Over the last 40 years, the Republican Party has deliberately engaged in a campaign of appealing to the ugliest elements of the American South in an attempt to win votes – the Southern Strategy developed by Original Scumbag himself, Richard Nixon. Basically the idea was that with the Democrats supporting the Civil Rights movement and thereby gaining black votes, the Republicans could get more votes by appealing to racism and bigotry.
Here’s a link describing the Southern Strategy in more detail
There is no doubt that this strategy has succeeded – Democratic presidential candidates have won very few states in the South over the last 40 years.
The Republican politicians working post-civil rights have been canny in never openly voicing their racist appeals in the language of racism – “Do you want them niggers dating your sister?” – instead they used code words to describe their inveterate opposition to racial equality.
When the issue was ending segregation and Jim Crow laws, the Republican tack was never to openly advocate (in the language of the time) “keeping the Negro in his place.” They instead advocated “state’s rights” i.e., the rights of states to have Jim Crow laws.
When the issue was affirmative action, the code word became “quotas” and “reverse racism” the idea being that innocent white kids were being kept out of advanced education by “quotas” established to ensure that some black kids got a college education. And it’s true in the sense that if you admit a black kid to a particular institution, he or she takes the place of a white kid who might otherwise be eligible. But this kind of thinking constitutes “fairness” (another code word) only when you turn a completely blind eye to the huge disparities in numbers between the proportion of white kids going to college vs. black kids.
Always, always coincidentally we were given to understand, the Republicans have opposed any legislation that might benefit black people, always for reasons that they claimed had nothing to do with an appeal to racism.
Here’s a link with more on code words
Many Republicans will accept the notion that their leadership has historically embraced racism, but will say, “I’m not a racist, I deplore that aspect of my party’s behavior and am working (usually in some unsubstantiated way) to change it. I like other aspects of the Republican platform.”
Even granting that this is true, the fact remains that by continuing to vote for, work for and generally support a party that promotes racism, you yourself are promoting racism. Yes, you are holding your nose while you do it, but it’s your dollar that supports the election campaigns, your muscle that gets the mailers carried out the door, your vote that gets the candidate elected – the candidate who will vote along party lines and continue the covert support of racism.
Oh, maybe you like black people, maybe you ARE black people, but considering the effect your actions as a Republican are having in the world, you might as well have a fucking hood on your head and wear a robe stamped “KKK.”