On Monday, December 7, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) took to the
Senate floor and compared opponents of his health care legislation to past
defenders of slavery and segregation.
"Instead of joining us on the right side of history," Reid accused, "all the
Republicans can come up with is, 'slow down, stop everything, let's start
over.' If you think you've heard these same excuses before, you're right.
When this country belatedly recognized the wrongs of slavery, there were
those who dug in their heels and said 'slow down, it's too early, things
aren't bad enough.'"
What Reid doesn't want you to know or remember is that, for much of its
history, it was his party that was overwhelmingly on the wrong side of civil
rights.
The Republican Party was anti-slavery from its very inception. Indeed, at
their first nominating convention in June, 1856, the Republicans declared
themselves opposed to "the extension of Slavery." Abraham Lincoln, the first
Republican president, would go on to issue the Emancipation Proclamation in
January 1863, and then in February 1865 sign a resolution sending the 13th
Amendment to the states for ratification, ending slavery in the United
States forever - all over the fierce objections of congressional Democrats.
Even in the 20th century Democrats were civil rights obstructionists. As
Byron Hulsey of the Jefferson Scholars Foundation pointed out in a
speech at the National Archives, "Southern Democrats were unalterably
opposed to any significant legislation, and Democratic President Lyndon
Johnson was forced to reach across the aisle," to Republicans, and
especially to Senator Everett Dirksen (R-IL), who was instrumental in
crafting and advancing 1960's civil rights legislation.
Given these historic contributions to civil rights, Reid's comments are not
sitting well with Republicans. Sen. Judd Gregg (R-N.H.) called the remarks
"foolish" and "inappropriate." Republican National Committee Chairman
Michael Steele, himself African-American, called into question Reid's mental
state, noting that the Majority Leader is under tremendous pressure which
"has apparently led Senator Reid not only to make offensive and absurd
statements, but also to lose his ability to reason."