It is true that for several decades following the Emancipation Proclamation that an overwhelming majority of Southern Whites referred to themselves as Democrats. This was because they resented Lincoln and Northerners in general for freeing the slaves and winning the Civil War, and wanted absolutely nothing to do with Lincoln’s political party. However, to claim that racist and pro-slavery sentiment stayed with the Democratic Party, and that the Confederacy no longer has any hold over the now overwhelmingly Republican American South, is blatantly dishonest. The shift in the parties that led to Southern Whites abandoning the Democratic Party and becoming Republicans is a documented historical fact.

The American South’s transition from the Democratic to the Republican Party began in earnest with Southerner’s response to Eleanor Roosevelt’s efforts to promote Civil Rights. One of the most well known of Roosevelt’s efforts had to do with singer Marian Anderson’s performance from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, DC. After the group the Daughters of the American Revolution declared that Anderson could not perform at Constitution Hall, due to a “whites only” policy for performers, Roosevelt resigned her membership in the DAR, and put all of her resources as first lady to helping secure the National Mall for Anderson’s performance. Roosevelt also sought to use her influence as First Lady to bring an end to the practice of lynching, and is alleged to have played a key role in convincing Harry Truman to take his great step towards promoting Civil Rights.

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