A conservative family member's lie re: Civil Rights Act of 1964

I don't remember the entire conversation, but this is the snippet I can recall.

Me: "LBJ signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964"
Conservative family member: "At the behest of the Republicans."
Me: "The parties were different back then. Southern-he cuts me off
Him: "Ah, the old excuse. The parties were different. No, they were Republicans and they believed in civil rights for the blacks."

I, unfortunately, don't recall if I destroyed him in the argument. Probably not. :(

If all Repubbies were like he was, there would be a middle ground... the word "bipartisan" wouldn't be such a laughing stock.

I wish they had made themselves in Goldwater's image and not Reagan's.

It all changed with Reagan... talk about a messiah! You can't say squat about him to Pubbies without having your back-end handed to you!

in 1957, 1960, and 1964.

It was over a decade later that he mellowed and changed his mind.

It is true however that the party was far different then and through the 70s. Eisenhower, Goldwater, etc. made fun of and derided the boobs that eventually took the party over, their failure to take them seriously allowed them to destroy this nation.

Like Nixon, Goldwater would today be marginalized in the Democratic Party as being too liberal.

and LBJ was a Democrat!

At the time, I didn't have all my facts fresh in my memory.

And the great Republican icon, Barry Goldwater voted against it.

Once upon a time Republicans believed in Civil Rights for the blacks (black people).

Obviously, that has nothing to do with current events. So, what point was he trying to make?

He thinks the Republican Party has always been this way.

:think:

should have asked for proof of Repugs begging LBJ to sign it ...

The Republicans of back then were country club republicans who no longer form any basis of the current party. The Dixiecrats who formed the basis of the Democrat minority voting against Civil Rights broke away following 1964 and joined the Republican Party (who willingly accepted them) as part of their Southern Strategy. This Southern Strategy has since come to dominate Republican platform and politics, in essence making the Republican party the successor to the bigoted Dixiecrats.

As for the Republicans who did vote for it, they were led by a man who was fighting for his political career and who sought out Democrats on how to do so. So, the "thought" leaders behind 1964 were Democrats, not Republicans. Those same Democrats stayed inside of the Democratic Party and in turn form the core today while the Republicans, as noted above, are not the same and turned to the bigots of 1964 as their party's future.

L-

The "Dixiecrats" were all southern Democrats, and they all opposed the Civil Rights Act. So, in that limited regard, the person you were talking to was right. But he/she fails to recognize the rest of the story. The Dixiecrats were Democrats, but they weren't Democrats like you think of today. They included such liberal luminaries as Strom Thurmond, and as soon as the Civil Rights Act passed, pretty much all the Dixiecrats switched to the Republican Party. So, in order to be 100% factually accurate, Republicans DID opposed the Civil Rights Act. But maybe it would be more accurate if you just said "Conservatives" opposed the Civil Rights Act.

LBJ said when he signed that bill into law that he just delivered the South to the Republican Party for the next 50 years. He didn't know how right he was. Talk about your single-issue voters. They're still voting Republican today based on nothing more than their hatred of minorities and the Party that gave them rights. Really great folks, eh?