The Myth of the GOP South
Anyone with a high school education knows the Democrats are the party of slavery and Jim Crow, while the Republicans favored emancipation and integration. Despite this schism in ideology, the South voted in droves for the Democrats for decades. Today, the tables have turned and now Southerners vote Republican. So why the flip-flop?
Democrats, who have steadily gravitated to the far left, were quick to pounce on the race card, the alleged GOP’s disenchantment with the Civil Rights Act and its adherence to “The Southern Strategy,” which simply meant win elections by pandering to bigots. All myths, says Carol Swain, professor of political science and law at Vanderbilt University. “Don’t buy it. History has moved on. Like other regions of the country, the South votes values, not skin color.” She elaborates further in this edition of PragerU.
