Former Black Panther: ‘John Lewis Is the Illegitimate Congressman’

Anyone who thinks that the democrat party of the south in the 50s and 60s stood for the same things as the democrat party today has no clue of the evolution of political parties in the US over time. Simply saying something like Wallace was a democrat and Lewis is a democrat so he joined the enemy is ignorant of the reality of politics in the south in the 19th century.

So two points here. Nations of Islam, Black Panther........former or current I would not listen to. Also a little extreme to say Rep Lewis is not legitimate he was voted in like Trump was. I think it is OK to openly ask wether the country still needs single issue Civil Rights Representatives in Congress and then look at Rep Lewis record of late. However, to say he was illegitimate is as bad as saying Trump was elected in a conspiracy between the Russians and the electorate. The real reason Lewis ended up as a Democrat is Kennedy was sympathetic to the Civil Rights movement and Johnson actually pushed the legislation through and used the lingo of the Civil Rights movement. In politics you ally with the side that has the most movement in your direction and in the 1960's some of the Democrats were opposed to Civil Rights but the remaining Democrats were in favor and pushed hard for it, more so than Republicans so Lewis and King both went with the Democrats because they were in power and interested in changing the status quo.