When Europeans look at the social fabric of the United States, social tensions are noticeable between all sorts of people, yet that seems of minor relevance in comparison to the situation we had in the South-East of the country 60 years ago.
What was the Solid South?
In the past, the South-Eastern states, also known as Dixie states, were the most racist states in the entire country. This also showed politically, as they voted in a completely different way to the rest of the country. At the time, the Democratic Party won most presidential elections, usually getting more than 80% of the popular vote in the Dixie.
How was the Solid South formed?
In the United States, the North was able to industrialise more quickly, whereas the South remained mainly rural. As it was common in the past, the rural states of Delaware, Maryland Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia and later also Kentucky, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Missouri, Arkansas, Louisiana and Texas relied on slaves. Those states were very sceptical of civil rights as they knew that they needed the cheap labour to survive. Even after slavery had been abolished (which the South only conceded after losing a civil war), people of colour were segregated until the 1960s.
How was the Solid South visible?
The solid South is most clearly visible when looking at how civil rights were treated in the various states in history. It was only in the 1950s when schools in states like Arkansas were desegregated (Little Rock Nine); even most of the politicians opposed the idea at the time. It can also be seen by looking at election results: the Solid South was clearly a stronghold of the Democratic Party until at least 1960. For example, below are the counties that voted for John Davis over Calvin Coolidge for president in 1924 in spite of an almost thirty-point-loss:
Why is the Solid South not around anymore?
In 1964, the Democratic president Lyndon B. Johnson passed the Civil Rights Act, thus ending both the tradition of Democrats being opposed to the idea, and legalising the end of segregation in the South. In the presidential election that year, Southerners overwhelmingly voted for the Republican Barry Goldwater over President Johnson. As Goldwater performed poorly otherwise, he clearly lost the election. Four years later, southern Democrats founded the American Independent Party in a last effort to keep segregation in the United States. Its Candidate George Wallace was well-received only in the South, as can be seen in the map below, which shows his vote share in every state:
By 1972, the Democrats had clearly lost the South with some notable exceptions. For example, Jimmy Carter swept the vote in this area and thus became president in 1976. Until 2010, Arkansas refused to elect Republican senators. Today, Democrats find it difficult to win the south though!
By Rath Péter, 6aw
English School Newspaper 