(Party of Slavery & KKK) “For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights ..."

WP - The Fact Checker ^ | 09/05/2012 | The Fact Checker

[DogByte6RER]

“For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights, health care, Social Security, workers’ rights, and women’s rights.”

— from a history of the Democratic Party, on DNC Web site.

A number of readers asked about this brief (20 paragraphs or so) history of the Democratic party, especially the first sentence. It certainly appears to ignore the party’s long and troubled history with race, literally leaping from the “200 years” phrase to 1920, when the women’s suffrage amendment was enacted.

The Web history mentions the leadership of President Woodrow Wilson in helping pass the 19th Amendment, without noting that he was a racist or that he repressed civil liberties — even to the point of jailing one of his rivals for the presidency in 1914 (socialist Eugene Debs).

The history also highlights the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Certainly President Lyndon Johnson, a Texas Democrat, played an essential role, but it is worth remembering that 80 percent of the “no” votes in the Senate came from Democrats, including the late Robert Byrd (W.Va.) and Albert Gore (Tenn.), father of the future vice president. Republican votes, in fact, were essential in winning final passage of the bill.

Of course, a quick little Web history does not give much space for such details.

[TheOldLady]

“For more than 200 years, our party has led the fight for civil rights ..."

They left off, "for whites only."

[ROCKLOBSTER]

So, can anybody name one Republican that was a member of the KKK?

Alleged "republican" David Duke.