UnExpected Outcomes (3)

"What remains certain is that Reconstruction failed, and that for Blacks its failure was a disaster whose magnitude cannot be obscured by the genuine accomplishments that did endure." — Eric Foner, American Historian ¹

Why I Will Not Vote The Democratic Ticket (1880)

"The existing [Republican] administration is the representative of conspiracy only, and its claim of right to surround the ballot-boxes with troops and deputy marshals, to intimidate and obstruct the election, and the unprecedented use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and despotic powers, insult the people and imperil their institutions." — Democratic Party Platform of 1880, Plank No. 6. ²

The United States Presidential Election of 1880 marked the end of the Reconstruction Era (1865-1877). ^3,4 James A. Garfield from Ohio was the Republican Party's candidate and Union General Winfield Scott Hancock, a decorated Civil War hero, was the Democratic Party's candidate. While the 1880 election provided little to no fireworks in terms of pressing issues of its day, the Democratic Party's strategy of using a Civil War hero at the battle of Gettysburg to further their disenfranchisement designs to keep Black Americans from voting in the "Solid Democratic South" clearly stands out. ⁵ Designs such as "violence," "fraud," "literacy test", "poll taxes," "White only primaries," "gerrymandering," "ballot box stuffing," "restrictive registration practices," and "stripping duly elected officials of their powers" were effectively employed by the "Solid Democratic South" when the last of the 20,000 United States federal troops needed to enforce the Reconstruction Acts were withdrawn from the "Solid Democratic South." ^6,7,8 Because Hancock was a Democrat who fought to preserve the Union but not to end slavery or see Black Americans protected by the United States Constitution, ⁹ a handbill that emphasized the differences between the Republicans and the Democrats entitled: "Why I Will Not Vote The Democratic Ticket" was issued to remind voters why they should not vote Democratic in the 1880 election. ¹⁰ Today such language would be considered "politically incorrect," however, in 1880 these facts were widely known and fresh in everyones memory. Nevertheless, the strategy was brilliant, using a candidate that "appeared" to represent the victorious North and the interests of the disenfranchised slaves in the South, dramatically diluted the Republican Party's voter base. Even though Hancock lost the election, he lost by less than 2,000 popular votes in what is to date the smallest popular vote victory for a United States President in American history. ¹¹

Click here to read the Chicago Times' Sunday, November 7th review of the 1880 Presidential election entitled: "The Democratic Party's Downfall: The Curse of Slavery and of the Session Rebellion Pursuing it to its Grave." — Oh, how far have the mighty fallen!

Why I Will Not Vote The Democratic Ticket (2012)

"The Negro cannot win … if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety." — Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. ("The Living King", Ebony, Vol. 41, No. 3, January 1986, Page 63.)

Just as the Democratic Party platforms of 1856, 1860 and 1868 defended chattel slavery, supported the Fugitive Slave Law, the Dred Scott decision and the Homer Plessy decision, declared that the Civil Rights laws of the Congress were "unconstitutional, revolutionary, and void" and charged that "instead of restoring the Union, it [the Republican Party] has, so far as in its power, dissolved it, and subjected ten States, in time of profound peace, to military despotism and Negro supremacy," the Democratic Party platform today continues to corrupt the clear conscience of biblical constructs. ¹² The 2008 Democratic National Platform ("Renewing America's Promise"), strongly and unequivocally supports abortion on demand (with taxpayer dollars) and same-sex marriage. ¹³ Today, abortion has terminated the lives of over fifty (50) million children in the womb of their own mothers. According to Dennis M. Howard, the total number of abortions in the United States between 1967 and 2011 is 54,900,000 or more than the population of the seventy-two (72) largest cities in the United States (54,899,885). ¹⁴ In Black America, abortion is the number one (1) cause of death and its impact is genocidal. According to La Verne Tolbert, Ph.D., of the over fifty (50) million lives lost to abortion on demand, over twenty (20) million have been Black American babies. ¹⁵ According to the latest report from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and keeping in mind that the CDC's report legally excludes the numbers from California (the state that performs the largest number of abortions in the country), Maryland, and New Hampshire, Black Women accounted for 40.2% of all abortions in the United States of America. ¹⁶ The fertility rate of 2.110 represents "replacement level" fertility for a population under current mortality conditions (assuming no net immigration). Fertility rates below two children define a population decreasing in size and growing older. Some demographers have even expressed concern that due to demographic inertia, a very low fertility rate could become irreversible. According to the United States Census Bureau's Statistical Abstract of the United States (a report given to the United States Senate and Congress), in 2003 Black America dropped below the replacement level of 2.110 (again). ¹⁷ At the very least, this is a "wake up" call for a population whose fertility rate was 124.7 in 1966. ¹⁸

No, I Will Not Vote The Democratic Ticket!

Why I Will Not Vote Party Above Principle

"We made up our minds that the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution were themselves null and void; that the acts of Congress *** were null and void; that oaths required by such laws were null and void." — Benjamin Ryan Tillman, (Democrat from South Carolina) from Senator Tillman's speech in the United States Senate, March 23, 1900, A Republican Text-Book For Colored Voters (Cover Page) ¹⁹

"Hon. W. Bourke Cochran, of New York, a leading Northern Democrat, has emphasized the above expression of Senator Tillman by advocating a repeal of the Fifteenth Amendment to the Constitution. Thus the Democratic Party North and South is joining hands to disfranchise the Negro." — A Republican Text-Book For Colored Voters (Cover Page) ²⁰

David Barton, Founder and President of WallBuilders once said: "… no one from any background — whether political, religious, or racial — should ever love any political party above principle. Although history is clear that there have been major differences in how political parties treated Black Americans, neither party is completely blameless in all of its actions — nor have all the leaders in a party always been good, or always been bad." ²¹ I wholeheartedly agree. Today, neither the Democratic nor Republican Party is worthy of my vote. Today we vote for the "lesser of two evils" believing one isn't as bad as the other and therefore should be chosen over the one that is the greater threat. Gone are the days where our "two-party system" represented the clear line between good and evil. Today both parties have embraced the practice of "Party above Principle." Today both parties participate in "Partisan Politics" that only serve their personal proclivities. Today both parities have broken their "Contract with America" (CWA) ²² and we the people have sacrificed our vote to the God of "Political Expediency."

This all ends here. Join me in saying …

I Will Not Vote Party Above Principle!

Frederick Douglass (1818-1895), a Black Republican, advisor to Abraham Lincoln, abolitionist and a minister of the Gospel speaks for me when he says:

"I have one great political idea … That idea is an old one. It is widely and generally assented to; nevertheless, it is very generally trampled upon and disregarded. The best expression of it, I have found in the Bible. It is in substance, "Righteousness exalteth a nation; [but] sin is a reproach to any people" (Proverbs 14:34). This constitutes my politics — the negative and positive of my politics, and the whole of my politics … I feel it my duty to do all in my power to infuse this idea into the public mind, that it may speedily be recognized and practiced upon by our people." 23

Congressional Representative, Robert Brown Elliott (1871-1874), a Black Republican from South Carolina speaks for me when he says:

"I am the slave of principles; I call no [political] party master … I have ever most sincerely embraced the democratic [or representative] ideal — not, indeed, as represented or professed by any party, but according to its real significance as transfigured in the Declaration of Independence and in the injunctions of Christianity." 24