The Switch That Never Happened

[Benton]

It wasn't like everyone woke up the day after and switched voter registration, no. As Matt mentioned, both parties were racist, just in different ways. A lot of it was still held over from norms in place after the Civil War. Most of those are gone, along with the people (the last Civil War veterans were around in the 1950s, so you're finally getting to the point where their direct descendants are far enough removed not to have nostalgic feelings towards either side). In other words, Civil Rights — and the way members of each party voted — was mostly due to geography and culture, not party platforms.

And there's still some pockets where it's still that way. Go to Jackson, Mississippi and you'll find a good portion of folks that don't understand "what the fuss was all about."

Regardless, that doesn't matter a whole lot with what's going on today. The GOP had people who supported civil rights a half century ago. so did the Democrats. Now, only one party is opening their umbrella to include Nazis and admitted racists.