The recent statement of Mr. Elbert Guillory explaining his change of support for the historical principles of the Republican Party echoes many of the thoughts expressed by our thirtieth President, Calvin Coolidge. He would have stood with this man, an American who understands the duties of freedom, to advance our common cause of citizenship. As Coolidge would say back in 1922, “The meaning of America is not to be found in a life without toil. Freedom is not only bought with a great price; it is maintained by unremitting effort. The successful conduct of our economic life is not easy. It cannot be made easy. The burdens of existence, the weight of civilization, cannot be taken from the people.” The government that promises to lift such burdens cannot and never will. It will only result in further loss to people’s liberty in the name of protection.
Coolidge would assess difficulties not unlike what we now face, “The final solution of these problems will not be found in the interposition of government in all the affairs of the people, but rather in following the wisdom of [George] Washington, who refused to exercise authority over the people, that the people might exercise authority over themselves.” Addressing men and women at Howard University he spoke with the fullest confidence in individuals just like Mr. Guillory to embrace the opportunities of self-government and to realize the potential freedom holds from all forms of enslavement, mental as well as physical. He would champion the example of folks like Mr. Guillory without pretense or condescension, when he said, “The Nation has need of all that can be contributed to it through the best efforts of all its citizens…We can not go out from this place and occasion without refreshment of faith and renewal of confidence that in every exigency our Negro fellow citizens will render the best and fullest measure of service whereof they are capable.”
That service, seen in the examples of Senator Guillory, Dr. King, Dr. Robert Moton, Justice Thomas and Dr. Carson (to name but a few), is not to preserve the “masters” of the Democrat Party establishment, to prop up dependance on Washington (or bondage to any administration for that matter) but is living up to the highest ideals of American citizenship. It is an expression of the spirit of self-reliance, a fulfillment of duty to God and family, and a giving of one’s self in civic participation, that makes our freedom possible.
The Importance of the Obvious 