RIGHTS: Perspectives of parties

I write in regard to a letter published May 26 by Juana Perley in which it states, “In the 1950s, the Republicans were against Civil Rights and the Democrats were pro Civil Rights.” This claim was made with no corroboration, so please allow me to offer some history on the matter.

For the entirety of the 1950s, almost all of the southern former slave states’ senators were Democrats and the vast majority of House of Representatives members sent from these states were Democrats. Why would these Jim Crow states elect mostly Democrats?

In 1963 (shortly after the ’50s), the Democrat governor of Alabama, George Wallace, stood in a schoolhouse door to block entry of African Americans to fulfill his promise of “segregation now, segregation tomorrow, segregation forever.”

Furthermore, albeit five years after the ’50s, the Civil Rights Act of 1964 was passed with Democrats in the Senate voting 69% in favor to 31% against while Republicans voted 82% in favor to 18% against.

In the House of Representatives, Democrats voted 61% in favor to 39% against while Republicans voted 80% in favor to 20% against. Why would Republicans vote for the Civil Rights Act in significantly higher percentages than Democrats if they are against Civil Rights?

The Republican Party has never been against Civil Rights and misrepresented history only serves to further divide our nation.

STEVEN PETERS

Post Falls