It was a boring Saturday afternoon. I was about 13, and flipping through the channels when I came across a telethon, raising money for the Democratic Party.
I had a few dollars saved from my paper route, and knowing my parents and older brother were staunch Liberal Democrats, I wanted to help out so I pledged $10.00 (which I sent via money order). I was happy to be supporting the party-line.
I proudly told my big brother Paul, hoping that he would be impressed by my generosity, but instead, he seemed concerned. When I asked him about it, Paul explained that the money might go to help a Democrat that I would not like very much…like George Wallace. I had learned about Wallace in school, and during the ’72 election, and how (among other things) he literally stood in the way of school integration by standing in a door way.
I knew about Wallace, but did not know that this was indicative of the Democratic Party, at least the way it was until the middle of the 20th century.
My brother told me how many slave-owners and those who sought to impose “Jim Crow” laws, preventing African Americans from voting, working and living as they wanted, and those who supported segregation in schools, were all Democrats! I was shocked to hear this, but have since learned how the party has evolved over the years.
Hence we can have FDR, Henry Wallace, the Kennedys and LBJ, all people who pushed for Civil Rights (some more willingly than others) in the same party with Strom Thurmond and George Wallace!
At one time, the Republican Party WAS the party of Civil Rights. It was the party of Lincoln and of Grant, who worked to give more freedom to former slaves. The Republicans were the party of reason and decency. Even Dr. King was a Registered Republican, due to their history of support for civil rights.
However, times changed, and both parties evolved.
George Wallace, Strom Thurmond and others like them were criticized more and more by the Democratic Party, as it became more Liberal after FDR.
Thurmond actually joined the Republicans, as he saw the party of Lincoln putting up more and more resistance to the changes that were inevitable in our country. As the Democrats became more Liberal and embraced many of these changes, the Republicans became more conservative and reactionary. This change can be attributed to the way the Democrats embraced change by fighting for Civil Rights.
Looking over history, we can see how both parties changed places over the years.
Although he was a registered Republican, Dr. King had grown concerned over the direction of the party as it failed to address issues of poverty, race relations and the Vietnam War. Among many other things, King was a Theologian, who saw the liberation inherent in the Gospel message of Christ. This message calls us to treat each other with compassion and understanding, with a special emphasis on caring for the poor, sick and the oppressed.
While the Democratic party is far from perfect, recently this is the party that has had the strongest voice for social justice and compassion for the poor, the sick and disenfranchised in our nation!
Sadly, the Republicans no longer follow the high ideas of Dr. King, Lincoln, Grant, and others who sought free the oppressed. In the same way the Democrats are no longer the party of the KKK or the “Dixiecrats” who were often oppressors, seeking to stop the march of freedom by standing in a doorway, burning a cross, blocking a voting booth, or out and out murder.
It frustrates me when I see people clinging to the sins of the past to justify why they are sticking so close to their party, while ignoring the misdeeds of the present; however, when I pause and step away from my own prejudices, I am led to another point of view.
Although we are in an unusual (I hope) period today, it’s important to remember that our world is constantly in flux: generations change, our population becomes more diverse, and cultural norms evolve. There is no reason to believe that the positions of the two parties could not change again, and again…or that a new party may arise.
My point, is that rather than sticking so strongly to a party, we (including myself) should be sticking more closely to our own convictions and moral compass. To follow what WE believe to be the next right thing, not what we are TOLD we have to believe by politicians who only care about the next election cycle.
Of course, sticking to our own beliefs does not mean that we need to stop listening to and talking with each other. On the contrary, when we free ourselves from the dictates of our party leaders and pundits, we also give ourselves the freedom to engage in a real conversation about how to move forward.
This is a conversation we need to have as we move into whatever the future holds for us…for as much as some may wish to avoid it, the future is on its way!
And it is something we will share together…for in the end, we are not party members, but members of something greater: humanity!
Ordinary Adventures 