Welcome to DU! The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards. Join the community: Create a free account Support DU (and get rid of ads!): Become a Star Member All Forums Issue Forums Culture Forums Alliance Forums Region Forums Support Forums Help & Search

DonViejo

(60,536 posts)
Sat Sep 22, 2012, 09:09 AM Sep 2012

The Republican Party’s Race Problem and Strom Thurmond’s Legacy

The Republican Party’s Race Problem and Strom Thurmond’s Legacy

Sep 22, 2012 4:45 AM EDT

What went wrong for the party of civil rights? Why do they have so few African-American supporters? A new book argues that Strom Thurmond reshaped the Republican Party and the South with his support of segregation—and left the party with a poisonous legacy on race relations that continues to this day.

By Jordan Michael Smith.

Just 2 percent of delegates were African-Americans at the Republican National Convention. At the DNC, blacks comprised more than a quarter of the delegate count. Many conservatives remain mystified by their inability gain support among African-Americans. After all, the GOP is the party of civil rights.

At least that was the contention earlier this year of Kevin Williamson, an editor at flagship conservative magazine National Review. In a May cover story, Williamson contended that Democrats, not Republicans, have always been the party of civil rights. “[T]he Democrats have been allowed to rhetorically bury their Bull Connors, their longstanding affiliation with the Ku Klux Klan, and their pitiless opposition to practically every major piece of civil-rights legislation for a century,” Williamson wrote.

The essay was widely condemned as ahistorical and simply bizarre. Williamson disputed the debate-ending fact that Southern Democrats transferred to the Republican Party primarily because it was retrograde on racial issues. More honest conservatives, among them National Review’s Ramesh Ponnuru, have written candidly of conservatives’ failure to grapple with the history. But Williamson’s is still the dominant view on the right wing.

Read More:
http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2012/09/22/the-republican-party-s-race-problem-and-strom-thurmond-s-legacy.html

1 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
The Republican Party’s Race Problem and Strom Thurmond’s Legacy (Original Post) DonViejo Sep 2012 OP
I might be dead GulleyJimson Sep 2012 #1
Latest Discussions»Retired Forums»2016 Postmortem»The Republican Party’s Ra...