Inconvenient Truths about the "Racist" Republicans

One of my liberal friends posted this on his facebook page and it rather annoyed me.  Largely because several of these points are historically false and inaccurate.  Let's go through point by point:

1) "Liberals got women the right to vote." - The 19th amendment which granted women the right to vote was drafted by Susan B. Anthony and was first presented to Congress by Aaron Augustus Sargent, a Republican Senator from California.  Unfortunately, at the time it failed.  In 1920 when the 19th amendment was finally passed by Congress, the House of Representatives was under Republican control.  The Amendment was signed into law by then Speaker of the House, Frederick H. Gillett, a Republican.

2) "Liberals got African-Americans the right to vote" - The 15th amendment was one of the Reconstruction Amendments, again passed by Republicans.  No Democrats voted in favor of this amendment and only 3 Republicans voting against it and one abstaining (Charles Sumner who felt it didn't go far enough to protect the voting rights of minorities).

3) "Liberals created Social Security and lifted millions of people out of poverty." - This one is true.  Social Security was established under President Franklin Delano Roosevelt.

4) "Liberals ended segregation." - In the landmark Brown vs. the Board of Education the Supreme Court led by Chief Justice Earl Warren (appointed by Republican President, Dwight D. Eisenhower) overturned the laws that allowed segregation and made it illegal.  It was also President Eisenhower who ordered in the National Guard to enforce the Supreme Court decision.

The rest of the statements are true... The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Voting Rights Act of 1965 were both passed under Democrat Lyndon B. Johnson's presidency.

Medicare was created with the Social Security Act of 1965, also under LBJ.

The Clean Air Act went into effect in December 1963.  The Clean Water Act was passed into law in 1972 when Republican, Richard Nixon was president but it was passed by Congress which was controlled by a Democratic majority at the time.

In addition the above quote fails to acknowledge:

The first African-American governor, was Republican Oscar Dunn.

The first African-American elected to the US Senate was Mississippi Republican, Hiram Revels.

The first African-American elected to the US House of Representatives was South Carolina Republican, Joseph Rainey.

The first woman to serve in Congress, Jeanette Rankin, was a Montana Republican.

The first female Supreme Court Justice, Sandra Day O'Connor was nominated by Republican president, Ronald Reagan.

The first African-American Secretary of State, Colin Powell AND the first  female African-American Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice, were appointed by Republican George W. Bush.

The first Latin-American attorney general, Alberto Gonzalez, was also appointed by Bush.

For that matter George W. Bush appointed more women and minorities to his cabinet than any president before him.

The first Indian-American governor, Louisiana governor, Bobby Jindal is a Republican.

The first female Indian-American governor, South Carolina governor, Nikki Haley, is a Republican.

The first Hispanic governor, Nevada governor, Brian Sandoval, is a Republican.

The first female Hispanic governor, New Mexico governor, Susana Martinez, is a Republican.