Democratic Party’s Transformation from Jim Crow Advocacy to Racial Inclusion

• In Event: Poster Session: Political Organizations and Parties

Abstract

This paper delves into the intriguing question of why political parties undergo radical shifts in their political commitments and priorities, focusing on the remarkable transformation of the Democratic Party from a staunch advocate of the Jim Crow order and Southern sectional interests to a dedicated champion of racial inclusion and enfranchisement in a short period of time spanning from the late 1930s to the mid-1960s. Contrary to prevailing explanations centered on rational electoral calculations, Cold War geopolitics, and Civil Rights Movement pressures, this study explores the remaking of the Democratic Party identity through an examination of American liberalism's evolution, the rise of Northern liberals within the party in the late 1940s, and their take-over of the party in the late 1950s. Initiating in the late 1930s and early 1940s, three pivotal factors converged to set this transformation in motion: a critical juncture marked by a structural shift in America's geopolitical position, the waning legitimacy of the racialist paradigm in intellectual circles, and the intricate ties between American eugenics and the architects of the Nazi regime. This intersection engendered a new political climate, intertwining the issue of race with the nation's regime character and endowing equalitarian ideas with prominence and legitimacy. This transformed climate, coupled with the convergence of Black intellectuals, newspapers, and liberal intellectual pundits in their interpretations of the war, facilitated the evolution of liberalism into a racially conscious ideology. In this context, pushed by the Americans for Democratic Action, Northern liberals emerged as a critical faction within the Democratic Party, achieving the inclusion of a civil rights plank into the Party Manifesto of 1948 for the first time in its history. While the triumph of the liberal faction faced setbacks amid the Red Scare in the early 1950s, the landmark Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954 and the Southern defiance of the Constitutional order further intensified tensions and ideological disagreements within the party to an unsustainable level. This conflict ultimately fueled the liberal groups' determination to fully seize control of the party and prioritize the declaration of minority rights commitments, a goal realized at the 1960 Convention. To trace this transformation, the paper employs discourse analysis on scholarly articles, books, newspaper articles, civil society association papers, and party manifestos. This comprehensive examination sheds light on the intricate processes that propelled the Democratic Party from a stronghold of Jim Crow advocacy to a standard-bearer for racial inclusion and equality.

Author

• Fatih Umit Cetin, Umass Amherst