Racism in the American South

Nah, it was that the so-called Solid South thought Lyndon Johnson had sold them out when he pushed through the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and integrated the Little Rock schools, etc.

jespah-

Thank you.

I thought President Eisenhower started the integration of the Little Rock schools.

That's entirely possible - I'm afraid I didn't look it up (sorry). But a lot of the shift is due to Johnson. A lot of local politicians had thought he'd sold out. Truth is, he was a great wheeler-dealer politician. Agree with his views or not, but he got people to do what he wanted them to.

PS I looked up the Little Rock Nine. 1957, so right you are. My apologies for getting that bit wrong.

jespah-

Thank you.

Both the Republicans and the Democrats were moving to less racist positions in the 30's and 40's. Southern Democrats increasingly did not have a home anywhere resulting in the Dixiecrat movement and Strom Thurmond's Presidential run. In the 60's, Goldwater and Nixon moved the Republicans to the "Southern Strategy", appealing to racist Southerners to turn them from the Democratic Party that many felt had abandoned them with the Civil Rights movement. That continued through the 80's, turning the South almost completely Republican.

What is the benefit of the US being one country? It seems like it might be easier if it was broken into 4 or 5 smaller units of like-minded people.

But how would those little countries conspire to crush competitors like Canada?

Any one of them could still be twice the population of Canada.