At some point in the 20th century the Republican and Democratic parties flipped, in terms of which geographical and ideological blocks they represented. Most people point to the Civil Rights Act, with D's were in favor of and R's were against, as well as Nixon's Southern Strategy, as an explicit turning point, but it was already gradually underway in decades before and after. The inertia and old boys networks lasted well into the 90s and early 00s before the realignment fully played out.
But in the modern day you see revisionist history insisting that no such realignment ever occurred, and that the R's are the same "Party of Lincoln" they always were. Enter news stories such as this one. If you aren't sure that a realignment took place, ask which movement in the present day regularly celebrates and defends and invokes that iconography of the confederate south, and tries to defend and preserve historical artifacts that celebrate the confederate south while removing those that criticize it.
If the history of the 20th century wasn't already clear, I think even just the last 5-10 years, and especially this year, 2025, give all kinds of new evidence demonstrating that the realignment really happened.
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[ 6.0 ms ] story [ 16.2 ms ] threadBut in the modern day you see revisionist history insisting that no such realignment ever occurred, and that the R's are the same "Party of Lincoln" they always were. Enter news stories such as this one. If you aren't sure that a realignment took place, ask which movement in the present day regularly celebrates and defends and invokes that iconography of the confederate south, and tries to defend and preserve historical artifacts that celebrate the confederate south while removing those that criticize it.
If the history of the 20th century wasn't already clear, I think even just the last 5-10 years, and especially this year, 2025, give all kinds of new evidence demonstrating that the realignment really happened.