Quote:
Originally Posted by doggin94it
Nixon's Southern Strategy.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_strategy
Republicans in the Nixon era specifically marketed themselves to racists, courting votes from "Negrophobe whites" as the way to win the White House.
The party has long since moved on from that position, but its effects are harder to move on from. A generation of minority voters grew up knowing- because the Republican party came out and said so - that Republicans were not concerned with their interests.
There's no policy or platform, however well thought through, that can quickly overcome that. It will take generations of conspicuous non-racism to move that needle - which is why the left charges republicans with racism almost reflexively; first, because it was true (which makes it hard to trust claims that it no longer is), and second, because even if the Republican party has moved on from that shameful strategy, it's better for the Democrats if minority voters continue to associate Republicans with racism. |
Republicans have supported the building of huge prisons across the country and have put in place legislation locally and Nationally that imposses strict mandatory sentencing that has put those without resources at the mercy of prosecutors across the country.
Our justice system no longer works for those without cash and when people see that the system doesn't provide basic justice and they see it coming from Republicans they reflexively see them as the enemy. Years of the cry Law and order has been felt very harshly in the minority communities across the country.