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The Political Party Problem |
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The change in the Republican Party attitude toward black Americans that occurred in the late 1870s was an important event in the history of civil rights in the United States. It marked the beginning of a long period of time in which the interests of black Americans were made secondary to the needs of the two major political parties to win national elections. Time and again over the following 90 years, both the Republican and Democratic parties would sacrifice civil rights programs and civil rights bills on the altar of "not losing white votes" in the next election. This situation was exacerbated, of course, by the fact that, after the 1890s, southern whites were eligible to vote but most southern blacks were barred from voting by poll taxes, literacy tests, and "white-only" primary elections.
Thus black Americans were faced with what could be called the "political party problem." The political power to pass civil rights laws rested with the two major political parties - the Republicans and the Democrats - but both parties had more to gain by appealing to the votes of enfranchised segregationist southern whites rather than the non-votes of disenfranchised southern blacks.
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