Saturday, May 28, 2005

The Dixiecrat Trip Down Bigotry Lane

When I first started blogging, Nzyme showed up, commented, then sent her henchmen to argue with me. Somehow soundboyz and I started corresponding and developed a point-counterpoint discussion into pretty much everything. While the debate has become heated at times, it has always been interesting to me. I have tried to be respectful to everyone, even when it gets silly. And hopefully Nzyme thinks differently of me now. Somehow, I believe that she does.

That said, soundboyz has the idea that the Dixiecrats somehow merged into the Republican Party and I really had no concrete rebuttal for that, it just didn't "feel" right. I have used this Saturday to become the foremost expert on the Dixiecrats to add to my expertise on Embryonic Stem Cell research.

Here we go....

HERE is where my research started. Trust me, it flew all over the world, including a little dip into the Netherlands. I think that some of these folks are now running the Lottery over there, bastards to the end.

If you notice on the list, Party affiliation is noted for the Senators, however, do notice that Jesse Helms was not an elected Senator at the time of the Dixiecrats. All of the governors were Democrats. And as far as Party affiliation is concerned, they all went to their deaths with those memberships or either they are still alive. Guess what? I count two Republicans. Two. I guess that somewhat discredits THIS MSNBC article. No Liberal bias there. Wonder why folks think that Dixiecrats changed to the Republican party?

On to the rest of the list. There are a few that I can find very little on, and no references to the Dixiecrats other than articles that list these nuts as Dixiecrats. I guess that everyone of them could have become Republicans, but I think that would be out of character, since only two of the Senators jumped to the Republicans, but I guess they could have been.

Those that have very little reference to them include: Mrs. Anna B. Korn, Mrs. Ruth Lackey, O. L. Penny, Ross Lillard, Barney Wolverton were all Dixiecrat Party officials. Clifton Ratlift, Dr. Frazier, Francis Haskell, Clark Hurd, and M. F. Ray had no other references. William E. Jenner (States Rights Candidate for VP in 1956, no other references), T. Coleman Andrews became an independent, J.K. Wells (D) State Official in Arkansas, Governor White (The only governor that I could find was North Dakota’s, but I am not sure that it’s the right one.)

And the rest:
Walter Sillers JR, Mississippi Speaker of the House (D) Died 1966, Harvey T. Ross, Mississippi State Legislature (D) Still alive, Thomas P. Brady, Associate Justice of the Mississippi Supreme Court (D) No reference to his death, Gessner T. McCorvey, Alabama state Democratic Executive Committee Chairman (D), Orval Faubus candidate for president (D) Died 1994, Leander Perez, Louisiana political "leader" (D) Died 1969, Horace C. Wilkinson, Birmingham attorney defender of the Klan and political "leader" (D) No death reference, John Kasper (D) No death reference, Hugh Roy Cullen, Texas Oil Millionare, power broker, and future Republican, John Steel Baston (D), Thomas Jefferson Tubb (D) No reference found to his death, so I assume he is alive.

Last One: John Oliver Emmerich deserves a little in depth information. This ARTICLE gives a little more insight into someone that rethought their ideas on race relations. I couldn't find a reference to Emmerich's political affiliation in later life, but judging by the majority of the rest of the list and their movement in the political spectrum, I would guess that he jumped to the Republicans. That and the fact that he fought for admission of Blacks into Ole Miss.

So that gives us a total of three confirmed Republicans, thirty-four confirmed Democrats, twelve unconfirmed, and one independent. Sounds to me like the overwhelming majority remained Democrats, odd. Another funny thing that I found was that only thirty-four people walked out and we already have fifty listed.

I hope this in-depth treatise clears up a little of the misinformation about who the racists are in politics today.

UPDATE: soundboyz has posted his own article on this TOPIC which details the history of the Dixiecrat Party and Trent Lott's stupidity.

UPDATE 2: This post was submitted to the Carnival of the Vanities and the Carnival is up! Go there, RIGHT NOW!
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13 comments:

KR said...

My faith in you is renewed: A rational presentation, rather than a madman's soliloquy. Still, I would like to point out that there really isn't much difference between Democrats and Republicans, so Dixiecrats jumping between parties is hardly a significant feat. Nor is the inablity to determine the party affiliations of some Dixiecrats significant, again, because there is so little difference between the two parties.

Have you noticed that whenever a country is being liberated from despotism and a new, democratic government set up, that the new government is modelled after the parliamentary system of government, rather than the American one?

This is because ours is so patently flawed and does not offer sufficient representation of diverse interests and concerns. In the US, everyone wishing to be politically active must be shoe-horned into one of two parties, the end result being that these parties are ideologically so similar that the differences are blown way out of proportion in order to attract or repel constituents. Whereas a parliamentary system is designed to accomodate multiple parties and thus prevent disenfranchisement of the citizenry. Additionally, it is designed to facilitate cooperation and coalition-building, and prevent entrenchment and endless deadlocks by allowing no-confidence votes. But I digress.

I am a patriot. I love my country. I love my State (whose sovereignity is currently under attack from the Feds). A true patriot who acknowledges the flaws in the system.

-Kelly (who is bracing herself for your rebuttal)

Here is your audio-version :)

KR said...

Oops, try this one:
http://www.audioblogger.com/media/47961/196902.mp3

Paul Mitchell said...

Was the soliloquy to which you refer the Heaven's Gate thing? Come on, you know that I was joking.

Kelly, this article pointed out that there were very few people that stayed away from the Democrat party, they all fell back into the fold with their elitists buddies.

And yes, I do notice that republics are very seldom the government of choice for any people that have been under the totalitarian form of oppression. I don't know why other than to say maybe they are wanting a Socialist-type government, just keep taking care of me, Akbar.

There are few people like me. I believe very much what Ayn Rand "preached". Government has very little purpose to me other than to keep the criminals in line. I transfer the defense of my life to the police. However, I reserve enough of that defense to keep the government from oppressing me. Oh, and don't get the idea that I am unprotected, either.

Actually I would much rather have representatives that were Libertarian. But until that becomes a viable option, I will stick with the Repubs.

Oh, and I don't whup up on girls.

Paul Mitchell said...

Oh, and thanks for the audio. I love when a woman says, "As an aside". Man, that cranks my tractor.

KR said...

> Oh, and I don't whup up on girls.
Oh come one Two Dogs! Its a level playing-field in an online forum... or do you think that girls can't hold their ground against the might of your manly intellect?
> Man, that cranks my tractor.
That is a new euphamism... what does it mean?

Erik Grow said...

Kelly, it means that you are ummm, exciting him... *laugh* Scary thought, isn't it?

As far as the topic Two Dogs, think of it this way... Whites in the deep south tended to have the highest level of prejudice back then, and while I'm sure that that has gotten better, I don't know who else would currently have more either *as a demographic, mind you*. It used to be that these whites in the deep south voted overwhelmingly for Democrats. Now they vote overwhelmingly for Republicans. People's voting lifespans are longer than the tenure of most politicians, so it would stand to reason that you would not see so many political defections. You can see that the PEOPLE defected.

KR said...

Excellent points, Erik! Especially the last one, about the people defecting.

Paul Mitchell said...

Erik, the prejudice was ingrained in Whites everywhere, and not especially in the deep South. Point in case, try to figure out how many States in the North still had legalized Slavery in 1870. You would be surprised. Blacks and Whites have lived together down here for quite some time. While the South was forced to bus kids around town in the 1960's to meet racial quotas, the North was not. As a matter of fact, the North still remains an intensely racially segregated portion of the country while the South is racially diverse. Another point is that school districts here are still trying to meet racial quotas set forth by the Federal government that are restrictive in where your kids can attend.

This country as a whole has had racial problems, to limit your comments to the Deep South ignores the problem where it is the worst, the North. Try Detroit, Chicago, New York, and DC.

As a voting block the South stayed Democrat until Jimmy Carter, the tide turned when he embarrassed us to death with his horrid policies that crippled this country. Reagan brought this country back to prominence on the world stage and made us proud to be Americans again.

The whole point of theis article was to prove that politicians that left the Democrat Party over segregation and civil rights, returned to the Democrat Party. Republicans are truly the "Big Tent", while the Democrats only claim to be.

How does it feel to be associated with the Party of the Bigots, Erik?

on-the-rocks said...

Two Dogs, thanks for your research, this was a little before my time. I don't recall too many of my relatives ascribing to Dixiecrat views, Democrat, yes, but not hard-core Dixiecrat.

The first part of soundboyz post on Dixiecrats seemed interesting, until he started using the same brush to tar modern Republicans, then it went downhill from there, rapidly.

I spent time scanning the comments following "Red States are Slave States" (or something like that). The bigotry and bile get tiring after a while. Does trying to make a sensible point ever seem to make any difference? In the Classical Liberal fashion, I try to inquire about other opinions, but acceptance of racism and bigotry (regardless of the color) is not part of Classical Liberalism.

Christians did not invent slavery. As for blame, there is plenty of blood to go around, yes there were self-proclaimed Christians, Jews, Muslims, Atheists, etc., involved with slavery.

The Abolitionist Movement began in the churches of England in the 1700s. There is nothing in the Gospels that justifies enslavement. As for missionary work, we are instructed to deliver the good news. If past self-proclaimed Christians were excessive in word and deed, that is their human failing, not the failing of Christianity.

It is time to go outside and pull some weeds to get rid of my Moonbat frustration.

KR said...

> As a voting block the South stayed Democrat until Jimmy Carter, the tide turned when he embarrassed us to death with his horrid policies that crippled this country. Reagan brought this country back to prominence on the world stage and made us proud to be Americans again.

I have two words for you:
October Surprise

Paul Mitchell said...

Imara, what you need to understand is that racism or bigotry is NOT limited to Blacks. When I was growing up, there was a huge stigma placed on my being Catholic, plus the difference of my facial structure and the color of my skin. I could have folded up and let those people force me into having the same opinion of myself as they had or I could develop my own opinion.

As a matter of fact, there is much bigotry on your site against the Jews, yes that IS racism and anti-semitism.

While you understand that racists are always going to be that way, you are still expecting them to change. Quit thinking that. They are the people that mean nothing to anyone. You do not get past that point by doing exactly toward them as they do toward you.

I choose to associate with people that do not live their life with the idea that their heritage is what makes them what they are. I care not what your father did, your personality and achievements are yours. Never forget the point of King's dream speech. It is most definitely NOT what the NAACP publishes these days. I would like to believe that MLK would be a Republican today, because we are the party of individualism and self-sufficiency.

Paul Mitchell said...

About the other people, I have to say that those people will wind up being outcasts from society if the racism issue is allowed to die in intelligent circles. It is never going to disappear while people still make it an issue. It is illegal to discriminate against a person because of race, nothing more can be done. Unless maybe it can be made double illegal.

Bigotry anywhere affects someone's livelyhood, it affects the bigot. I do enjoy the debating this topic, I just want it understood that racists come in all forms.

Anonymous said...

excellent points and the details are more specific than elsewhere, thanks.

- Thomas