Thread by @GarfieldNPS

“The warnings uttered today are not new. During the last twelve years it has often been rung in our ears that by doing justice to the Negro we shall pull down the pillars of our political temple and bury ourselves in its ruins…But, sir, I have lived long enough to learn

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that in the long run it is safest for a nation, a political party, or an individual man to dare to do right, and let the consequences take care of themselves, for he that loseth his life for the truth's sake shall find it…What is this bill? It is a declaration that every

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citizen of the United States shall be entitled to the equal enjoyment of all those public chartered privileges granted under State laws to the citizens of the several States. For this act of plain justice we are told that ruin is again staring us in the face!

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If ruin comes from this, I welcome ruin." ~Congressman James A. Garfield speaking in the U.S. House of Representatives on the Civil Rights Act of 1875, 2/4/1875.

#jamesagarfield #jamesagarfieldnhs #OnThisDay #CivilRights

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