This blogpost was originally in response to a specific Facebook post (which in turn was one of way too many) “reminding” people (with not apparent knowledge of history or context) that Jim Crow and the KKK were created by Southern Democrats and that it was the GOP that freed and protected the slaves.

First, it is worth a reminder that all political parties, in pretty much most countries, over time evolve, and devolve. Old ones die. New ones emerge, and some just change. The two original parties of this country, the Federalists and the Democratic-Republicans, are both long dead. The current two parties, the GOP and the Democratic Party, emerged as a split from the Democratic-Republicans. It is also true that both these parties have evolved. The Democratic Party is no longer the party of Andrew Jackson. The GOP is no longer the party of Lincoln. To an extremely provable degree, these two parties swapped many platform beliefs.

Yes, it is very true that the 19th century version of Southern Democrats were slaveholders and/or protective of the practice. It is very true that Southern Democrats began Jim Crow in reaction to the loss of the War, to Reconstruction, to carpetbagging, etc. Its perpetuation lasted roughly a century. It is NOT true that the KKK was founded by Southern Democrats, which implies a political connection that apparently was not there. For further info on that, please read this article: https://apnews.com/afs:Content:2336745806 But, let’s say for the sake or argument that they did. It doesn’t change the fact that it has been generations since it was the party of Andrew Jackson.

The GOP is likewise no longer the party of Lincoln. Hell, it is barely the party of Reagan, and the many conservatives turning on Trump is proof of that. Either way, this is no longer the party that freed the slaves. (As for protected the freed, I debate whether it ever did much to protect or help slaves once freed, as the North was just as racist. As for Lincoln, he wanted freed slaves “returned home to Africa”. Hardly a broad-minded attitude.)

When did the change occur? I argue that it was gradual and uneven. It is also unimportant for purposes of this specific post. My friend asked why Democrats never note that it was they who were guilty of all the racism. My response was the same as it always is to that ever-growing question among conservatives: because the descendents of those very same Democrats fled in droves to the Republican Party in the 50s (Brown vs Board of Education), the 60s (Civil Rights Act, Voting Rights Act, the Fair Housing Act, and expanded welfare) and the 70s (busing and mandated integration following Swann vs Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education). And by the end of the 70s, over a twenty plus year period, the vast majority of White Southern Democrats had abandoned their old party for a new one making them promises. They were helped along with the Southern Strategy, by which Republican operatives saw a chance to woo over Southern Democrats and gain conservative votes. (Because let’s remember at the end of the day, Jacksonian Democrats were not progressives, they were conservatives.)

It began in the 1950s, when Eisenhower attempted to balance the Supreme Court, to rectify what he saw as a grave error by Roosevelt and Truman. Eisenhower appointed five justices to SCOTUS. Brown, which came relatively early in his administration was passed unanimously, including of course the Eisenhower-appointed chief justice Earl Warren, who on the bench proved quite progressive, as did most Eisenhower appointees. Eisenhower later famously said (though the quote is disputed), “My two greatest mistakes in office are both sitting on the Supreme Court” and referred to Warren repeatedly as that “son of a bitch”. The Brown decision began to show a rightward shift in the GOP, a more racist shift. This was hardly matched by a leftward shift in the Democratic Party, chiefly because the large block that was the Dixiecrats (Southern Dems) were busy ignoring the decision, which led to Central High and the National Guard. The decision itself and the Little Rock case led conservative Southerners to begin leaving the Democratic Party for the GOP. The 60s legislation mentioned above hastened more departures. But now, it was joined by a distinctive leftward shift in the Democratic Party. The 60s, with its civil rights and welfare successes, the vanguard of antiestablishmentarianism, including drugs, the sexual revolution, more civil rights, and antiwar protests, began making the Democratic Party the party of progressives and the GOP the steadfast conservative one, who would halt all these too-rapid changes, and what conservatives perceived as anarchy.

I’m getting a little off topic here, and going into more detail than I’d intended. So, at the risk of myself being guilty of leaving out context, I shall return to the point at hand. By the 70s, and the Swann case (busing and integration), many powerful voices in the GOP began to push the Southern Strategy. This was a deliberate strategy to increase the votes of White Southerners by appealing to their racism, more to the point appealing to their anger at the series of decisions during the previous two decades. It was a success. Another wave of departures to the GOP. The Southern Democrats were no more. They were now Southern GOP.

This is not bias. This is very easy to Google. Or look up on Wikipedia. Or look into your choice of history book. Any Southerner over 50 is old enough to remember the Great White Flight to the suburbs. Any Southern over 50 is old enough to remember either being pulled from public school for a private school, or with friends who were. Most of the rest moved to the burbs. Almost all those parents were former Southern Democrats, descended from the Jacksonians who were racist and supported segregation and Jim Crow. Even those who no doubt believed they weren’t racist (probably most of them), by leaving because they were afraid of Black crime, or ruining public education, showed racist beliefs. The fact is, that now, most Southerners who are GOP are descended by only a generation or two the parents and grandparents who were once proudly Southern Democrats.

Nothing is absolute, of course. There were Republicans in the South before that 30-year span. There remained Democrats after. But the major shift was completed then. In addition, it does not imply that Democrats are not capable of making mistakes. Far from it. I am unlike most progressives in that I understand and acknowledge that Democrats can be racist, or antisemitic, or homophobic, or transphobic, or antifeminist. They are just rarely all the above. And many conservatives believe in civil rights even as other (and conservative) issues weigh more important to them.

The friend whose Facebook post is the reason for this blogpost pointed to Clinton and his damaging crime bill. No question it was a horrible mistake. I question whether they saw the outcome when it was pushed, but whatever the initial motives, it set civil rights back a fair ways. And it isn’t limited to that time. Some conservatives (incluidng my friend) point to welfare and how it hurts Blacks from becoming independent. I call nonsense on that: welfare is used for poor and that includes many Whites. Further, such attitude suggests that it is an either/or. Laws push that narrative but the truth is, welfare should rarely be an instead of, but rather a support. Then there are more notable examples. Amy Klobuchar, as the DA for the county of Minneapolis/St. Paul, refused to press charges against the police officer who later killed George Floyd. Kamala Harris, herself a former prosecutor, gained a bad reputation for going after Black criminals with zeal. Her defense that she was doing her job hasn’t sat well with Black voters and it remains to be seen that–if she chosen by Biden–it will hurt the ticket. But nobody is perfect. My chosen mantra on that is show me a person who hasn’t made a mistake, and I’ll show you a life unlived. The fact is, such incidents aside, the Democratic Party is now clearly the party for change and the GOP clearly the party opposing it. Thus, women’s rights, Blacks’ rights (or any other PoC), religious rights other than Christian, or protection from religion, LGBTQ rights, ect. are for the most part, not to be found in the GOP.

The historical record backs up my claims. I’d invite conservatives to point to the alleged massive amounts of records that show their own progressive work from the past 50 years. Outliers, sure. Party platform, no.