Who could possibly disagree with the statement, “Black lives matter?” Black lives, like those of every other color and creed living on this Pale Blue Dot, are inherently valuable. They matter…just not to the politicians in the Democrat Party. This article is the first in a series. Over the next few days, we will explore several Democrat policy positions. We’ll then show how those positions have brought real harm to Blacks and other minorities. In some cases, we will even show how leftist programs can actually result in shorter lifespans.

Here in Part I, we will start off with what I’ll call the “low hanging fruit:” Slavery, the KKK, Jim Crow, and other blatant leftist efforts to keep Blacks and other minorities in subjugation. These are low hanging fruit because the record is clear, the efforts were obvious, and the damage was visible and horrific. It was Democrat-dominated states that embraced and demanded the continuance of the buying and selling of other human beings as chattel.

After what many in my adopted state of Alabama call “The Late Unpleasantness,” the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments, known as the “Reconstruction Amendments,” were put in place to give full constitutional weight to the rights of newly freed Blacks (notably ignoring women in the process). The passage of the 14th, 15th, and, later on, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 was only possible because the vast majority of Republican Legislators were able to help overcome Democrat opposition.

Unable to win on the battlefield or in the legislature, Democrats formed an organization to help continue their subjugation of Blacks and subsequently other minorities. The Ku Klux Klan (KKK) was formed and ultimately operated as the enforcement arm of the Democrat Party, by using intimidation at the low end and outright murder at the other, all to maintain a hegemony over other people they considered their inferiors.

Eventually, through federal legislation and enforcement, the systematic, overt suppression of Black civil rights became much more scarce, especially by government entities. However, overt activities weren’t the only techniques available to leftists. The remaining parts of this series will focus on other leftist methods that, while on the surface, appear to be laudable attempts to help people in need, are at best, taxpayer-supported vote purchase mechanisms. At worst, they cause actual — and often irreparable — harm to the very people they are purported to help.

Stay tuned.