Since New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu is denouncing anything and everything remotely related to the Confederate flag or the Confederacy, including Robert E. Lee Circle in the Central Business District, he should also rebuke his political party affiliation because it is saturated in racism.

The Democratic Party is responsible for the formation of the Ku Klux Klan (KKK), the most famous and violent white supremacy hate group in the country’s history.

In an attempt to defy the Republican controlled federal government, Southern Democrats formed organizations that violently intimidated blacks and Republicans who tried to win political power.

This included the KKK, which is responsible for the deaths of thousands and became responsible for weakening the prominence of blacks involved in the political process.

In 1866, the KKK was responsible for the deaths of 37 blacks and three whites who allied with the blacks in the city of New Orleans.

Meanwhile, it was Republicans and President Ulysses S. Grant who led the fight against the Democrats, Landrieu’s choice of political party.

Then, of course, there is the more recent racism that the Democratic Party has brought upon the country.

If Democrats are going to call the Confederate flag a symbol of racism, they should take into account who resurrected the flag, because it was Democrats.

In South Carolina, former Senator Fritz Hollings, a Democrat, is responsible for flying the Confederate flag at the State Capitol.

And Pres. Bill Clinton, also a Democrat, actually signed a proclamation to have the Confederate flag fly over the State Capitol in Arkansas while he was governor. Clinton’s mentor, at the time, was a well-known segregationist, J. William Fulbright.

With the Democratic Party’s strong affiliation and long history of racism, should the party not be renamed, since Democrats want to ban all other symbols, merchandise and monuments that they do not like.

Yesterday, Landrieu publicly apologized for the despicable crime of slavery. If he believes he must apologize for a crime that he or no one else living was a part of, should he not also be apologizing for he and his family’s affiliation with a political party that started the KKK?

Mr. Mayor, if you are going to denounce historical monuments honoring the Civil War, you should also be denouncing your political affiliation, as it was once the premise of racism.

It is only fair.