General Discussion
In reply to the discussion: Wanna Know Who Made Racism ''Acceptable Again'' in the good ol' USA? [View all]Liberal_Stalwart71
(20,450 posts)Reagan simply carried the torch further, but all the ring makers came of age during Nixon, which was in direct response against the Civil Rights Movement.
Without Nixon, Southern Republicans would not exist.
The Welfare Queen was made possible as an implementation of Nixon's Southern Strategy.
Who put it in place? The cast of characters that came to the forefront during the Nixon era: Newt Gingrich, Lee Atwater, Ed Meese, etc. all actors served Reagan. They NEVER went away (except for Atwater who died and apologized on his deathbed for his racist politics). Still, without Atwater, there would not be a Karl Rove, Grover Norquist, or Andrew Breitbart--all protégés of Atwater. These architects of racist politics were around BEFORE Reagan!
Yes, Ed Meese was prominent in Reagan's administration, but he was one of the implementators of Nixon's strategy.
You simply need to understand southern politics and the history of how BOTH parties exploited racist sentiment in this country.
Racism never went out of style. It simply never did. And your analysis is wrong.
Familiarize yourself with what happened.