When Jackie Robinson Attended The 1964 Republican National Convention

Racism Was On The Agenda

Photo by Caitland Conner at Unsplash

Before Black voters got criticized for being on the “Democratic Plantation, they used to vote almost exclusively for the Republican Party. Republicans were the Party of Lincoln; they were responsible for abolishing enslavement (though they varied about what to do with the freedmen). Republicans pushed through the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments, which abolished enslavement, made Black people citizens and gave Black men the right to vote (most women got the right to vote in 1920). The Democratic Party was home to the KKK; Democrats, especially in the South, promoted voter suppression (including lynchings), segregation, and all forms of discrimination. It seemed like Black voters would always vote Republican until they didn’t.

It started with the “New Deal,” when Black people actually received the benefits the rest of the public received. Black people couldn’t get FHA loans or VA loans, and Jim Crow was the law of the land. Democrat Franklin D. Rooseve…