban Development; Claude Alien as the Deputy Secretary of Health and Human Services; Leo S. Mackay, Jr, as the Deputy Secretary of Veterans Affairs; Larry D. Thompson as the Deputy Attorney General; and Stephen A. Perry as Adminstrator of General Services Adminstration
Yes, it seems that the Republican Party should be considered the party of inclusion and tolerance.