The ole' switcheroo

"The Republican and Democrat parties switched."

I'm hearing this less. What worries me is that I'm probably not hearing it much because it has become an accepted fact (even though it's not true, but we'll get into that). So, I've already asked about the racist Senator Robert Byrd, elected continuously by the Democrats of West Virginia from 1950 until his death in 2010. I can't get anyone to point out when he or, more importantly, when his constituents switched parties.

So I'm going to ask the same of the southern states. In the South, there are many cities which are currently Democrat strongholds. These cities are unlikely to vote in anything other than Democrat mayors. So, if the party switch theory holds true, then these cities must have had Republican mayors during the time of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Right? And if not then, surely the Republicans had the run of the place after the Civil War ended in 1865. Right? Surely there isn't an unbroken string of "racist-Democrats" in the racist-South up until modern day.

At some point, the constituency voted in the "non-racist-Republicans" who eventually transformed into the "non-racist-Democrats" of today.

Right?

Wrong.

Atlanta:
From 1855 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of Atlanta was Republican (1871-1872 & 1877-1879).
157 years Democrat - 5 years Republican

New Orleans:
From 1866 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of New Orleans was Republican (1867-1868 & 1870-1872).
146 years Democrat - 5 years Republican

Washington D.C.:
From 1910 until today, there have been zero terms where the mayor of Washington D.C. was Republican.
During a period from 1878-1967, the "mayor" was a Board of Commissioners appointed by the President of the United States. The president of the Board, elected by the Board, served as the city's Chief Executive, acting essentially as a "mayor". In all that time, there were only three Republicans who served as the president of the Board.
107 years Democrat

Richmond, VA:
Since 1840 until today, there have been two terms where the mayor of Richmond was Republican (1868-1870 & 1988-1990).
171 years Democrat - 6 years Republican

Trying to pinpoint the "party switch"

The theory goes something like this:
"The Democrats used to be racist. But they switched parties, and now the Republicans are racist."

Ok. When?

When did this happen? I realize that these things would necessarily happen over time, but when did the racists migrate from the Democrat party to the Republican party?

Take, for example, a well-known Democrat who was part of the KKK and the "racist" Democrats before the alleged "switch". Robert Byrd has held continuous national public office for the state of West Virginia from 1952 until his death in 2010. If Robert Byrd "switched" on racism, but never switched parties, how is that possible?

We can assume that a single man might have a eureka moment in which he suddenly and completely switches beliefs about a subject like racism. But can a whole state, like West Virginia, switch at the same moment?

And when did the entire state make that "switch"? Here's a short history of Robert Byrd's political and racial history. Tell me when you think the entire state of West Virginia changed on racism.

• Formed a new chapter of the Ku Klux Klan, early 1940's
• "Kleagle" for the KKK, 1943
• Wrote a letter stating, Byrd "shall never fight in the armed forces with a negro by my side." 1945
• Wrote a letter to a KKK "Grand Wizard", 1946.
• When running for office, Byrd lied and said he quit the KKK "after about a year", 1952.
• West Virginia's 6th congressional district, 1952:
• Robert Byrd (D) - 104,387 (55.58%)
• West Virginia's 6th congressional district, 1954:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 73,535 (62.73%)
• West Virginia's 6th congressional district, 1956:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 99,854 (57.40%)
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1958:
• Robert Byrd (D) - 381,745 (59.19%)
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1964:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 515,015 (67.67%)
• Byrd personally filibustered for 14 hours against the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
• Voted against Thurgood Marshall's Supreme Court nomination, 1967
• Byrd "indicated it was time that [Martin Luther King, Jr.] 'met his Waterloo'" to the FBI, 1968, just months before MLK was assassinated.
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1970:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 345,965 (77.64%)
• Byrd was the Majority Whip, 1971-1977
• West Virginia United States Senate elections, 1976:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 566,359 (100.00%)
• Byrd was the Majority Leader, 1977-1981
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1982:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 387,170 (68.49%)
• Byrd was the Majority Leader, 1987-1989
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1988:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 410,983 (64.77%)
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 1989
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 1991
• Voted against Clarence Thomas's Supreme Court nomination, 1991
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 1993
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 1994:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 290,495 (69.01%)
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 2000:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 469,215 (77.75%)
• Byrd refers to what he called "white niggers" on national television, 2001
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 2001
• West Virginia United States Senate election, 2006:
• Robert Byrd (D) (inc.) - 291,058 (64.41%)
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 2007
• President pro tempore of the United States Senate, 2009

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source:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electoral_history_of_Robert_Byrd
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_pf.html
http://www.frumforum.com/remembering-robert-byrds-racism/

Blog-Repost: Republicans and Democrats Did Not Switch Sides On Racism

As a result of unrelenting efforts by Democrats to shift their racist past onto the backs of Republicans, using the mantra: "the parties switched sides", a lot of people have requested an article addressing this issue.

It does not make sense to believe that racist Democrats suddenly rushed into the Republican Party, especially after Republicans spent nearly 150 years fighting for black civil rights. In fact, the racist Democrats declared they would rather vote for a "yellow dog" than a Republican because the Republican Party was known as the party for blacks.

From the time of its inception in 1854 as the anti-slavery party, the Republican Party has always been the party of freedom and equality for blacks. As author Michael Scheuer wrote, the Democratic Party is the party of the four S's: slavery, secession, segregation and now socialism. Democrats have been running black communities for the past 50+ years, and the socialist policies of the Democrats have turned those communities into economic and social wastelands.

Flip the "switch"

A history of legislation, the Republican party, and racism:

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Republican party was founded in 1854 as the anti-slavery party.
Ku Klux Klan was founded in 1866 as a pro-slavery, pro-segregation, and white power organization. (Coincidence?)

Founded in 1866, the Ku Klux Klan (KKK) extended into almost every southern state by 1870 and became a vehicle for white southern resistance to the Republican Party’s Reconstruction-era policies aimed at establishing political and economic equality for blacks. - History Channel

The Dred Scott decision was in 1857. President-elect Buchanan (a Democrat) wrote to Supreme Court Justice John Catron (a Democrat) about settling the case before his inauguration. Chief Justice Taney (also a Democrat) delivered the Court's opinion that a slave could not be a citizen of the United States.

The Republican Abraham Lincoln was elected President in 1861.

Switching the narative

I just want ANYONE to answer me this.

When former KKK member and Exalted Cyclops, Robert Byrd, who wrote a friendly letter to the Grand Wizard of the KKK in 1946, was first elected in 1950 to the West Virginia Senate as a Democrat, had he "switched sides"?

When he was elected to the US House of Representatives in 1953 as a Democrat, had he "switched sides"?

When he was elected to the US Senate in 1959 as a Democrat, had he "switched sides"?

When he filibustered against the Civil Rights Act of 1964 for 14 hours as a Democrat, had he "switched sides"?

In his filibuster, he said, "Men are not created equal today, and they were not created equal in 1776, when the Declaration of Independence was written." Had he "switched sides"?

When he remained in office, re-elected continuously from 1959 to 2010, when at age 92 he died, each time being re-elected by the same Democrats of West Virginia who first elected him sixty years prior, had he "switched sides"?

And the more important question is, when did the people who elected him "switch sides"? Democrats have controlled the WV state Congress since 1931 until 2014, four years after Byrd's death. Democrats have since 1933 until today (2016) held the Governorship of West Virginia 67 of 83 those years. In which year did they "switch sides"?

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source:
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/explainer/2010/06/what_does_an_exalted_cyclops_do.html
http://capitalismmagazine.com/2001/03/democratic-sen-robert-byrd-ex-klansman/
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/06/18/AR2005061801105_3.html
http://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/756
https://www.archives.gov/legislative/features/byrd/
http://host.madison.com/ct/news/article_bea0ee78-82a8-11df-8e4d-001cc4c03286.html
http://www.cnn.com/2010/POLITICS/06/28/obit.byrd/
http://wvmetronews.com/2014/11/04/gop-makes-historic-gains-in-state-legislature/
http://www.nga.org/cms/home/governors/past-governors-bios/page_west_virginia.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Governors_of_West_Virginia