July 15, 2012 by David K. Sutton
Chris Hayes: The basic reality of American politics
The “black vote” isn’t overwhelmingly Democratic because they are biased. It’s not blacks who are the problem in this equation, it’s the Republican Party that is the problem. There was a time when blacks did vote Republican in large numbers, but that was before the civil rights movement that was embraced by the Democratic Party, the party that had been the party of many southern white racists. This is the reason the south shifted from blue to red. The south used to be where Democrats could expect to win votes but now the south is where Republicans are in control, and the reason is the civil rights movement. White racists left the Democratic Party and they joined the Republican Party which apparently welcomed them with open arms.
from Chris Hayes:
The basic reality of American politics to me…in the post civil rights era…you have to choose as a political party whether you are going to have black voters or the white racist vote. And you can’t have a coalition that has them both together. I mean, that’s just the reality of American politics, I’m sure people will be offended by that. And I just want to be clear, I’m not saying that all Republicans are white racists, I’m saying that the white racist vote is going to go to one side and the black vote is going to go for the other. Because why would you have a political coalition that had both of those elements in them?
