Something something, Dixiecrats, something Nixon something something Southern Strategy.
I’d point you in the direction of our local historian @anon61221983, but I swear she and others have already repeatedly explained the history ad nauseum at this point…
So instead, I’ll just say that google is a thing, and also point out that it’s really rather unfair to expect others to do all the ‘heavy lifting’ mentally, even if one is not familiar with the subject matter…
… guess you’ll just have to pick a side then 
Prior to, during and for a long time after the US Civil War, Democrats championed enslavement and subsequent white supremacy. Republicans were the progressive party through about 1900. Teddy Roosevelt, while not all rainbows and ponies, was still the last truly progressive Republican. By about that time, the Republican Party was captured by big money and Wall Street. Democrats in much of the country came to stand for the working person, except in the South, where they were still enthralled by white supremacy. There was the prosperous post-WWII era, where both women and POC found better footing after their contributions to the war effort. Black veterans in particular refused to go back home and back to being 2nd class citizens. On the surface, both parties moved away, albeit slowly, from white supremacy. Democrats FDR and LBJ and Republican Eisenhower introduced important Civil Rights Legislation, and the Warren and Burger SCOTUSs complemented that with important Civil Rights rulings. By the late 60s though, there was a bit of a power and influence vacuum left. The Republican Party made a conscious decision to cater to the bigots that the Democrats were leaving behind. This is often called the “Southern Strategy” due to the disproportionate effect of southern and other conservative states had on the Electoral College and the Senate. It’s a kind of hack that was left over from the conciliation built into the Constitution and the balanced introduction of states to keep the pending conflagration of the Civil War on simmer (until it boiled over). Basically, by appealing to (largely rural) bigots, the Republicans could win presidential and legislative power without having to appeal to the majority of voters. They could overtly turn over the reigns of government to the wealthy through support of a small number of issues that relate mostly to racism and bigotry: gun rights, abortion, and homophobia. The key thing: they didn’t actually have to govern effectively or even pass those issues. They just had to make the right mouth-noises and 44% of people in the right places would vote for them. That’s all it takes. As a bonus, cutting taxes and defunding important social programs was very effective at making true their lie about government incompetence. From schools to the IRS to health care, they have been able to withhold funds while blaming the resulting shitshow on the government and the Dems.
Oh, and there is no functional “far left” in the US. There’s Center Right (Democrats) and Far Right (Republicans). Except for a few holdouts of establishment Republicans, the Republican Party has reached the point of outright fascism.
Succinctly spelled out, once more.
You and Mindy have the patience of saints.
Kudos.
Army Corp of Engineers are quite proficient with explosives and such.
Thanks DukeTrout,
That is very helpful.
As I said, from outside the US, you only get taught the highlights and not the nuance so you miss how things drift from one position to another.
I agree, from what I understand I would probably be considered to be a fair distance to the left of the US Democrats though I would think of myself as being a moderate.
Thanks again.
Another thing that’s not immediately obvious to an outsider is that while party names have remained similar throughout US history, the coalitions that these parties represent have broken and reformed several times over history.
In addition to this, the further back in time you look, the less these parties appear to be ideologically focussed and consistent in their views (from today’s perspective, of course), having strong local and national factions that wouldn’t appear to us to belong together.
Edit to add- the thing that you’ve been confused by up-thread is a is also doubly annoying, because it’s a misleading narrative that is deliberately spread by Republican supporters to distract from their party’s present terrible record on race and civil rights. And it keeps on being used disingenuously, hence our irritation at the same bad info coming up again.
Thanks, I want to avoid spreading bad information myself, so learning from sources that I consider more trustworthy (like this group) is important to understanding.
I learnt much more about the Civil War and the leadup to it from “The Rest is History” podcast recently and I realised what a huge gap in my knowledge I had about the period between then and now.
Good idea! I raise you pineapple juice!
Trouble is bronze is profoundly resistant to corrosion. It is not food grade (toxic) so it is seldom found in kitchen products.
So as to stay on topic: Fuck the KKK and tear down any monuments.
That’s what I mean too. We are agreed.
In order to understand what happened to the early Republican Party it’s important to know about the shitshow that was the election of 1876.
Before that there was a racist party and and anti-racist party—afterwards there were just two racist parties. The Republican Party gave up on its original mission and never went back.
Susan B. Anthony, Davy Crockett, Johnny Appleseed, Clara Barton, KKK member. One of these things is not like the others.
Maybe the terrorists shouldn’t be given representation on a plaque with American heroes? Hitler had a profound effect on US history, but it’d be weird and bad to have a commemorative plaque of him on the walls of any US college, especially West Point where the cadets take an oath to protect the United States.
Are these people comparable to the Klan in your eyes? If not, then their presence doesn’t matter.
What does this teach? The general concept of the Klan existing isn’t a new thing to anyone who will be attending West Point.
Not even a little, and pretending it is requires a level of ignoring reality that I’m unwilling to engage in.
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