The Republican Party – Myths and Misunderstandings

The GOP is often labeled as rich, racist, self-righteous, elitist. And although there is no shortage of independently wealthy conservatives – the rest of the stereotypes hold little truth; as a matter of fact, they could not be further from the truth.

It is time to set the record straight on a few things….

The Racist Republican?

The first Republican President was Abraham Lincoln; he signed the Emancipation Proclamation, forever ending slavery in the United States. Lincoln thought the practice of people owning other people reprehensible.

On the other hand, Thomas Jefferson, the founder of the Democratic Party and a slaveholder, was outwardly verbose about his stand on the inferiority of black people compared to his Caucasian brotherhood. His party fought tirelessly to maintain the status quo.

Even on the official Democratic website (www.democrats.org), there is not one mention of the abolition of slavery.

There must be a disconnect here – I think it may be the Republican Party’s philosophy on welfare reform measures. Statistics define a good majority of welfare recipients to be minorities. Maybe these particular individuals think wealthy conservatives simply do not want to put their hard-earned tax dollars into the welfare pool so they may continue to receive handouts.

Guess what, that part is true – but it is not exclusive to black recipients or any other minority – it is a resistance without color bias. Republicans believe that every able-bodied person should work and pay their own way, just as they believe in keeping taxes as low as possible.

See the correlation? So, racist Republicans? I don’t think so. The Democrats may have that all backwards. Are they loyal to a party that’s deceiving them? That seems more like reality.

The Rich Republican Elite?

One of the mantras of the GOP is, “Small business: where prosperity starts,” and that says it all. Think about that for a moment. What does it take to be a prosperous small-business owner today? I think blood, sweat, tears, hard work, determination and giving 110% starts the list of attributes.

But the point is this – you get what you give; you reap what you sow. I guarantee no one got rich owning a business where they sat back and did nothing. Wealth and success does not knock at your door – you find it, and it is no easy feat. Sure, there are some "silver spoon Republicans," if you will; those that are born into wealth – usually by way of the success of their hard-working parents.

But the Democratic Party has the same occurrence. The bottom line is, the largest part of the wealthy Republican Party membership are not Rockefeller Republicans – they got to be so on their own merit, hard work and will. Ironically, something most of us have built in.

The problem is, some people can’t stop whining how life is unfair long enough to hear their own inner voice that tells them, they too, can reach the stars. So rich, republican elitist? Nah, more like, a perfect example of all that is American.

In summary I think Tom Barrett, a minister from The Conservative Truth (not the mayor of Milwaukee), says all the stone-throwers need to know in the following excerpt:

"Republicans have a long and rich history with basic principles: Individuals, not government, can make the best decisions; all people are entitled to equal rights; and decisions are best made close to home. Abolishing slavery. Free speech. Women’s right to vote. In today’s stereotypes, none of these sounds like a typical Republican issue, yet they are stances the Republican Party, in opposition to the Democratic Party, adopted early on."

Republicans believe in individual responsibility. They believe that the government should be the servant of the people, not their master or their mother.

So even if a Republican happens to be rich, that does not mean they were handed wealth on a silver platter; chances are, that conservative knows hard work and determination well. And it certainly doesn’t translate to being racist, self-righteous, or elitist.

So, next time you’re tempted to judge a book by its cover (if you are one of those people, like most of us are), take the time to think twice about your conclusions; nine times out of 10, I bet you're are little off base, if not completely out-of-line.