| Crom said: Not true. That is one of the biggest farces out there. Most lifelong Democrats that were agianst Civil Rights stayed Democrats. A few switched over and became known as Dixiecrats. Most of the Dixiecrats did not become Republicans. They created the Dixiecrats and then, when the civil rights movement succeeded, they returned to the Democratic fold. It was not till much later, with a new, younger breed of Southerner and the thousands of Northerners moving into the South, that Republicans began to make gains. Guys like Richard Russell, Mendell Rivers, Clinton's mentor William Fulbright, Robert Byrd, Fritz Hollings and Al Gore Sr. remained Democrats till their dying day. Democrats held the south for a long time. Every southern state voted for Carter in 1976. By the 80's most of the old racists had died off. Almost every House of Representative member elected in the south for decades after the Civil Rights Act was a Democrat. In 2013 most of the southern states now vote Republican. Just because southern states used to be racist it isn't true anymore except in backwater areas (like certain spots in Mississippi) |
I think you might need to take a more thorough look at this. There was a wide-spread defection (among whites) from the Democratic Party following the Civil Rights legislation....it actually started prior to the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The earliest data I've seen goes back to 1952, at which time, the Democratic party was already taking stances to advance civil rights.
Bolded: I'd be very careful with what your're saying. Carter's 1976 election had a lot do with Watergate. If you look at the trends, you clearly see the South becoming less Democratic starting in 1964. For example, Barry Goldwater, the Republican candidate for president (who was against Civil Rights Legislation) won Georgia, South Carolina, Mississippi, Alabama, and Lousiana....not to mention George Wallace's third-party candidancy in 1968 that played up racial tendencies. He and Nixon(Rep) split the South.
1964 is generally given as the turning point because you had the presidential candidates.....the most visible politicians in the country coming out in support of civil rights (Johnson-Dem) and against civil rights (Goldwater-Rep).
Edit: I'd also add that there is a big difference between presidential elections and state/local elections when looking at the role that civil rights legislation played in the movement of southerners away from the Democratic party.
