Changes

After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow.  The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and it ended in practice in the 1970s.<ref>Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The  Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006)</ref>  The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal school segregation, which continued in large cities. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of liberal northern Democrats and conservative Northern Republicans, pushed Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which used the [[Commerce Clause]] to end Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation.<ref name="Short History"/> In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.

After 1945, the Civil Rights movement gained momentum and used federal courts to attack Jim Crow.  The Supreme Court declared legal, or ''de jure'', public school segregation unconstitutional in 1954, and it ended in practice in the 1970s.<ref>Michael J. Klarman, ''From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The  Supreme Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality'' (2006)</ref>  The court ruling did not stop ''de facto'' or informal school segregation, which continued in large cities. President [[Lyndon B. Johnson]], building a coalition of liberal northern Democrats and conservative Northern Republicans, pushed Congress to pass the [[Civil Rights Act of 1964]] which used the [[Commerce Clause]] to end Jim Crow laws that segregated restaurants, hotels and theatres; these facilities (with rare exceptions) immediately dropped racial segregation.<ref name="Short History"/> In 1965 the federal [[Voting Rights Act]] ended discrimination in voting for all federal, state and local elections.

Since the 1960s, there has been large population growth and prosperity in the South compared to the U.S. as a whole,<ref name="About.com">[http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/sunbelt.htm Sunbelt]. ''About.com''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia.com">[http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/united-states-and-canada/miscellaneous-us-geography/sun-belt Sun Belt]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref> and the South's population grew 36 percent from 1970 to 1990.<ref name="EncycB">[https://www.britannica.com/place/Sun-Belt Sun Belt]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref> Many retirees moved to the South due to the warm climate and the development of [[air conditioning]], which made living more bearable in the humid summers.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="EncycB"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/> Many businesses relocated to the South, among other reasons, because of the pro-business policies of the Southern states, including [[right to work]] legislation, and the fact that [[labor union]]s were not strong there.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/> The South prospered and experienced large population growth, even as the other regions, such as the [[Rust Belt]], declined.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/> Much of the South is part of the [[Sun Belt]].<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="EncycB"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/>

Since the 1960s, there has been large population growth and prosperity in the South compared to the U.S. as a whole,<ref name="About.com">[http://geography.about.com/od/specificplacesofinterest/a/sunbelt.htm Sunbelt]. ''About.com''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref><ref name="Encyclopedia.com">[http://www.encyclopedia.com/places/united-states-and-canada/miscellaneous-us-geography/sun-belt Sun Belt]. ''Encyclopedia.com''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref> and the South's population grew 36 percent from 1970 to 1990.<ref name="EncycB">[https://www.britannica.com/place/Sun-Belt Sun Belt]. ''Encyclopedia Britannica''. Retrieved October 9, 2016.</ref> Many retirees moved to the South due to the warm climate and the development of [[air conditioning]], which made living more bearable in the humid summers.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/><ref name="EncycB"/> Many businesses relocated to the South, among other reasons, because of the pro-business policies of the Southern states, including [[right to work]] legislation, and the fact that [[labor union]]s were not strong there.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/> The South prospered and experienced large population growth, even as the other regions, such as the [[Rust Belt]], declined.<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/> Much of the South is part of the [[Sun Belt]].<ref name="About.com"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/><ref name="EncycB"/>

"Southern culture and values became influential" during this time throughout the entire U.S.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/>

"Southern culture and values became influential" during this time throughout the entire U.S.<ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/>

As the economy of the South prospered, its politics also shifted to the business-friendly and socially conservative Republican Party as the already liberal Democrats became more and more [[leftist]] (See "Politics" section below for more detail).<ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/><ref name="Short History"/>

As the economy of the South prospered, its politics also shifted to the business-friendly and socially conservative Republican Party as the already liberal Democrats became more and more [[leftist]] (See "Politics" section below for more detail).<ref name="Short History"/><ref name="Encyclopedia.com"/>

==Politics==

==Politics==

While the majority of political scientists believe that the shift of the South to the Republican Party began in the 1960s, there is evidence that it really began in the 1920s and the 1950s.<ref name="SeanTrende"/> Elections Analyst Sean Trende explains, "the inescapable truth is that the GOP was making its greatest gains in the South while it was also pushing a pro-civil rights agenda nationally. What was really driving the GOP at this time was economic development. As Southern cities continued to develop and sprout suburbs, Southern exceptionalism was eroded; Southern whites simply became wealthy enough to start voting Republican."<ref name="SeanTrende">Trande, Sean (April 30, 2013).[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/04/30/southern_whites_shift_to_the_gop_predates_the_60s_118172.html Southern Whites' Shift to the GOP Predates the '60s]. ''Real Clear Politics''. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref>  

While the majority of political scientists believe that the shift of the South to the Republican Party began in the 1960s, there is evidence that it really began in the 1920s and the 1950s.<ref name="SeanTrende"/> Elections Analyst Sean Trende explains, "the inescapable truth is that the GOP was making its greatest gains in the South while it was also pushing a pro-civil rights agenda nationally. What was really driving the GOP at this time was economic development. As Southern cities continued to develop and sprout suburbs, Southern exceptionalism was eroded; Southern whites simply became wealthy enough to start voting Republican."<ref name="SeanTrende">Trande, Sean (April 30, 2013).[http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/04/30/southern_whites_shift_to_the_gop_predates_the_60s_118172.html Southern Whites' Shift to the GOP Predates the '60s]. ''Real Clear Politics''. Retrieved September 9, 2016.</ref>  

Republican inroads into the South may be what prompted Lyndon Johnson to throw off 100 years of a racist tradition which was weakening and had been the driving force binding Southern Democrats together. As part of this, the Democrats, knowing they would never win another election if they continued with overt racism and its derived policies, changed strategies by adopting a more subtle and subversive form of racism against blacks and manipulating them into voting Democrat (as admitted by LBJ himself, who was recorded as saying "I'll have those n*****s voting Democratic for the next 200 years")<ref>Ronald Kessler,[https://www.amazon.com/Inside-White-House-Kessler/dp/1433244985 Inside the White House: The Hidden Lives of the Modern Presidents and the Secrets of the World's Most Powerful Institution], Pocket Books, 1995, p. 33 </ref> by making them dependent on government, instituting programs to drive up illiteracy and destroy the black family structure (including through the "legalization" of [[abortion]] via [[Roe v. Wade]]) and turning Democrat-controlled cities into deteriorating slums infested by crime and drugs while falsely taking credit for the Republicans' civil rights advances and falsely accusing anyone opposed to the Democrats' corrupt schemes to undermine blacks of "racism".<ref name="Short History"/>

Republican inroads into the South may be what prompted Lyndon Johnson to throw off 100 years of a racist tradition which was weakening and had been the driving force binding Southern Democrats together. As part of this, the Democrats, knowing they would never win another election if they continued with overt racism and its derived policies, changed strategies by adopting a more subtle and subversive form of racism against blacks and manipulating them into voting Democrat (as admitted by LBJ himself, who was recorded as saying "I'll have those n*****s voting Democratic for the next 200 years")<ref>Ronald Kessler,[https://www.amazon.com/Inside-White-House-Kessler/dp/1433244985 Inside the White House: The Hidden Lives of the Modern Presidents and the Secrets of the World's Most Powerful Institution], Pocket Books, 1995, p. 33</ref> by making them dependent on government, instituting programs to drive up illiteracy and destroy the black family structure (including through the "legalization" of [[abortion]] via [[Roe v. Wade]]) and turning Democrat-controlled cities into deteriorating slums infested by crime and drugs while falsely taking credit for the Republicans' civil rights advances and falsely accusing anyone opposed to the Democrats' corrupt schemes to undermine blacks of "racism".<ref name="Short History"/>

    

    

====1964 to 1992====

====1964 to 1992====