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| Southern Democrats Convention At The Birmingham Municipal Auditorium. Photograph by Marion Johnson, the Atlanta Constitution |
July 14-17, 1948, President Harry
Truman took to the podium at the National Democratic Party Convention in Philadelphia
and delivered a speech that marked a sea change in the Democratic Party and set
a direction for the future. Truman spoke passionately about Civil Rights and
the need to make America a nation of real equality.
The Democrats of the South didn’t
like it. They didn’t like the inclusion of a party plank calling for Civil
Rights changes. They had met on their own to decide to walk out of
the convention during the state roll call to make their point. So, on July 14 when the party
began delegate roll call most of the Alabama delegation turned and walked off
the floor. When the roll call reached M, Mississippi delegates all walked out. These
were people committed to keeping segregation in place and enforcing Jim Crow. This angered some of the
high party bosses who were already concerned that Truman was vulnerable. These
men saw little hope in a win for Truman without the Southern states in the
pocket as they had been for decades. Regardless, the party had taken a
courageous step forward. On the other hand, the Southern states were determined
to create something that would protect their way of life and something that in
the 1960s would transfer the voting bloc to the Republicans in the “Southern
Strategy” Led by South Carolina Governor Strom
Thurmond and Arkansas Governor Benjamin Travis Laney these
Democrats decided to call themselves the “States Rights Party” They met for
their convention on July 17 in Birmingham, Alabama. While they did not identify
as a real third party the intention was to draw enough votes from Truman and
Republican nominee Thomas Dewey into through the election into the House of Representatives.
Calling themselves “Dixiecrats” the breakaway Southerners nominated Thurmond
as their presidential candidate and Mississippi governor Fielding L. Wright. 6,000 registered Democrats came
to Birmingham to endorse the new segregationist party. This was the main plank
of the party and their hope was by sending the election into the House they
would be able to negotiate to support whichever candidate agreed to the continuance
of segregation. Somewhat surprised by the turnout
for their quickly put-together convention in Birmingham, the party held another
convention in Oklahoma City on August 14. At this convention, they adopted a
very racist platform: “We stand for the segregation of
the races and the racial integrity of each race; the constitutional right to
choose one's associates; to accept private employment without governmental
interference, and to earn one's living in any lawful way. We oppose the
elimination of segregation, the repeal of miscegenation statutes, and the
control of private employment by Federal bureaucrats called for by the misnamed
civil rights program. We favor home rule, local self-government, and a minimum
interference with individual rights.” This platform and campaigns targeting both Truman and Dewey as authoritarians who wanted to end the
Southern way of life. Thurmond was able to win four states and 39 electoral
votes. The Dixiecrat ticket won South Carolina, Alabama, Louisiana, and
Mississippi. These upset wins did take votes from Truman in what would prove to
be one of the closest presidential elections in history. Though he still won he
wasn’t as powerful in the party as most sitting presidents are and so when the
party drifted back some on Civil Rights, he wasn’t able to stop them, still even
with the moral high ground taken from him Truman still ended segregation in the
military and set the tone for the next 20 years.
Sources: https://www.bhamwiki.com/w/1948_States_Rights_Democratic_Party_convention https://data.philly.com/conventions/1948-d.html |
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