I’M A FREDERICK DOUGLASS REPUBLICAN Tuesday, June 11, 2013 - 4:54pm Submitted by Bonnie Willis Last week, I had the good fortune to attend the Fayette County Republican Party’s monthly breakfast meeting. This event is held on the first Saturday of the month at the IHOP in Fayetteville. Normally, I am unable to attend these meetings as my kids usually have soccer or softball games. But with the sports season over, I was able to go, and I was so glad I did. For, I had the opportunity to listen, first-hand, to the founder of the Frederick Douglass Republicans movement — K. Carl Smith. Mr. Smith attended the breakfast in an effort to encourage members of the Republican Party with the message of Frederick Douglass — who, many argue, was the grandfather of the civil rights movement. Frederick Douglass, for the first 20 years of his life, was a slave. And he went on to become one of the most prodigious social reformers, orators, writers, and influential thinkers of his time. He was also an admirer of the U.S. Constitution, our Founding Fathers, and a self-professed Republican. While I knew that up until the late 1960s African Americans were predominantly Republicans, there were two things that I did not understand, in this regard, until I listened to Mr. Smith’s presentation and began reading his book, “Frederick Douglass Republicans: The Movement to Re-ignite America’s Passion for Liberty.” The first thing I did not understand was why so many African Americans identified themselves with being Republicans back then. The answer came with the recognition of the principles that identified the Party — principles which resonated with a proud and hopeful people, who struggled to be recognized as part of “We the People.” These principles include a deep, abiding respect for our country’s founding, and documents, the forefathers, the rule of law, a respect for life in all its forms, from conception to old age, from men to women, and from slave to free; limited government that would simply “protect” the people, rather than “provide” for them in a dependent relationship, and a desire for self-determination. These principles manifested themselves in how many Republicans championed legislative and civil causes such as the abolition of slavery, segregation, women’s suffrage, and the civil rights movement, facts that are well chronicled in Mr. Smith’s book. Read more at thecitizen/blogs/bonnie-willis/06-11-2013/i%E2%80%99m-frederick-douglass-republican
Posted on: Wed, 19 Jun 2013 03:20:55 +0000