My latest in PJ Media:
Today [June 10] is the renowned bluesman Howlin’ Wolf’s birthday, offering us a reminder that even through times of segregation and genuine “systemic racism,” race relations in America were not always as overheated and tense as they are today. When Wolf was born on this day in 1910, he was named Chester Arthur Burnett, after the twenty-first president of the United States, Chester Arthur. This was because Arthur, who was president from September 1881 to March 1885, was a champion of civil rights in an age when very few were. Although Arthur is forgotten today, a quarter-century after his death, Wolf’s parents demonstrated that they remembered his efforts for black Americans.
As explained in Rating America’s Presidents: An America-First Look at Who Is Best, Who Is Overrated, and Who Was An Absolute Disaster, when Arthur was twenty-five in 1854, he joined the law firm of Erastus D. Culver, at which he formed part of a legal team that argued successfully for the freedom of any slaves that their owners brought to New York.
Arthur also led the defense team for a black woman, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, who was not allowed to ride a New York City streetcar. The future president won the case, and New York City streetcars were desegregated, one hundred years before Rosa Parks, courtesy of Chester Arthur.
When the Republican Arthur became president after the assassination of James A. Garfield, the Democratic Party was in firm control of the “solid South,” and systematically denied black Americans their rights. But Arthur continued to stand for the equality of rights of all people before the law. He deplored the Democratic takeover of the South and worked with third parties in the South to try to build a coalition that would dislodge the Democrats from power and end the denial of civil rights to black Americans.
There is much more. Read the rest here.
Wellington says
Arthur was a good man. He did a lot to establish the modern US Navy, aided greatly civil service reform with the Pendleton Act of 1883, and erased any stain of possible corruption in his earlier years by running a very clean administration. Unfortunately, he died of Bright’s disease just a year or so after leaving the White House.
James Lincoln says
Wellington,
You’re certainly correct about Pres. Chester Arthur.
I was aware of the great work that he had done to rebuild the U.S. Navy. It had gone into a very steep decline following the Civil War.
New funds were authorized in 1882 which resulted in the construction of the first all steel ships.
Chester Arthur was appropriately nicknamed the “Father of the American Navy”.
DazzleMe says
Wow +1
Peter says
That’s probably the reason he is the ‘Forgotten President’. Soon, if things continue on their present course, Washington, Jefferson and others will be pushed down the memory hole as well. It has started and unless saner heads prevail, the ‘American Dream’ will vanish.
gravenimage says
Grimly likely.
keith O says
Part of the game plan of the left is to erase as much history as possible so they can re write history to bring it in line with the false story they are trying to present.
Knowledge is power, so to alter history and destroy knowledge of the past is to create power which creates control.
L Mayor says
This is what the arabs/muslims have been doing in Israel, especially in Jerusalem, for many years, so that they can claim that islam pre dates Judaism, and, that the Hebrew bible is completely made up. No wonder that the left has made alliance with islam, as, they have the same goals and are using the same tactics. I say, a pox on both of their houses!
RichardL says
interesting piece and the most stunning info was that there was a black governor who then was elected to the Senate as early as the 19th century!
Wellington says
Richard L: Pinchback’s tenure as Governor of Louisiana was quite brief (about six weeks) and was just an interim appointment. I don’t mean to diminish Pinchback in the least here, not at all, only to note that no black American was elected to any governorship in the South during Reconstruction or, for that matter to any state, North or South, until Douglas Wilder was in 1990 to the Virginia governorship.
Moreover, Pinchback was elected to the State Senate of Louisiana, not the US Senate. The only black Americans elected to the US Senate during Reconstruction were both from Mississippi—Blanche Bruce and Hiram Revels, both very good men. After Bruce and Revels, the next black American elected to the US Senate (by popular vote this time due to the 17th Amendment) was Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, elected a hundred years or so after Reconstruction, in 1967 I believe—and after way too long a gap here.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
A man named Blanche? Yes. His Wikipedia article does not explain his boy-named-Sue name, but says “Bruce was born into slavery in 1841 in Prince Edward County, Virginia near Farmville to Polly Bruce, an African-American woman who served as a domestic slave. His father was her master, Pettis Perkinson, a white Virginia planter. Bruce was treated comparatively well by his father, who educated him together with a legitimate half-brother. When Blanche Bruce was young, he played with his half-brother. His father legally freed Blanche and arranged for an apprenticeship so he could learn a trade.” He was a pre-Obama mulatto politician, says
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blanche_Bruce
RichardL says
thank you. You always have amazing knowledge.
gravenimage says
Yes–most Americans are not aware that some Blacks held high office right after the Civil War.
Jay says
Arthur was a British subject at birth, because his father only naturalized after his birth, and thanks i.a. to the 1866 Civil Rights Act many legal scholars of the time didn’t view persons like Arthur as “natural born” US citizens, so it’s possible that he felt like an outsider, and it seems only fitting and natural that he would stand up for the rights of other outsiders. And he even did some good posthumously: it was his SCOTUS appointee Horace Gray, who wrote the watershed Wong Kim Ark ruling.
Wellington says
With respect, Jay, how in the hell was Chester Arthur a British subject at birth? He was born in Vermont in October of 1829 and the 1866 Civil Rights Act aside, and even assuming it possibly averred what you stated (I most definitely think it did not), the 14th Amendment MOST definitely cleared up any matter related to Arthur’s citizenship, which, in all of my readings of American history, has never been brought up to me until you did so.
Your turn.
gravenimage says
Jay, Arthur was born in Fairfield, Vermont, in 1829. Your belief that this somehow made him a British subject is mistaken. His mother was also born in the United States. His father was born in Ireland.
But this last did not mean that Arthur was not an American. Anyone born in the US is an American citizen–this was also the case in the early 19th century.
gravenimage says
The Forgotten President Who Was a Hero to Black Americans
………………
Thank you for this article, Mr. Spencer.
I wonder how many Americans know this about him?
Wellington says
I’m thinking, gravenimage, a fraction of 1%.
One of the most stunning ignorances in all of American history is how much the Republican Party—the third anti-slavery party after the Liberty Party and Free-Soil Party—from its birth after the Kansas-Nebraska Act of 1854, did for black Americans. The Republican Party saved the Union, freed black slaves, passed the three Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th and 15th), which enshrined in constitutional law, respectively, the end of slavery, the many rights of citizenship, and the right to vote, all three said amendments getting practically no Democratic support.
Meanwhile, the Democratic Party opposed all of these liberating Amendments, established Jim Crow, was the source of the Ku Klux Klan from its outset in 1866, found all kinds of ways (examples being grandfather clauses and poll taxes, if not outright intimidation) to deny black Americans the right to vote, etc.
Unfortunately, by the 1920’s the Republican Party took the black vote for granted, much as the Democratic Party of today has. Well, as I have written before here at JW, it is way overdue for black Americans, whom I wish well, to RETURN, yes RETURN, to the Republican Party.
FDR saw an opening for black votes because the Republican Party by the early 20th century did indeed take the black vote for granted (big mistake) and said, as I have written before here at JW, it is time to turn Lincoln’s picture to the wall. Well it worked, but I say it is time to turn FDR’s picture to the wall and welcome back black Americans to where their best interests lie and where their liberation truly began—with the Republican Party.
P.S. Also almost completely unknown (or deliberately covered up) is the fact that Republicans in Congress in greater percentages voted for the most monumental civil rights act in all of American history, the 1964 Civil Rights Act. Guaranteed this is not taught in American schools today due to agenda rather than truth being paramount. Well, lies as I know you know full well, gravenimage, are often more powerful, at least temporarily, than the truth. That’s because lies cheat and the truth does not.
gravenimage says
Thank you, Wellington.
Mark Spahn (West Seneca, NY) says
Wellington, You write, “The Republican Party saved the Union, freed black slaves, passed the three Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 14th and 15th), which enshrined in constitutional law, respectively, the end of slavery, the many rights of citizenship, and the right to vote, all three said amendments getting practically no Democratic support.”
Just goes to show how anti-Islamic the Republicans have always been: Their 13th Amendment abolished possession by the right hand, the 14th gave the kufaar the same rights as Muslims, and the 15th even let them vote for the national caliph.
Adam says
How does one define “black person”? How would another person spot one? How many different “races” of human beings are there? What’s a “white person”? How many colors of people are there? Is “race” like “gender” and fluid? What’s the difference between a black person and a African-American? Is there some proof of the first “black person”, so that we can compare that to all the other “black people” and prove that indeed they are black?
You better be able to prove what color you are…
Westman says
Color has never been important to me, growing up in the West and only having good experiences in my university, professional, (and romantic) experiences with stellar minorities. A person of good character is the best we can hope to be, regardless of our DNA programming..
After listening to 4vwerks of 60 Minutes thinly veiled anti-Americanism and the Dateline anti-Trump corona virus Playbook productions I must admit that, after adjusting the TV, I could not eliminate the vision of Orange Man Bad – no, not that one – it was Lester Holt.
mgoldberg says
Wonderful to hear the retelling of American History particularly at this time when history here is being forcibly erased. What a breathe of fresh air. Also, I remember my youthful days listening to Howling Wolfe’s records: ‘Evil, evil, is goin’ on….. I’m warning you brothers and sisters, you betta watch, yo happy home…..’
David says
Hi MG
WelI hope you still give The Wolf a spin, im 75 and still do, timeless stuff, early recording best, rock like hell . What a voice!
gravenimage says
Great stuff:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s0aIjyX7vwI
Ogbonnanta Uwaeme says
Many thanks for this history retold, but I have a few concerns; why and when did Republican Party turn out to be intolerant of those they see as ‘sinners’ and when did the Democrats turn against KKK they ‘founded’ ?
mgoldberg says
I think your question needs rethinking. When did the Republican part turn out to be ‘intolerant of those they see as sinners’ ??? What are you trying to imply?
When did the Democrats turn against the KKK they ‘founded’??? That too is a misleading statement. The democratic party, essentially made serfs of black people, and continue this to this very day. That is obviously less than adequate to express the relationship between the Democratic party and the KKK but you should follow the evidence. Just to note: Robert Byrd, a leader in the Senate, from W Virginia into the 21st century was an actual member of the KKK
gravenimage says
How does the Republican party “turn out to be intolerant of those they see as ‘sinners’”? What does this even mean?
Ogbonnanta Uwaeme says
I just wanted to know when the Republican Party became ‘intolerant’ of ‘sinners’ and Democrats became ‘intolerant’of KKK.
Carolyne says
It didn’t. I think you are mistaking it for the Dxmocrat Party.
gravenimage says
The Republican Party is not a theocracy.
Wellington says
The Democrats have become intolerant of all those who disagree with them.
Something else: Virtually every KKK member was a Democrat (e.g., Robert Byrd); indeed, Republicans were targeted by the KKK. Did you know this? Do you know anything?
Scott in PA says
What does this story mean ultimately? It means that many white Americans (perhaps most) had a tolerant, inclusive view of human rights, including civil rights for all people living in the US. It means that even in the nineteenth century they believed certain values, or propositions (that all are created equal) could reach consensus in civil society. They no doubt believed that blacks would grow in moral and intellectual progress once slavery were abolished.
What have we seen in 140 years since? We’ve seen that certain alien cultures will never, in the majority, embrace the same propositions and civic virtues. So, if the white majority falls below 85 – 90 percent, then say goodbye to all your hallowed propositions!! We’re past that point, and we see this happening!
I don’t blame Grant, Hayes, Garfield, Arthur, or any of those Reconstruction presidents. They saw slavery abolished in their lifetime. Surely they were expecting a lot more progress in 140 years’ time.
We are the beneficiaries of knowledge that they could not possess as a result of time and experience. Values and propositions are not easily transmitted through environmental media! We must act on our current knowledge and reverse deteriorating trends, or say goodbye to Western civilization.
Chad C. Mulligan says
Who controls the past controls the future. Who controls the present controls the past.
gravenimage says
All too true, Chad. And most Westerners–especially Americans at this point–know little about their own histories.