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It may have started in 1948, when President Harry Truman integrated the armed forces and a lot of Dixiecrats (southern white racist Democrats) began to bolt the party rather than recognize the civil rights struggle. But the trend accelerated in 1969; Mr. Judge was five at the time and might not remember. This was, however, the beginning of Richard Nixon’s “southern strategy,” a deliberate attempt by Republicans to court white racist voters. Nixon looked at his razor-thin win in 1968, realized that 1972 could be just as big a headache if George Wallace’s third-party bid picked up steam, and began appealing to the Wallace rednecks and their northern brothers and sisters–those who fled to the suburbs precisely to avoid blacks and Hispanics.
Since then the Republicans, and conservatives in general, have practiced buzzword politics, with most of the buzzwords meant to evoke race. Look at the list: busing, crime, welfare, quotas, illegal immigrants, reverse discrimination, affirmative action, bilingualism, school choice. Then there was Ronald Reagan’s response to apartheid: “quiet diplomacy,” which turned out to be tacit support for the white supremacist minority. All these and more are reminders of varying subtlety that most conservatives don’t want people of color in the country, let alone the party.
