The Republican Party was started before the Civil War by anti-slavery activists. Only a few years afterward, Abe Lincoln was elected president. He and his fellow Republicans truly supported the end of slavery, which is typified in the Emancipation Proclamation, and later the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

Southern Democrats, aligned with wealthy plantation owners, were against these measures, and they fought bitterly against these movements. Later, Jim Crow laws and other measures were enacted in only the Southern states by legislatures controlled by Democrats and Democratic governors at the time.

These laws were used to circumvent the equal rights of blacks and keep white Democrats in political office. Then, in the 1950s and early 1960s, Republicans were finally able to point the finger at Democrats for these violations of voting rights. Republicans fought to repeal these laws and end public school segregation — again Democrats fought desegregation and failed.

I believe that beginning with Lyndon B. Johnson, Southern Democrats realized civil rights issues were not a thing to fear, but a possibility to gain a stable constituency. They did this by tricking blacks into thinking Republicans were keeping them down, and that their only hope was to vote Democratic to improve their lives.

Minority Republicans may have fewer higher positions in government, but the party is working to change that. In Iowa, the co-chairman of the Iowa State Republican Party is Leon Mosley, an outstanding African-American man.

The current Bush administration and his cabinet is perhaps the most racially diverse cabinet in history, with National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice and Secretary of State Colin Powell. Add to this the judicial appointees Bush is trying to get through, like Miguel Estrada and Janice Brown. But Sen. Tom Daschle and Sen. Edward Kennedy, who are supposed to be for minorities, are blocking them!

The basic plan of Democratic leadership is to keep alive the false attitude of victimization of minorities by the right, encourage social welfare to stagnate real improvement of minority communities, then use discontent to generate votes in the hopes Democrats will improve their lives.

The Republican Party recognizes all people as citizens of America first, minorities second. We seek people with common views to share their thoughts as individuals, not as part of a quota to merely appear diverse. We are the party for equality of opportunity for all but favoritism for none.

Young Republicans like myself know the history of our party and know that perhaps we haven’t done everything we must, but we seek a future in which we can improve the educational, social and financial growth of minority communities. We want improvement in the quality of life for all Americans regardless of race.