Letter to the editor: Democrats' racist foundations

I felt compelled to correct the record about racist Republicans with some facts.

The Constitution’s “Three-fifths Clause” was created because the Southern states wanted their slaves — who were considered property — to be counted as residents in order to increase the South’s representation in Congress. That large population would have given the South a permanent congressional majority, eliminating the possibility of ending slavery. Counting a slave as only three-fifths a person resulted in a more equal population count between the North and South. It was not created because the founders believed Blacks were only worth three-fifths of whites.

Historical documents show consistent racism in the Democratic platform. They opposed “all efforts by abolitionists … to interfere with questions of slavery.” They passed the Missouri Compromise, repealing the 1789 anti-slavery law. They supported Dred Scott, which declared slaves were property, not persons.

Dems passed the “Southern Manifesto” in response to Brown v. Board of Education, stating that desegregating schools was “certain to destroy the system of public education.”

The late Democrat Sen. Robert Byrd, once a high-ranking KKK official, wrote, “I shall never fight in the armed forces with a Negro by my side.” He opposed civil rights legislation in the 1960s. Although the legislation passed under LBJ, Johnson was “unable to garner sufficient Democrat support to pass either bill.” Republican support made that legislation law.

The Democrats, academia and media have done an amazing job rewriting history to make us believe that the Republicans are the racists. Fortunately, they are unable to rewrite the original, published documents that prove otherwise.

Sue Mazur

Harrison