Traditional Southerners Are to Republicans What Black Americans Are to Democrats

It is not controversial to say that the Democratic Party takes the black vote for granted. What many don’t yet recognize is that the Republican Party does the same thing with the Southern conservative or traditionalist.

The “traditional” Southerner was most often born and raised in the South. They have a strong connection with land, their heritage, and ancestors. A sizable proportion have served in the military like their fathers, uncles, and grandfathers. Most are socially conservative Christians. History is more than a subject to be studied in school. It informs their worldview. Most would agree that the Federal Government is too large and powerful.

If the generalization is only half correct, it is easy to see how the Republicans no longer represent this constituency. The party accepts big government as necessary and foreign entanglements are lately its specialty. Like a few other segments of the population, the traditional Southerner has been paying attention.

Many who served in the Afghanistan and Iraq wars did so out of patriotism and belief in the mission. They were serious and sacrificed much. Now their heritage is toxic. The country moved on and did not keep promises that many saw as personal. In their heritage honor is paramount, and in the end, the United States was not honorable.

The Federal Government’s response to the pandemic confirmed what these Southerners already suspected. Given any opportunity, the leaders in the central government will curtail rights, lie, and coerce the population to secure more money and power. Some Southern state governors did an admirable job resisting the encroachment, but on a national level there was little difference from the Democrats.

The Republican party is complicit in the destruction and lambasting of Southern and Confederate history. Republicans voted with Democrats to override President Trump’s veto establishing the Naming Commission hell bent on ridding the military of any vestige of the Confederacy. Most Republican senators and representatives have not challenged the planned destruction of the Confederate Memorial in Arlington National Cemetery.

Both the Democrat and Republican parties ignore blacks and traditional Southerners for different reasons. Blacks are seen as never moving in large numbers to the Republican Party so both parties can effectively ignore them. Republicans know that traditional Southerners would find it difficult to vote for a current Democrat so there is little reason to act on their concerns. Democrats have made it clear they don’t want them.