Freedom Calendar 06/21/08 - 06/28/08

June 21, 1832, Birth of U.S. Rep. Joseph Rainey (R-SC), former slave who in 1870 became first African-American member of U.S. House.

June 22, 1870, Republican Congress creates U.S. Department of Justice, to safeguard the civil rights of African-Americans against Democrats in the South.

June 23, 1958, President Dwight Eisenhower meets with Martin Luther King and other African-American leaders to discuss plans to advance civil rights.

June 24, 1940, Republican Party platform calls for integration of the armed forces; for the balance of his terms in office, FDR fails to order it

June 25, 1996, Death of U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Elbert Tuttle, appointed by President Dwight Eisenhower; eulogized for ensuring that Brown v. Board of Education became “a broad mandate for racial justice”.

June 26, 1857, Abraham Lincoln declares Republican position that slavery is “cruelly wrong,” while Democrats “cultivate and excite hatred” for blacks.

June 27, 1940, Charles Anderson (R-KY), first African-American state legislator from a southern state in the 20th century, serves as delegate to the 1940 Republican National Convention.

June 28, 1864, Republican majority in Congress repeals Fugitive Slave Acts.

"Don't forget I was born in '45. At that time, Vienna and half of Austria laid in ruins. And without the participation of America, what fate would have Europe? Where would be Europe today? Not the peaceful, prosperous Europe like we love it and where we live.

Nothing -- I will never forget that America fed us with food, with economic support. The American people, at that time, the American government invested billions of dollars in Europe to develop the former enemy. And now we are a partner. So I think it's grotesque to say that America is a threat to the peace in the world compared with North Korea, Iran, other countries."

Austrian Chancellor Wolfgang Schüssel

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