The sort of racism has changed, but the fact is the Democrat Party, the party of Slavery, Segregation, and now DEI has always been racist and on the wrong side of issues in America. Today, we see something that is not that different from the multiple times in history where Democrats have essentially ignored the Constitution – and used the principal of “nullification” to simply disregard our laws.
During the runup to the Civil War – the southern states effectively said that they would not abide by the rules and decided that day in South Carolina with the first shot at Fort Sumner that they would secede from the Union. The tariffs implemented by the Federal Government did in fact harm the southern states, but quite simply tariffs, like treaties and Immigration is the purview of the Federal Government. But South Carolina did not see it that way so they resorted to Nullification. Eventually this rebellion and the formation of the Confederate States seceding from the Union led to our bloodiest war where over 600,000 died to – as many said to primarily free the slaves – but it also was an act to undo the unconstitutional act of nullification. That act of war that ultimately gave us the 13th Amendment.
But of course, the racist south was not ready to give these freed slaves full citizenship rights – so we got the 14th Amendment. And yes, the important phrase overlooked in those who encourage “birthright citizenship” seem to miss the words “jurisdiction thereof” – which of course means that foreigners are not granted automatic citizenship just because a baby is born in the US. No European country that I know of allows “birthright citizenship”. For example, diplomats whose wives have babies in the US are not granted automatic US citizenship – they remain citizens of their country of origin.
So, for many decades southern states continued to undermine former slaves’ rights of citizenship through segregation, poll taxes, Jim Crow, etc. Things reached a head when the Supreme Court passed Brown v. Board of Education – and segregation was ruled unconstitutional from the past ruling they got wrong in Plessy v. Ferguson that legalized segregation.
But the racist democrats were not going to simply roll over and abide by Brown v. Board of Education. The Arkansas National Guard, under orders of democrat Governor Faubus, prevented any of the Little Rock Nine (black students) from entering the doors of Central High. One of the most enduring images from this day is a photograph of Eckford, alone with a notebook in her hand, stoically approaching the school as a crowd of hostile and screaming white students and adults surround her. Eckford later recalled that one of the women spat on her. The image was printed and broadcast widely in the United States and abroad, bringing the Little Rock controversy to national and international attention.
President Eisenhauer, a Republican, responded to Governor Faubus, I repeat, a Democrat, to make sure that the black high school kids were allowed to integrate Central High School. In the following weeks, federal judge Ronald Davies began legal proceedings against Governor Faubus, and President Eisenhauer attempted to persuade Faubus to remove the National Guard and let the Little Rock Nine enter the school.
Judge Davies ordered the Guard removed, and the Little Rock Police Department took over to maintain order. The police escorted the nine African American students into the school three days later, through an angry mob of some 1,000 white protesters gathered outside. Amidst ensuing rioting, the police removed the nine students. The following day, President Eisenhower sent in 1,200 members of the U.S. Army’s 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and placed them in charge of the 10,000 National Guardsmen on duty. Escorted by the troops, the Little Rock Nine attended their first full day of classes.
Again, this is an example of the Democrat Party “nullifying” the US Constitution.
And today, with Sanctuary Cities, Democrats are once again breaking Federal law essentially through “nullification”. The US Constitution is quite clear that one of the few enumerated rights given to the Federal Government like treaties, printing money, is Immigration. But over time, there has not been a clear SCOTUS decision on “birthright citizenship” or the rights of States or Cities to defy immigration laws. So, we are reaching a point where the SCOTUS will have to clarify once and for all whether the use of “Nullification” of our Constitution will stand – essentially rendering it meaningless – or whether a majority of the nine justices will rightly decide that there can be no such thing as “Sanctuary” cities or states – that all cities and states in this country must abide by the Constitution and therefore illegal immigrants are not to be given rights of citizenship, and that simply having babies on US soil does not entitle those babies or by relationship, their families, to gain US citizenship.
But I’m not holding my breath that they’ll do the right thing. I suspect we will see another bad decision like Dred Scot or Plessy – the two SCOTUS cases that legalized slavery and segregation. I have faith in We the People who have correctly rejected the last four years of far-left insanity with the 2024 election – but I am not that confident in the court doing the right thing on these issues of nullification and birthright citizenship. I hope I’m wrong.