Racism: Conservatives own it, regardless of label

Re: “Who really founded the KKK?” (TNT letter, 12/18).

The letter writer makes a bad attempt to perpetrate the disingenuous trope that the white supremacy movement is related to the modern Democratic Party. He distorts history and perpetuates a lie. Not nice.

He leaves out one important word: “conservative.” Anyone with a casual interest in American history knows the “Party of Lincoln” (who freed the slaves) was once the more liberal political party, though before Abe was dry in his casket it became the party of corporatists believing government should coddle the rich.

The Democrats (the “People’s Party) was a big tent of all who thought government should favor the common man, including laborers, unions, farmers, small business and anyone who hated the big banks.The South was staunchly Democratic right up into the 1960s, while blacks were reliably Republican.

That all changed when the Democrats championed civil rights and became the anti-Vietnam War party . The “Dixiecrats” and African Americans switched parties en masse.

Yes, the KKK was comprised mostly of Southern Democrats: racist, nationalist, conservative Democrats. Those thugs and murderers became Republican, where the white supremacist movement still finds comfort.

The parties may change but “liberal” and “conservative” remain fairly constant. Who owns the racist label? Conservatives!

This story was originally published December 26, 2016 at 6:26 PM with the headline "Racism: Conservatives own it, regardless of label."