[xzins]

Lincoln and republicans were one of the best things to happen to blacks in America. Independence, hard work to get ahead, solid families.

LBJ and the democrats with their government slavery were the worst. Families ripped apart, poverty rampant, total dependence on someone handing stuff out. A proud culture gone to hell.

[Vigilanteman]

One of the most remarkable things about Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery are the chapters about the immediate reaction among the freed slaves. Some of the older one fretted about old age security (albeit at a low level) which would no longer be provided by the plantation because there were no more plantations.

Many of the younger ones, however, thirsted for education and skills training because they knew it would get them ahead. A fellow fortunate enough to be able to read and write at even a 4th grade level would open a school to get others up to that level . He would then turn the school over to his best pupil and go out and seek further education.

Within a single generation, the educational skill gap between white Americans and black Americans had closed considerably.

By the time LBJ showed up, it had closed even further. Only after LBJ's programs begin to take their toll did it begin to expand again.