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→U.S. House of Representatives
In addition to his powerful civil rights advocacy, De Priest was a [[conservative]] who opposed the [[New Deal]] as socialistic and believed in initiatives at the local and state level rather than at the federal level.<ref name=fascinatingpolitics/> He furthermore advocated for investigating the [[Communist Party]] and its subversive efforts. Some civil rights activists who praised his advocacy for fellow blacks would oppose his economic viewpoints, and De Priest lost election in the 1934 midterms to Republican-turned-Democrat Arthur W. Mitchell.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=262689 IL District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1934]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved July 24, 2021.</ref> a black [[liberal]] who supported the New Deal. This marked the first phase of political realignment of Northern black voters from Republican to Democrat, which despite left-wing misconceptions, was largely motivated ultimately on the basis of economics rather than racial issues.<ref>[https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/ Party Realignment And The New Deal]. ''US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives''. Retrieved July 24, 2021.</ref>
In addition to his powerful civil rights advocacy, De Priest was a [[conservative]] who opposed the [[New Deal]] as socialistic and believed in initiatives at the local and state level rather than at the federal level.<ref name=fascinatingpolitics/> He furthermore advocated for investigating the [[Communist Party]] and its subversive efforts. Some civil rights activists who praised his advocacy for fellow blacks would oppose his economic viewpoints, and De Priest lost election in the 1934 midterms to Republican-turned-Democrat Arthur W. Mitchell.<ref>[https://www.ourcampaigns.com/RaceDetail.html?RaceID=262689 IL District 1 Race - Nov 06, 1934]. ''Our Campaigns''. Retrieved July 24, 2021.</ref> a black [[liberal]] who supported the New Deal. This marked the first phase of political realignment of Northern black voters from Republican to Democrat, which despite left-wing misconceptions, was largely motivated ultimately on the basis of economics rather than racial issues.<ref>[https://history.house.gov/Exhibitions-and-Publications/BAIC/Historical-Essays/Keeping-the-Faith/Party-Realignment--New-Deal/ Party Realignment And The New Deal]. ''US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives''. Retrieved July 24, 2021.</ref>
===New Deal segregation===
In 1933, the Democrats won an overwhelming majority in the House, picking up 97 seats, bringing the total to 313. On the Republican side De Priest was re-elected. The Democrats changed the House Rules to conform with their wishes. The Democratic chairman of the new Congress' Committee on Accounts, Rep. Lindsay Warren, ordered a De Priest staffer and his son to be thrown out of the House's whites-only cafeteria. There was a separate facility for blacks in the basement. De Priest introduced a resolution calling for an investigation. On the House floor, De Priest refuted Warren's claim that African-Americans had always been banned from the restaurant, recalling that he and other black patrons had frequented the House cafeteria. De Priest implored his colleagues to support the resolution, remarking, {{quotebox-float|“If we allow segregation and the denial of constitutional rights under the Dome of the Capitol, where in God’s name will we get them? If we allow this challenge to go without correcting it, it will set an example where people will say Congress itself approves of segregation.”<ref>https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/D/DE-PRIEST,-Oscar-Stanton-(D000263)/</ref>}}
The effort to desegregate the Democrat-controlled House cafeteria was defeated. Civil rights were not on the party agenda. FDR always opposed the federal [[anti-lynching law]].
==See also==
==See also==