The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 were signed into law under a Democratic President. However, it was the Republicans in Congress who made possible the passage of these Acts, for even though the Democrats controlled both Houses by wide margins, they still could not garner enough of their own votes to pass the bills. In fact, in the House, only 61% of the Democrats voted for the Civil Rights Act (152 for, 96 against) while 80% of Republicans voted for it (138 for, 38 against). In the Senate, only 69% of Democrats voted for the Act (46 for, 21 against) while 82% of Republicans did (27 for, 6 against). The passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 would not have been possible without the strong, cohesive support of the Republicans. In fact, all Southern Democrats voted against the Civil Rights Act, including Sen. Al Gore, Sr., who voted with the Southern Democrats against civil rights whenever the occasion arose. Around 1890, Democrats instituted what became known as "white primaries" to keep blacks from being placed on the ballot. Democrats also developed poll taxes to keep blacks from voting. It was not until 1966 that the poll tax was ended, and it had only been in 1944 that the "white primaries" had finally ceased. Significantly, it was not Democrats, but the Republicans, who had long championed the repeal of the poll tax. The Republican platform declared: "We demand that every citizen of the United States shall be allowed to cast one free and unrestricted ballot, and that such ballot shall be counted and returned as cast." Three African-Americans have presided over Republican National Conventions, while only one, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke in 1972, has made it as high as Vice-Chair - not even Co-Chair - of a Democratic National Convention. In 1966, Republican Edward William Brooke III of Massachusetts became the first black to be elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote. Today, in 2001, there are 39 black Members of Congress: one Republican and thirty-eight Democrats. The black Republican (one of 271 combined Republicans in the House and the Senate) was elected by his Republican peers to a position of Republican leadership in this Congress; but of the thirty-eight black Democrats (from among the 262 combined Democrats in the House and the Senate), none was elected by his Democratic peers to any leadership position. Black media personality R.D. Davis of Alabama correctly observes, "History tends to unilaterally and falsely depict Republicans as racists when Democrats truly deserved this title."
President Bush needs to get out there and explain the truth about the Republican party and civil rights. How the democrats were able to turn this issue for them and against the Republicans has been extraordinary.