Why Are Most Blacks in America Democrats?

Why are most blacks in America Democrats?

By Rev. Wayne Perryman

Perryman outlines in his book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats.” In it, and in his lawsuit, the Seattle minister details events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he claims show the pattern of bias and racism from that political party.

* for over 150 years, blacks were victims of terrorist attacks by the Democrats and their Klan supporters, including lynching, beating, rapes and mutilations
* On the issue of slavery, the Democrats literally gave their lives to expand it; the Republicans gave their lives to ban it.
* Many believed the Democrats had a change of heart and fell in love with blacks. To the contrary, history reveals the democrats didn’t fall in love with black folks, they fell in love with the black vote knowing this would be their ticket into the white house

“In our brief, we have included Congressional Records of the Democrat’s opposition to Civil Rights laws, the Democrat’s [Racist] Political Platform from 1835 to 1954, Senate Investigative Reports highlighting Democrat’s racist practices and their connection with the Ku Klux Klan, and the works from our nation’s top historians including those from Princeton University and Harvard.

We have included landmark Civil Cases, a multitude of case law, historical letters from African Americans in the 1800’s citing the atrocities committed by the Democrats. We included in detail – documented lynchings that were attended by Democratic officials and the works from our nation’s top psychologist indicating how all of this have affected the African American community.

Win, lose or draw, this is still a historical landmark case.”

Black Minister Seeks Racism Apology from Democratic Party
June 14th, 2006
By Christopher Tidmore, Political Columnist
Despite massive outreach by the Bush Administration and senior Republicans, African-Americans continue to maintain a perception that the GOP is at best less sympathetic to the needs of the black community than the Democrats’ and at worst hostile.
However, an influential member of the African-American clergy, who was one of President Clinton’s highest profile supporters and worked in Democratic politics for years, has now launched a legal campaign to convince black voters that Democrats have been even more hostile to the black community and have never taken responsibility for those historic views.
Rev. Wayne Perryman, associate pastor of Mt. Calvary Christian COGIC in Seattle, Washington, first filed a significant reparations lawsuit against the Democratic Party in 2004. The suit was dismissed two times before Perryman refiled in 2005 and now the case is pending further action in the U.S. Court of Appeals, 9th Circuit, Docket #0535890.
Perryman’s lawsuit does not seek millions of dollars. It asks that the Democratic Party issue a national apology for what he termed its past racist policies and practices toward blacks-and that they fund production of a series of documentaries which would record and preserve the tainted legacy of the party with free distribution to all public and private schools in the country.
These reported Democratic transgressions, Perryman outlined in his book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats.” In it, and in his lawsuit, the Seattle minister details events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he claims show the pattern of bias and racism from that political party.
Perryman explained his motivation in an open letter given to The Louisiana Weekl:

“I am a community activist and an inner-city minister located in the Seattle Washington. In addition to working with gang members and professional athletes, I spend my leisure time doing research. In 1993, based on personal research, I challenged major Christian Publishers and scholars that continued to produce publications promoting the Curse of Ham theory (a theory that justified slavery from a Christian perspective). My efforts resulted in a public apology and the removal of the 400 year old curse theory from all of their publications including removing it from the Encyclopedia Britannica. My book: The 1993 Trial on the Curse of Ham was based on that research.”

“Most of my adult life I have voted for, and worked with a number of Democratic candidates at the local level. In 1996, I served as a member of the Washington State Black Clergy to Re-elect President Bill Clinton and worked closely with the co-chair. After President Clinton was re-elected, I was challenged by a group of young people from our church regarding the history of the Democratic Party and their relationship with blacks. Their challenge prompted me to devote a considerable amount of time researching the subject.”

“My research included reviewing Congressional Records from 1860 to present, reading the works of several renowned history professors (both black and white) and looking at the Democratic Platform from the early 1800’s to 1954. In addition to these documents I reviewed the research of those who produced the books: Without Sanctuary, 100 Years of Lynchings and added to my library the History Channel’s series on The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow and Reconstruction: The Second Civil War. Excerpts from those books and film documentaries were included as exhibits in my Reparations lawsuit against the Democratic Party.”

“The graphic depictions of whites fighting over the private parts of black men (penises, fingers, ears) after hanging them and igniting them with kerosene, is forever embedded in my mind. I can still hear the cries of the victims’ wives and children pleading and begging for the lives of their loved ones while Democratic national and local elected officials joined the crowd and cheered. The lynching of Mary Turner, the nine-month pregnant mother was even more horrific and graphic. All of these events took place under the banner of “States Rights” in regions controlled by Democratic governors, mayors, judges, sheriffs, Congressmen and U.S. Senators. Like Dr King, my parents lived through those times in Atlanta and I never fully appreciated what they and other blacks went through until I had completed my research.”

“In addition to lynchings and terrorist attacks by the Democrat’s terrorist organizations (as revealed in the 1871 Senate hearings), Democrats legislated Black Codes, Jim Crow laws and a multitude of other repressive legislation at the federal and state levels (and repealed other key pieces of Civil Rights legislation) all in an effort to deny blacks their rights as citizens. The entire system of racism in America was meticulously thought-out and carried-out by a powerful political machine. And that political machine according to Historians, was the Democratic Party – the party of “White Supremacy.”

“Based on these findings, I sent the April 5, 2004 letter to the D[emocratic] N[ational] C[ommittee] requesting that they issue an apology to African Americans. In 2005, I sent a second letter to the DNC, again requesting an apology. When the DNC ignored these requests, I filed my first lawsuit on December 10, 2005.”

Perryman maintained that his demand for an apology mirrors a demand made by the members of the Congressional Black Caucus in a letter to former African-American Republican Congressman JC Watts on January 28, 1999. In that letter the Caucus told Mr. Watts and his GOP counterparts that they must “clearly and publicly distance themselves from the CCC and any other white supremacist, anti-Semitic or hate groups’.”

The Seattle minister continued, “In my letter to the DNC, I expressed similar sentiments. I told the DNC ‘An apology is one of the only ways modern-day Democrats can distance themselves from the party’s racist past while bringing some closure to the African American Community.” Instead of apologizing, Howard Dean hired one of the most powerful law-firms in the country, to defend the party’s racist past.”

“Without an apology and repentance there is no way the Democratic Party can ever sincerely honor Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Ms Rosa Parks; two individuals who literally gave their lives to destroy the racist programs, policies and practices that were established by the Democratic Party. And without an apology and repentance there is no way the Democratic Party can ever respect African Americans. Their past programs and practices from slavery through Jim Crow which literally destroyed the lives of millions of blacks, was an act of mass murder. And to hire an attorney to defend that racist past is not only an official endorsement of murder – it is an insult to the entire black race and to those whites who gave their lives to eliminate racial injustice.”

National Democratic officials have called the lawsuit ridiculous, citing the Democratic Party’s defense of African-American issues. Eager Republicans have begun to circulate Perryman’s charges against their opposition, emphasizing GOP relationships with the black community.
Until 1939, Republicans won the majority of enfranchised black votes. Starting with Franklin Roosevelt and ending with Richard Nixon’s Southern Strategy as former Dixiecrats joined the GOP, African-Americans turned overwhelmingly into the Democratic camp.
Perryman, who has switched his party affiliation to Independent, contended in his recent book, “Unfounded Loyalty: An In-depth Look Into the Love Affair Between Blacks and the Democrats:

” that Republicans have less to apologize for than Democrats, outlining events which occurred from 1792 through 2002 which he contends show patterns of bias and racism from the Democrats. One interesting point, the clergyman makes deals with the currently controversial discussion of reparations for slavery.

One of the proofs he cites in his case is that Republicans, in 1866, introduced a Senate bill for reparations but Democratic President Andrew Johnson vetoed it.
“We would have had reparations if it weren’t for the Democrats,” Perryman told journalist Adeeba Folami. He also asserts that it was in Democratic controlled states where blacks were doused in kerosene, set on fire and lynched, many times while their homes were simultaneously being burned to the ground. All the while, Democratic mayors, judges and other elected officials joined in and cheered the activities along or looked the other way.
“You never found anywhere or [in] any public record where the Democratic Party ever apologized,” the former Democrat said, adding that he believes last year’s Resolution 39, the government’s official apology for lynching, was inspired by his lawsuit as it was introduced by a Democratic, southern senator on the same day the DNP was to have responded to his lawsuit in federal court.
The author views that effort as one aimed at circumventing his case, however, the irony, he said, was in the fact that it was Republicans who congressional records show were introducing anti-lynching laws in the 1870s, laws that were never passed or supported by Democrats.
Perryman asserted that his major motivation is for the true history of the Democratic Party with African-Americans to become widely known – whether he wins or loses his legal case. Yet, he has a distinct political motive as well, a desire to see blacks become more knowledgeable of the political process and that they need representation in both parties along with bipartisan coalitions to affect real change on their issues of concern.
He stated that the DNP has hired a large, corporate law firm for their defense while he represents himself, pro se, and he also lamented that the National Bar Association, even though aware of the case, has refused to offer assistance through their network of thousands of black judges and attorneys.
“I’m out here fighting by myself but David fought Goliath and the Lord helped him,” he said optimistically. “I’m just praying God will help me prevail.”
Perryman’s lawsuit presents a short term political challenge for Howard Dean. The DNC Chairman has banked his tenure on the so-called “fifty state strategy.” Under the plan, Democrats would spend money in key districts across the nation, even in Republican strongholds to attempt to swing GOP seats to the Democrats. An essential part of the plan involves motivating unregistered or inactive black voters to participate, thus changing some previously uncompetitive seats into the competitive column.
Other Democrats such as Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi have called the plan unworkable, advising that the DNC should spend its money in existing Democratic majority districts that have Republican Congressman representing these marginal seats.
Should Perryman’s case come to hearings prior to the 2006 elections, with Dean and his DNC as its major target, the negative publicity could depress black turnout, thus defeating the Chairman’s strategy.