0:00
the Republican party in Texas was
0:02
started on the 4th of July 1867 in
0:05
Houston Texas by 150 blacks and 20
0:08
whites it was that way across the South
0:10
Republican parties were started in the
0:12
South by African-Americans in the state
0:14
of Texas two of our first three
0:16
Statewide Republican chairman were
0:18
African-American uh the first 42 black
0:21
legislators elected in Texas were all
0:23
Republican the first 112 black
0:26
legislators elected in Mississippi were
0:28
all Republican the first 190 black
0:31
legislators elected in South Carolina
0:32
were all Republican the first 41 in in
0:35
Georgia the first 127 in Louis so now
0:39
you've got all these African-Americans
0:41
really stepping up and starting to gain
0:43
political standing political power now
0:46
you have Democrats on the other side who
0:48
have been very racist it's in their
0:50
platforms they support The Dread Scott
0:52
decision they think the fugitive slave
0:54
law is great uh they started a nation to
0:57
keep slavery alive very racist
1:00
and so now they're facing a situation
1:02
where that these these blacks are now
1:05
their rulers are now in office are now
1:08
US senators are now us how do you stop
1:10
that 1866 Democrats themselves started
1:14
the Klux Clan it's purpose was not to
1:16
kill blacks its purpose was to take
1:19
control and return Democrats to power
1:22
their their stated purpose in the KKK
1:24
was to stop Republicans and restore
1:27
Democratic control now if you're looking
1:29
for a Republican that you want to take
1:31
care of you you can wipe out any black
1:33
you want because they're 100%
1:34
Republicans at that point in time you
1:36
can't wipe out any white I mean some
1:37
whites might be Democrats you got to be
1:39
a little more judicious when you're
1:40
wiping out whites so what happens is the
1:42
Kush Clan starts attacking not blacks
1:46
Republican conventions for example in
1:48
New Orleans and the Republican
1:50
convention in Louisiana the clan joined
1:53
with the New Orleans police joined with
1:55
the New Orleans Mayor Democrats they
1:57
attacked physically the convention in
1:59
New New Orleans Republican convention
2:01
they killed 40 blacks killed 20 whites
2:03
they wounded 150 others 1868 they put
2:06
out a push card in South Carolina and it
2:08
listed what they call the radical
2:10
members of the South Carolina
2:11
legislature that push cards about the
2:13
size of a baseball card it was put up by
2:15
the clan Clan put it out it had the the
2:18
pictures of 63 legislators that needed
2:21
to be wiped out in South Carolina 50 of
2:24
those legislators were black 13 were
2:26
white now they were all 63 Republican on
2:30
the back of the card it gave you the
2:32
name of each legislator so You' know
2:34
you're trying to kill Congress starts
2:35
these hearings on this group called The
2:37
Clan and they have hearings and and so
2:40
they bring in Democrat leaders that
2:41
under oath from these Democrat States
2:43
said yes the clan belongs to our party
2:45
it's actually in Congress 1872 the
2:48
hearings it's a 13 volume set of
2:51
hearings in Congress unequivocally
2:53
Democrats say the clan is ours and
2:55
belongs to us it's there to restore
2:57
Democrat control in the southern states
3:00
those guys who lived through it made it
3:01
very clear for example one of the early
3:03
black congressmen was John Roy Lynch
3:06
another early black Congressman was
3:08
Richard Cain and they're having to fight
3:10
the clan physically for their own safety
3:12
they they go armed to Congress because
3:14
of Clan attacks these guys said if we as
3:18
blacks would simply stop voting the
3:21
Republican ticket if we would agree to
3:23
vote the straight Democrat ticket all
