Are Republicans racist???

[CapnAwesome]

Also the KKK historically has a democratic group ...

You are too smart to be making a statement that ignorant. I really can't believe you would pretend to be oblivious to the history of The Southern Strategy and the time in which the Democrats and Republicans changes sides on the issue of civil rights.

etc etc

The Southern strategy doesn't have anything to do with the Klan specifically. I wasn't being dishonest, only brief. I didn't think that the overly simplistic opening question really deserved a lengthy discussion. I actually thought about mentioning how things the racists in the south largely either went over the Republicans or dropped the racism from their platform (Ala former Klan member Democrat Robert Byrd, who kept his other political beliefs and dropped the racism) Many politicians in both parties post 1964 dropped the racism from their platform because they had a black contingency to deal with. However the people from both parties from that era are almost universally dead. If we start discounting history when exactly is the cutoff? When the people you like stopped openly being racist? Also what about Black or Lation racists? They certain don't vote Republican. I've said that probably half a dozen times and have yet to have one of the more liberal members of the board reply to it. Or are white racists the only real racists? The southern strategy is dead and there is near universal acceptance of the civil rights act by Republicans. The only people left in the country who don't acknowledge this are probably you and Min. When Rand Paul suggested that he disagreed with one tiny section of the civil rights act (despite the fact he said he would have voted for it) he was crucified and basically told to shut up by every important member of the Republican party. So while indeed in 1964 the racists switched sides, it's no more fair or honest of you to bring that up as an example of Republican racists than it is for me to mention the Democratic affiliation of the Klan pre-64. All those people are dead. I will eat my own shit if the Republican controlled House and Senate tried to repeal the civil rights act, but an honest person will admit that it will never happen.

My mention of Lincoln wasn't to say that Republicans today share his values. Although Lincoln himself would almost certainly be considered a racist by today's standards, after all as a Senator he voted to keep black from being able to immigrant to Illinois. (Also he was know to watch and enjoy the incredibly racist minstrel shows) He was still progressive by the standards of the day, it's just that most people properly lack the historical background to understand that. Lincoln was largely into a strong central government that more aligns with the Democrats. All I was saying is that there are Southern Racists today who still won't vote Republican because of it's association with Lincoln. These people exist. I have personally met them. That civil war shit runs pretty deep in the south. It's not really a political thing with them even, but more of a historical thing. That's really all I was saying in response to the old (and stupid) Bill Maher saying that all racists are Republicans. It's such an ignorant thing to say and repeat.

At best I think the most fair thing to say is that there are more (maybe even far more) white racists in the Republican party than the Democratic party. That is obviously true, but that isn't what was being said in this thread or what I was replying to. What was being said was a ridiculous blanket statement and that was what I replying to.

Edit: I feel the need to clarify this pretty often on these forums, but I'm not a Republican myself. I'm mostly an Apolitical libertarian.