I Am Not a Fan of John C. Calhoun

      John C. Calhoun was a senator from South Carolina during the first half of the 19^th century. During this era senators were often more politically powerful than presidents—senators like Calhoun, Daniel Webster, Henry Clay.

     Calhoun was highly intelligent, had disciplined determination, and powerful rhetoric. He became the spokesman for state's rights and the idea that a state had the right to nullify a federal law which it deemed to be unconstitutional. He was a strong proponent of slavery

 

     During the era from 1825-1860, the United States was divided into two camps on the issue of slavery. Since there was an even division of states, every political battle could easily evolve into a contest between the 'slave states' and the 'free states'. The North struggled to prevent the expansion of slavery; the South recognized that in order to maintain their political power, every new 'free' state that was admitted to the union had to be balanced with a 'slave' state.

     In 1860, the declining power of the South was confirmed by the election of Abraham Lincoln as president. (The new Republican Party campaigned against the extension of slavery into any new states.) Soon the South would succumb to the political power of the 'free' states. To preserve its way of life, the states of the South seceded. The North went to war to preserve the union.

     Although Calhoun had died, it was his principles and legacy that inspired the South to secede.

 

I am not a fan of Jim Crow.

      When the North won the Civil War and the Union was preserved, the federal government, led by Republicans, carried out the reconstruction of the South, organizing the former Confederate states in terms that were acceptable to the North. The elite of Southern society chaffed under reconstruction, and paramilitary groups arose to challenge the dominance of Northern Republicans (called carpet baggers) and the local Negroes. Politically these southern leaders were known as Redeemer Democrats. 

     Federal troops were often called in to uphold the Reconstruction, but many in the North tired of the battle and began to support a 'let alone' policy. The presidential election of 1876 was pivotal: The close contest between Samuel Tilden (Democrat) and Rutherford Hayes (Republican) was thrown into the House of Representatives. Hayes was elected but only with the deal that the federal government would withdraw all troops from the South.

 

     This began the era nicknamed Jim Crow, the segregation of public schools, public places and public transportation, restrooms and restaurants. As the Whites gained power in the Southern states, laws were passed which effectively disenfranchised most Blacks. This took further civil rights and power away from the Blacks, and laws were passed which shaped a segregated culture in most of the states of the South.

     Jim Crow was confirmed by the Supreme Court (in 1896) when it declared in Plessy v. Ferguson that 'separate but equal' was constitutional. In reality, there was 'separate' but not 'equal'. The segregated culture was maintained and enforced. Jim Crow laws were put into effect in all of the former Confederate states.

 

     The political power of the South was effectively exercised nationally because they were the Solid South, consistently electing Democrats to the national legislature and voting for the Democrat candidate for president. This continued until after World War II.

 

 

I am not a fan of Strom Thurmond.

      In 1948, President Harry Truman (by Executive Order 9981) ordered the integration of the armed forces of the United States. The segregationists in the South were enraged. At the Convention of the Democrat Party, the representatives from the South walked out and established their own Party, known as the Dixiecrats. They were determined to protect what they saw as the Southern way of life.

"And I want to tell you, ladies and gentlemen, that there's not enough troops in the Army to force the Southern people to break down segregation and admit the nigger race into our theatres, into our swimming pools, into our homes and into our churches."

 

     As their presidential candidate the Dixiecrats nominated Strom Thurmond of South Carolina. Although the Dixiecrats were defeated for president, Thurmond won the electoral votes of several of the southern states. Thurmond then served as senator from South Carolina for many years, continuing to give leadership to the segregationist cause. From 1954-1964 he served as a Democrat, but he switched parties then, and served as a Republican until 2003.

     It was the Civil Rights Act of 1964 that caused his switch in party allegiance. The passage of that act had been led by Democrats from the northern states and by President Lyndon Johnson, a Democrat. Thurmond's political switch was echoed by senators in many of the other southern states until by 2000 the 'Solid South' has moved from being Democrat to Republican.

     The 'Southern Strategy', begun by Nixon, has continued to be at the heart of the Republican political approach, and in recent decades the Senate and the House have been controlled by Southern Republicans.

 

I am not a fan of their heirs.

      Today I am not a fan of the heirs of John Calhoun,

the heirs of the builders of a Jim Crow society,

the heirs of Strom Thurmond.

Sadly they still exist in significant numbers, seen especially in the political leaders of southern states. Sadly they still exist in millions of homes where there is a hidden racism that yearns for the good old days of white supremacy, part of the 'Southern way of life'.

 

     In 2002, Trent Lott commented that, when Strom Thurman ran for president in 1948, Lott's home state, Mississippi, had voted for him. "We're proud of it," Lott continued. "And if the rest of the country had followed our lead, we wouldn't have had all these problems over the years."

     In 2002, Majority Leader Dick Armey had a message for Republicans on Friday: "You are going to control American politics for a long time so you better be ready to do something with all that power."

     Jesse Helms, senator from North Carolina, was a hero to many for his ardent opposition to communism during his years on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. He also battled with the United Nations and was in the vanguard of conservatism on social issues such as school busing, art, flag-burning and homosexuality in the Boy Scouts. He blocked so much legislation in the Senate that he gained the nickname "Senator No."

 

     Fortunately, most of such public racism is gone from the political scene. With Blacks now having voting rights, political leaders in the South dare not make such comments. Yet the feelings still exist in large numbers of the populace, and politicians call on that racism through coded language.

 

     I have a fear. It is that these heirs will exercise their political power by defeating Barack Obama in his quest for the presidency. I do not expect to hear racial epithets expressed publicly (except perhaps by Right Wing talk radio), but watch for the code words in the campaign by which Obama is attacked as 'not one of us'. Watch for the emails telling 'the truth about that Black man who wants to be president'.

 

     I am not a fan of John Calhoun or of his heirs,

of those who built a Jim Crow society or of their heirs,

of Strom Thurmond or of his heirs.

 

I may be paranoid, but I hear and read them everywhere.