Sunday, May 10, 2009

Even Way Back Then They Knew The Left Was No Good




Photos courtesy of: RAPH (RidesAPaleHorse)

2 comments:

paranoidpyro said...

Nice to look back through history and see that some things never change. And as always, some people in the past are smarter than most (~52% according to the last election) people today. Unfortunately for this poor fellow his state (Indiana) has gone blue, and will no doubt one day be as successful as Michigan and California.

Esquerita said...

I can understand why a dead Yankee soldier might curse the Democratic Party, the party of the white South, that led this nation into the worst war ever in the name of states rights to own slaves and spread slavery. Back then the Republicans were the "radicals" who wanted to give full voting rights to black people and impose the will of the federal government over state governments by force - both noble and worth dying for.
In the 1870s anyone voting Republican in my county risked being taken out and shot in the street or worse. Southern Democrats waged a campaign of terrorism down here for 100 years in order to stop political equality, I won't deny that.
BUT - As soon as Lyndon Johnson signed the voting rights act and started forcing integration those same segregationist Democrats left the party in droves - Republicans sensed an opening and started "The Southern Strategy" of registering white Southerners disenchanted with the idea of integration. Strom Thurmond was ahead of the curve on this, and Reagan followed, talking states rights at Southern campaign stops.
Though I can appreciate the irony of seeing rebel flags Republican campaign events, now its the Republican party spouting off about secession, nullification of federal laws, and states rights.

There is much less racial discrimination in the rural South than there used to be, but I will say this, nearly everyone I know who is white votes Republican and sends their children to lilly white private academies that opened up right after forced integration (a week later). These are the direct descendants of folks who used to shoot Republicans and federal troops on site in the 1870s. Nearly everyone I know who is black votes Democrat and send their children to nearly all black public schools, these are the direct descendants of people who risked life and limb to try to vote Republican.
Local history is funny that way.