In my case, I half wanted to Control + F "1968" but pretty much guessed what the spin would be right away. It's the typical conservative attempt to deny what Nixon's law and order/states' rights rhetoric was actually about, while also pulling the Robert Byrd/dixiecrat card on modern democrats. The article basically denies the existence of the Southern Strategy.
There's no question that the republican party was traditionally more progressive on civil rights than the democratic party. But the definition of republicans and democrats has changed so drastically over the last 60-70 years that current political sides cannot automatically claim the mantle of past political sides based purely on party affiliation. The democrat party originally championed low taxes, reduced government power, low regulation, and states' rights. Many southern democrats began shifting to the republican party starting in the 1930s.
What a coincidence.Let's face it: race and racism dominated the southern economy for more than a hundred years; we fought a civil war over that shit if I remember correctly. The republican party's embrace of states' rights secured half of the south in 1968 and all of it in 1972, and since then the party has championed many policies that once were championed by dixiecrats and segregationists.
