Was Ronald Reagan a Racist?
“Did you know that Regan announced his candidacy in Philadelph ia Missisipi where civil rights activists were killed. Philadelphia is most famous as the site of the murder of three civil rights workers in 1964. In 1980 Ronald Reagan kicked off his general campaign for president of the United States in Philadelphia, announcing at the annual county fair, "I believe in states' rights. I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment." He went on to promise to "restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them". Some thought Reagan's speech marked the continuation of the successful Republican "Southern strategy"; this was supposedly evidence of Reagan's libertarian belief in federalism and a greater role for states in determining their own policies. However, given the history of Philadelphia, and Reagan's use of the words "states' rights", often interpreted as a desire to return to pre-Civil War laws regarding segregation, many felt that Reagan was at least insensitive to the concerns of blacks, or that he even was using this location and these words as a cynical appeal to the white racist vote. So maybe!
When some Republicans say they didn't leave the Democratic Party, the party left them...?
Which Democratic Party are they criticizing and which are they glorifying? I think it's pretty obvious they are criticizing the liberal wing of the Democratic Party, especially of the 1960s. They left the party because of them. Who does that leave that they are glorifying??? That leaves the racist, southern, CONSERVATIVE Dixiecrats/Democrats of the past. That's who. We don't want those kind of people in our party. The Republican Party can have them. "Southern Bloc" The name given to a group of ((CONSERVATIVE)) southern Democratic Senators, and one Republican Senator (John Tower of Texas), who opposed passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The southern bloc was led by Senator Richard Russell of Georgia. http://www.congresslink.org/print_teaching_glossary.htm#Sbloc
Although unwilling to challege the southern democrats in congress,how did kennedy support the civil rights ..?
He was forced to support them when the situation got out of hand. In 1960, the Freedom Riders--- these were the Civil Rights Groups, SNCC and some CORE members, who rode on interstate buses and disobeyed segregated facilities those buses stopped at. They met no opposition until a fateful May 1961, where a white mob torched their bus in Anniston, Alabama. It only got worse through Alabama. The thing was that Southern law enforcement wasn't doing anything to protect these people. They allowed it to happen--- even worse, there were so many cases of police brutality to peaceful protestors and African Americans during that tumultuous period. JFK needed to do something about it. So what did he do? He did they same thing that Eisenhower did in 1957 at Little Rock High School in Arkansas---JFK deployed US Marshals to escort the Freedom Riders all throughout Alabama. That was the beginning of his intervention. Long story short, when Southern Law Enforcement was not willing to enforce the law, it was the federal government's job to do so. Heck, JFK knew that after he helped the Civil Rights Movement once, there was no more charming the Southern Democrats for anything. In 1963 he pushed for a Civil Rights Bill that was fulfilled by Johnson in 1964. He even said to a group of black leaders, "I may lose my next election...I don't care." BEFORE that incident... the Anniston, Alabama incident, I don't believe Kennedy did much to support Civil Rights. Why, he was too afraid--- he needed those Southern votes. They were his lifeblood as a Democrat.
When did the Democrats and Republicans begin to shift?
No, not exactly. The Republican party has always been rather conservative, especially on economic issues. However social issues, such as slavery were obviously a blue dog democratic notion back in the Lincoln days. The last "liberal Republican" was probably Teddy Rosevelt, who was very liberal on issues of capatalism. Anyway, the 20's saw a distinct divide between Republicans and democrats. As republicans became the party of "we don't think poor people even exist" really they just ignored the fact that they did, and so became a party of social elitism and all the wrought and destruction it may bring along the way. So the democratic party, somewhat under FDR became the party of the people, the majority of the people, and would continue to evolve into the progressive party it is today. However, it is interesting to note that their seems to be a shift of party alignment to the right over time. The Republicans have become far more right wing, and the democrats have shifted to almost what center was 20 years ago. I'f go as far as to say, objectively, the Green party has become the new democratic party. We may even see the demise of the GOP in the next few decades; Trump has practically destroyed its brand.
When did Republicans become the conservative party and the Democrats liberal?
I believe that Abraham Lincoln was a Republican and Jefferson Davis was a Democrat. I've reading a bit on the civil war (for school, so it's not much), and I'm under the impression that during that era, the Democrats were the White Supremacists and the Republicans wanted equality for all. Nowadays, people seem to view the Republicans as racists from the South (not that I do, I'm a Republican and I'm from Davis, CA, one of the most liberal towns I know...), and Democrats as looking forward to reform and change. I was just curious, does anyone know when this started happening?