Republicans

Surfing Facebook today I came upon a rather strange posting concerning Republicans, and I decided to research it.  Turns out, it's true.

It was through the hard work of a number of dedicated African American men and women that the earliest foundations of the Republican Party of Texas were laid. The first ever state Republican convention that met in Houston on July 4, 1867 was predominantly African American in composition, with about 150 African American Texans attending, and 20 Anglos.
The second State GOP Chairman, Norris Wright Cuney, an African-American from Galveston who led the Republican Party from 1883 to 1897, is said by State historians to have held “the most important political position given to a black man of the South in the nineteenth century.”

I bet y'all didn't know that.  Here's another interesting fact.  This time about Louisiana.  The first black governor of Louisiana was a ... wait for it... Republican.

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback (born Pinckney Benton Stewart; May 10, 1837 – December 21, 1921) was the first person of African-American descent to become governor of a U.S. state. A Republican, he served as the 24th Governor of Louisiana for 35 days, from December 9, 1872, to January 13, 1873.^[1]

Pinchback was also elected to Congress, but the good folks who controlled Congress in those days wouldn't seat a black man.  

Nicholas Lemann, in Redemption: The Last Battle of the Civil War, described Pinchback as "an outsized figure: newspaper publisher, gambler, orator, speculator, dandy, mountebank  – served for a few months as the state's Governor and claimed seats in both houses of Congress following disputed elections but could not persuade the members of either to seat him."^[2]

I bet y'all didn't know that either.  As it turns out, the folks who call Republican racist, are just talking out of their hats.   Southern Republicans aren't racist.  We have a long history of working with all races to ensure limited government and civil rights.