Louisiana Democrats

Louisiana Democrats 'Have Forgotten Their History'

The Democratic party in Louisiana has renamed its 'Jefferson-Jackson' dinner due to the slavery connections of both Jefferson and Jackson.

They have caved to the political correctness of the modern age, just as Democrats in several other states have already done, suggests a prominent historian.

The Louisiana Democratic Party has announced its annual Jefferson-Jackson dinner will no longer bear the names of Thomas Jefferson and Andrew Jackson; this year's event, set to be held in New Orleans on Aug. 26, will instead be called the True Blue Gala.

The Louisiana Democratic Party and its chairwoman, state Sen. Karen Carter Peterson, announced the dinner would be renamed "to reflect the progress of the party and the changing times."

Jefferson, ironically, was the president who made the Louisiana Purchase in 1803, bringing the territory that included the present-day state of Louisiana into the United States in the first place.

David Barton, founder and president of Wall Builders and author of "The Jefferson Lies: Exposing the Myths You've Always Believed About Thomas Jefferson," says Louisiana Democrats are making the wrong move for the wrong reasons.

"They purportedly separated themselves from Thomas Jefferson because he owned slaves," Barton stated. "However, they ignored the fact that African-American civil rights leaders in the 18th, 19th and 20th centuries openly praised Jefferson for his repeated efforts to abolish slavery in the United States, and even around the world.

They understood a reality that today's shallow academics and uninformed activists ignore: state law in Virginia where Thomas Jefferson resided did not allow Jefferson to free his slaves, despite his desire to do so.

So he worked to free all slaves throughout all of the United States. Those efforts are worthy of commendation – something Louisiana Democrats refuse to do."

Ben Kinchlow, a minister, businessman and longtime co-host of CBN's "The 700 Club," exposed the Democratic Party's sordid history of race relations in his book "Black Yellowdogs," He said this is just another case of the Democrats revealing their hypocrisy.

"Let the record show that Jefferson, who was not a career politician (while owning slaves, as did many landowners), attempted to insert in his original draft of the Declaration of Independence a passage abolishing slavery," Kinchlow said . "Obviously, Jefferson was not an advocate for the nationalization of slavery."

Kinchlow added, “All civil rights bills from 1865 to 1965 were passed by Republican majorities in Congress over the objections of the Democrats."

Historian David Barton pointed out Louisiana Democrats have a long, ugly history of racism against blacks.

"Louisiana Democrats seem to have forgotten their own history," Barton declared. "If they are really concerned about historic connections to racism, they should abolish their own fundraisers.

"Once slavery was abolished, blacks could be elected to political office, and the first 95 black representatives and 32 black senators elected to the state legislature in Louisiana were all Republicans. So responding to the rising power of black Americans, in 1866, Louisiana Democrats – in conjunction with the city police and the Democratic mayor of New Orleans – physically attacked the Republican convention in that city, killing 40 blacks, 20 whites, and wounding 150 others.

"In 1875, Louisiana Democrats rushed the floor of the state legislature to seize power – by force – away from the elected black Republicans, but federal troops arrived to restore peace and return African Americans to their lawfully elected positions."

But when Reconstruction ended in 1876, Louisiana Democrats regained legislative control with help from the Ku Klux Klan, according to Barton.

"They passed a number of Jim Crow laws seeking to abridge the right of African-Americans to enjoy the civil rights guaranteed them in the Thirteenth, Fourteenth and Fifteenth Amendments to the Constitution," Barton said. "Institutionalized racism was the open practice of Democrats for the century following the Civil War.

In fact, following the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision ending segregation in schools, Louisiana's Democratic Governor Jimmie Davis supported segregation, thus requiring four federal marshals to accompany little African-American Ruby Bridges so that she could attend a public elementary school in New Orleans in 1960.

"So if Louisiana Democrats are actually concerned about connecting their party with someone associated with racism, they would abolish themselves. After all, historically speaking, Thomas Jefferson tried to end slavery, but Louisiana Democrats sought to continue it."

Democratic Party officials in a number of other states, including Arkansas, Georgia, Missouri and Connecticut, previously renamed their Jefferson-Jackson dinners as well.

The two former presidents are considered founders of the Democratic Party, but they have recently fallen out of favor in progressive Democrat circles because of their ownership of slaves.

Jackson also signed the Indian Removal Act, which forcibly removed Native Americans from their homelands and pushed them west.