| GameOver22 said: 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. |
I already explained that the whole Democrat becoming Republicans nonsense was simple not true. The overwhelming majority of Dixiecrats went back to the Democrat party after it failed. Also the South kept voting democrat for decades after the Civil Rights Act was passed. For decades almost every member of the House of Representatives from the South were Democrats.
About Goldwater. He was a staunch supporter of Civil Rights (his record shows that) but, on principle, he disagreed with the idea of Federal government intervention regarding this matter. “His stance was based on his view that the act was an intrusion of the federal government into the affairs of states and, second, that the Act interfered with the rights of private persons to do business, or not, with whomever they chose.
Goldwater had problems with title II and title VII of the 1964 bill. He felt that constitutionally the federal government had no legal right to interfere in who people hired, fired; or to whom they sold their products, goods and services. He felt that “power” laid in the various states, and with the people. He was a strong advocate of the tenth amendment. Goldwater’s constitutional stance did not mean he agreed with the segregation and racial discrimination practiced in the South. To the contrary, he fought against these kinds of racial divides in his own state of Arizona. He supported the integration of the Arizona National guard and Phoenix public schools. Goldwater was, also, a member of the NAACP and the Urban League.
Goldwater was one of theose Ron Paul type of guys when it came to this stuff.
Anyway speaking of Civil Rights, since 1933, Republicans had a more positive record on civil rights than the Democrats. In the twenty-six major civil rights votes since 1933, a majority of Democrats opposed civil rights legislation in over 80 % of the votes. By contrast, the Republican majority favored civil rights in over 96 % of the votes.
Give me a break on Lyndon Johnson. He was quoted as saying "We will have the n*****s voting democrat for 200 years"
That was Johnson's interest in the whole Civil Rights Act.....getting the black vote. He had to depend on Republicans to get it passed while his party (that was historically against Civil Rights) reaped the benefits because citizens look at which party holds the presidency...not the Senate or House.
Some of you need to learn your history. No offense.
