History of 20th Century Racism 101: The Southern Strategy
Posted: Fri Apr 19, 2013 5:43 pm
From the Civil War to the mid 20th century, a large block of southern states were referred to as “the Solid South” because in presidential politics, those states always voted Democrat in presidential elections. But as the liberal views on race became modern, the racists felt less comfortable with the Democrats. This was dramatically seen in 1968 when the racist majorities of Louisiana, Arkansas, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, and North Carolina broke from the Democrats and gave the racist George Wallace a total of 46 electoral votes in his presidential bid from the “American Independent” party.
Republicans realized that in order to become competitive in the South, they needed to appeal to southern racists, and they saw the declining loyalty of racists to the Democrats as a huge opportunity. Their plan to appeal to southern racists was called the Republican Southern Strategy.
In 1981, one of Ronald Reagan’s top political advisors, Lee Atwater, explained that as the nation’s sensibilities evolved, they needed to appeal to the racists more subtly and more abstractly. In his own words:
Hearing this from Reagan’s Atwater makes explicit what was obvious from the way Reagan sought the racist vote.
Just 16 years before Reagan won the presidency was 1964. That was the time period when the federal government was pushing for civil rights in the South, and the Southern white racists were pushing back, declaring that “States’ Rights” gave them the right to have Jim Crow laws if they wanted to. In Neshoba County Mississippi in 1964,County Sheriff Lawerence A. Rainey lead a mob that lynched three civil rights workers: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. This murder became front-page national news, put Neshoba County on the map, and was the catalyst to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
With that background, fast-forward 16 years to Reagan. When Reagan won the Republican nomination, he knew he had to win some Southern States and that he couldn’t do so without winning the racist vote. In order to make a statement that he was with the Southern Racists, he intentionally chose Neshoba County, Mississippi, as his first campaign stop. In front of thousands of whites in Neshoba, including the KKK members that had blown up black churches and murdered civil rights activists, Reagan sent a powerful message to racists across the South by promising to “restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them.” The audience cheered and the racists across the South got the message: the Republicans were on their side.
Since then, the allegiance of “Solid South” has been Republican.
Republicans realized that in order to become competitive in the South, they needed to appeal to southern racists, and they saw the declining loyalty of racists to the Democrats as a huge opportunity. Their plan to appeal to southern racists was called the Republican Southern Strategy.
In 1981, one of Ronald Reagan’s top political advisors, Lee Atwater, explained that as the nation’s sensibilities evolved, they needed to appeal to the racists more subtly and more abstractly. In his own words:
You start out in 1954 by saying, “Nigger, nigger, nigger.” By 1968 you can’t say “nigger”—that hurts you, backfires. So you say stuff like, uh, forced busing, states’ rights, and all that stuff, and you’re getting so abstract. Now, you’re talking about cutting taxes, and all these things you’re talking about are totally economic things and a byproduct of them is, blacks get hurt worse than whites.… “We want to cut this,” is much more abstract than even the busing thing, uh, and a hell of a lot more abstract than “Nigger, nigger.”
Hearing this from Reagan’s Atwater makes explicit what was obvious from the way Reagan sought the racist vote.
Just 16 years before Reagan won the presidency was 1964. That was the time period when the federal government was pushing for civil rights in the South, and the Southern white racists were pushing back, declaring that “States’ Rights” gave them the right to have Jim Crow laws if they wanted to. In Neshoba County Mississippi in 1964,County Sheriff Lawerence A. Rainey lead a mob that lynched three civil rights workers: James Chaney, Andrew Goodman, and Michael Schwerner. This murder became front-page national news, put Neshoba County on the map, and was the catalyst to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
With that background, fast-forward 16 years to Reagan. When Reagan won the Republican nomination, he knew he had to win some Southern States and that he couldn’t do so without winning the racist vote. In order to make a statement that he was with the Southern Racists, he intentionally chose Neshoba County, Mississippi, as his first campaign stop. In front of thousands of whites in Neshoba, including the KKK members that had blown up black churches and murdered civil rights activists, Reagan sent a powerful message to racists across the South by promising to “restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them.” The audience cheered and the racists across the South got the message: the Republicans were on their side.
Since then, the allegiance of “Solid South” has been Republican.
