Because there are not enough threads about the South on here lately...

[cali]

2. I love your post. I love the love you have for your state and region

as well as your history- and yes, there's a but coming.

Yes, I think that racism in the south plays a larger role than you acknowledge when it comes to elections. You're right that religion does too, but the two sometimes intermingle and play off of each other. there is a widespread belief, according to studies and polling, by many white people in the South that the democratic party favors minorities. One of the regions in this country where anti-immigrant sentiment is most pronounced is the South.

someone just posted this from the NYT:

The fundamental explanation for the strong Republican support among working-class white Southerners is the striking disconnect between rural, overwhelmingly nonunion, Southern white workers and the national Democratic Party’s union-centric approach to labor issues.

This makes it easier for blue-collar Southern whites to convince themselves (with the eager assistance of Republican politicos) that the primary aim of Democratic initiatives like federal worker-training programs was or is to put black people in a position to take their jobs. Even if there is little reason to think the G.O.P. might actually help working-class white Southerners, they know at least that the Republicans are infinitely less likely to do anything to help blacks..

The recent survey found that 58 percent of working-class white Southerners felt that the federal government had been too attentive to the problems of blacks and other minorities. While the survey shows that working-class whites who had received food stamps or other benefits look a bit more kindly on the idea of federal aid programs, the South’s more stringent participation requirements, not to mention the racial stigma, are reflected in figures that show white families accounting for 54 percent of the food stamp recipients in Massachusetts and 28 percent in Mississippi.




The passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act did not usher in immediate political influence for black Southerners. African-Americans and voting rights advocates had to work for years to overcome vote dilution schemes that preserved white political control. By 1982, when Congress reauthorized the Voting Rights Act, Congressional districts were redrawn in ways that led to significant gains in black representation. To do that, however, officials often had to pack those districts with high numbers of black voters, along with handfuls of liberal whites. In the process, surrounding districts became increasingly “white” and conservative. Republicans were well aware of how these packed districts would ease their election, and they eagerly supported the process. It made for an odd alliance between Southern blacks and white conservatives.



snip:



More: http://www.nytimes.com/roomfordebate/2012/10/01/the-souths-enduring-conservativism
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