That's an idiotic thing to believe.
Historically, the Democratic Party in the 19th and early 20th centuries was the primary political vehicle for Southern white supremacy, defending the institution of slavery, opposing civil rights reforms, and implementing Jim Crow segregation laws. While the party's platform and base have shifted significantly to become a champion of civil rights since the mid-20th century, its earlier history includes support for systems that systematically disenfranchised and terrorized African Americans.
Key actions and policies historically associated with the Democratic Party regarding slavery and racism include:
- Defense of Slavery (Pre-Civil War): During the 1840s and 1850s, the Democratic Party was heavily supported by Southern slaveholders and generally protected the "peculiar institution". The 1856 Democratic platform explicitly supported the Fugitive Slave Act and opposed interference with slavery.
- Expansion of Slavery: Southern Democrats spearheaded efforts to expand slavery into Western territories. In 1854, Democrat-controlled Congress passed the Kansas-Nebraska Act, which repealed the ban on slavery north of the 36°30′ line, leading to the "Bleeding Kansas" conflicts.
- Opposition to Reconstruction: Following the Civil War, white Southern Democrats, often referred to as "Redeemers," violently opposed Republican-led Reconstruction efforts aimed at protecting the rights of freed slaves.
- Founding of the Ku Klux Klan: During Reconstruction, Southern Democrats aligned with white supremacist paramilitary groups—including the KKK and the Red Shirts—which were considered the "military arm of the Democratic Party". These groups used terror, lynching, and murder to prevent Black people from voting.
- Implementation of Jim Crow Laws: After reclaiming control of Southern state legislatures in the late 1870s, Democrats enacted "Jim Crow" laws that legalized segregation in schools, public facilities, and transportation, reducing Black Americans to second-class citizens.
- Voter Disenfranchisement: Southern Democrats implemented poll taxes, literacy tests, and "grandfather clauses" to systematically strip African Americans of the right to vote.
- Wilmington Coup and Massacre (1898): In North Carolina, Democrats led a violent, premeditated campaign to overthrow the multiracial Fusionist government, killing as many as 60 Black people and permanently disenfranchising Black citizens.
- Federal Segregation (Wilson Administration): In 1913, Democratic President Woodrow Wilson segregated the federal workforce, which had previously been integrated, moving African American employees into inferior working conditions.
- Blocking Federal Anti-Lynching Legislation: Throughout the 1930s, the "Solid South" Democratic bloc in Congress used filibusters to block federal legislation against lynching.
It is important to note that the party underwent a realignment over several decades, starting with the New Deal in the 1930s and culminating in the 1960s, when Democratic presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson pushed for civil rights legislation.
