As a Whole, The Republican Party is Not Racist

Agreed. The Republican Party is not racist. HistoricallyThe Republican Party (GOP) was the party that brought down slavery in the United States. The states seceded from the Union when Lincoln was elected because of his views on slavery. No Republican was for slavery [1] at the time. After the Civil War a group came into power known as the "Radical Republicans" who led the campaign for equal treatment of freed slaves and African Americans. [2] It was the Democratic Party at the time who was pro-slavery, anti-equal treatment of blacks etc. The GOP is founded on a strong tradition of anti-racism rooted in the idea of equality for all Americans. The Republicans were the ones who pushed for both the 13th and 14th Amendments. Diverse Party The Republican Party has been and continues to be a diverse party full of prominent people of all nationalities. Prominent Black Republicans Colin Powell - Secretary of StateCondoleezza Rice - Secretary of State Michael Steele - Chairman of the Republican National CommitteeClarence Thomas - Supreme Court JusticeFrederick Douglass - outspoken anti-slavery advocateHerman Cain - GOP presidential candidate[3][4] Prominent Hispanic RepublicansMarco Rubio - SenatorAlberto Gonzales - Attorney GeneralMel Martinez - Senator [5] To say the GOP is a racist party is clearly ridiculous. The GOP is rooted in a rich culture of opposition to racism. The party is full of prominent members of all backgrounds. Non-white Republicans have held some of the highest offices in the land and were wildly popular while doing so. MisconceptionsThis misconception that the Republican Party stems from a few areas.a. Affirmative ActionMany Republicans do not believe in affirmative action leading people to believe they are racist. However this is not the case. Republicans are against affirmative actions because it is unequal, it grows government and is incondusive to American ideals. Race has nothing to do with rejecting affirmative actions but rather we reject the ideals it stands on: that government has an obligation to help those they see as "unequal" or "downtrodden". Affirmative actions goes against the 14th Amendment which says all people are equal under the law, meaning that they should be equal in the eyes of those who enforce the law i.e. government. b. Southern RacismMany Southerners are bigots still today, yes. But this bigotry has been passed down in Southern culture (which isn't right) but since the South as of late has shown up on the map as "red" for Republican many people assume Republicans are racist. Are some individual Republicans racist? Yes.Are some individual Democrats racist? Yes.Is the entire party as a whole racist? The answer is a definite no. ConclusionAs a whole, there is no evidence to support that the GOP as a party is a racist entity. They have a history of fiercely opposing racism. They have had dozens of members of cultural background serving in positions from the bottom all the way up to the President's cabinet. The GOP is not racist. [1] http://www.civilwarhome.com...[2] http://www.spartacus.schoolnet.co.uk...[3] http://en.wikipedia.org...[4] http://en.wikipedia.org...[5] http://en.wikipedia.org...