The idea that Republicans were the party that brought about the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is being thrown around on the web.  At first, I thought this was too silly to spend much time on.   But it seems to be a growing tall tale of conservative goodness! Many websites seem to have taken this as a theme of discussion.   In reality it is nothing more than history told with a bias.  (Which happens frequently, I might add.)  The continuing advancement of this particular bit of revisionism needs to be addressed before the myth becomes a psuedo-reality. 

Recently on this site, jstol regurgitated these conservative talking points by stating:

"The Liberal wing of the Democrat party is the party of segregation. To deny this is to deny history.

The Democrat Party was responsible for supporting slavery. It took a Republican, Abraham Linclon, to end slavery.

The Democrat Party Party, in the form of the Southern Democrats (Dixiecrats), was responsible for prolonging segregation. It took action on the part of Republicans in Congress to push the legislation through in 1964 to end segregation and promote civil rights."

Now members of a Black Republican group are putting out bill boards proclaiming that Martin Luther King was a Republican. 

In fairness, part of this is true.  Some 150 years ago, the Democrats were in part responsible for supporting slavery...although the main issue was not slavery per se, but the issue of state's rights versus the powers of the Federal government. (Back then it was the Democrats who were TEA PARTY members.)  But jstol is correct that it took Abraham Lincoln to end slavery and it is correct that Lincoln was a Republican.  It is also true that "Dixiecrats" were responsible for prolonging the fight for desegregation in the 60's.  Fifty-four days were spent in filibuster with Sen. Byrd (D-WVA) speaking for a record-breaking 14 hours and 13 minutes to keep the Civil Rights Act from being passed.   But that's only part of the story.   The reality is that this was not a Democrat vs Republican fight....it was a North vs South fight with a bi-partisan effort made by both sides of the struggle.  And at that time in our history, most Southerners voted Democratic BECAUSE the Republicans WERE the party of Lincoln.

Here are the facts:   On June 11, 1963, President John F. Kennedy asked for legislation from Congress "giving all Americans the right to be served in facilities which are open to the public—hotels, restaurants, theaters, retail stores, and similar establishments," as well as "greater protection for the right to vote."   Eight days later he sent a proposed bill to Congress to be voted upon.   It was considered by Civil Rights advocates as a step in the right direction but overall too weak in enforcement to be completely effective.

Southern legislators from both sides of the aisle then began to do everything possible to either slow passage of the bill or to kill it outright.  During the time that the bill was stuck in various committees, President Kennedy was assassinated.  At which point, Lyndon Johnson used both his extensive background in legislative politics and the presidential "bully pulpit" to rally support for the bill.   At this time, Democrats held majorities in both houses of Congress.  So it is true that you can say that Democrats tried to kill  The Civil Rights Act.   Because a lot of Southern Democrats who were chairmen of specific committees did try to do so.    But to do so, you must ignore Lyndon Johnson's efforts, nor can you then claim that it was Republicans who were responsible for this piece of legislation.   The final votes on the bill tell the true tale.

The original House bill passed by a vote of 290 to 130.  Of those votes, Democrats voted 152 to 96 in support of passage and Republicans voted 138 to 34 in support.  The Senate version passed by a vote of 73 to 27.  Of which, Democrats voted 46 to 21 to support the bill and Republicans voted 27 to 6 in support.

Now where these numbers get interesting is when you look at the vote from the standpoint of Northern legislators versus the votes of Southern legislators (combining both parties.)   In the House, Southern Democrats voted 7 to 87 against the Bill and Southern Republicans voted 0-10 against it.  (In other words, NOT A SINGLE SOUTHERN REPUBLICAN CONGRESSMAN SUPPORTED THE CIVIL RIGHTS ACT.) SOUTHERN CONGRESSMEN VOTED 7 TO 97 AGAINST THE BILL.   Northern Democrats voted 145 to 9 in support of the bill while Northern Republicans voted 138 to 24 in support.  NORTHERN CONGRESSMEN VOTED 283 TO 33 IN SUPPORT OF THE BILL.

While in the Senate, Southern Democrats voted 1 to 20 AGAINST the bill, while the lone Southern Republican also voted against the bill.   Northern Democratic Senators voted 45 to 1 in favor of the bill while Northern Republicans were a little less enthusiastic in support of Civil Rights, they voted 27 to 5 in favor of the bill.  FINAL TOTALS:  SOUTHERN SENATORS VOTED 1 TO 21 AGAINST THE BILL AND NORTHERN SENATORS VOTED 72 TO 6 IN SUPPORT.

So when you examine the numbers, it becomes clear that while Democrats were obviously divided by region on this vote, so were Republicans.   And it is a lie of history to try to claim that Democrats were the "Party of Segregation".

And as to Martin Luther King being a Republican.   That's true.   Martin Luther King SR. was a registered Republican but his son, Martin Luther King JR, never claimed ANY party affiliation.  And if you grew up in the early 80's during the debate for establishment of a Martin Luther King Holiday, you know that Republicans then were not only NOT claiming MLK as one of their own....they were objecting to the establishment of the holiday altogether.  Why?  Because Republicans said at that time that Martin Luther King, Jr WAS A COMMUNIST!  (And now he's one of them!)

And that's why it's so important to read history rather than just listen to regurgitated talking points!