The Southern Political Bloc

“What can we do; how can we win?” These questions often permeate exceedingly from the lips of Southerners loyal to their land and people, Dixians that desire the continued existence of their heritage, history, and home. This sentiment carries with it a negative, hopeless connotation that leads one to believe nothing can be done to improve Dixie’s standing during these dark times; however, this is hardly the case. While a plethora of tasks may be undertaken in order improve Dixie’s current state of affairs, the primary focus of this essay is the rebuilding of the old Southern Political Bloc.

The South once utilized its immense power within the Democratic Party to ensure its own will saw enactment within the political sphere, while also being unwavering in its support for the party. The South’s status as an unchanging conservative faction of the Democratic Party gave Dixie the nickname of “The Solid South.” This characteristic of Dixie finds its origins in the conclusion of the War for Southern Independence.

Southerners were rightfully bitter over their loss during the War and resentful of the harsh occupation that followed it. They suffered substantial economic, demographic, and structural loss at the hands of the Federal government and sought to continue resisting its tyranny even after the collapse of the Confederate government, a continuation of the War so to speak. This resistance took the form of various vigilante groups and rifle clubs and ultimately resulted in the passing of the Compromise of 1877. This Compromise pulled the remaining contingents of Union military forces out of the South and restored the control of the government and voting processes of each respective Southern State to White Southerners. These people lacked any impulse or desire to vote for the “Party of Lincoln” due to the brutality of Northern generals and the cruelty of Reconstruction military occupation and began the process of instituting Jim Crow laws to ensure their hold on the political processes.

In the years following, the Democratic Party remained unchallenged south of the Mason Dixon Line with only a few deviations from the norm on occasion. From 1880 to 1944, the states which formerly comprised the Confederacy voted consistently for the Democratic Party during presidential elections, with the exceptions of 1920 and 1928. In 1920, Tennessee voted for the Republican nominee, Warren Harding, with the rest of Dixie voting for James Cox. Additionally in 1928, Arkansas and the Deep South States were the only ones to remain faithful to the Democratic Party, with the rest voting for the Republican nominee. These two instances were the exceptions, not the rule, and had no long term effect on the voting patterns of Southerners. However, the events surrounding and taking place within World War II spelled the beginning of the end of the strength of the Democratic Party within the region.

The Solid South finally began its breakup during the Presidential Election of 1948. The root of this event can be found within the Great Depression. Left wing elements in the North, of previous political movements, began heavily infiltrating and taking control of what was rightfully the Party of the South. While these elements had existed long before the Great Depression, they had only limited success within certain areas, namely large cities and urban centers. The leftist elements of the Democratic Party, ultimately, took control of the reigns with the election of Franklin Delano Roosevelt as president in 1932.

By the time FDR assumed the presidential seat, the South had suffered in extreme poverty for nearly a century; many Southerners had begun to grow weary of this affliction. FDR had promised relief to the poverty, in addition to relieving the poverty the rest of the country had begun to experience at the onset of the Great Depression. FDR’s New Deal, while it sounded promising, betrayed the very Southerners who openly endorsed it. One example being the Tennessee Valley Authority. Furthermore, his administration discriminated heavily against the Cajuns in an attempt to Anglicize them. These betrayals and the socialistic foundation of the New Deal did not sit well with many Southerners and politicians, one such politician being Eugene Talmadge.

As World War II progressed, the communistic elements of the Democratic Party crept more and more into power. This resulted in the passing of the Fair Employment Practices Committee, while Southern men were off fighting the war, opening up more mandatory employment of negroes. Following the death of FDR, Harry Truman succeeded him in the presidency. Truman began the turning of the Democratic Party against its Southern roots. Embracing the radical leftism in the North and the anti-Southern propaganda of the time, Truman began passing numerous Civil Rights laws and establishing committees to deliberately attack his Southern brethren.

As a response, several Southern politicians left the Democratic Party and ran Strom Thurmond on a new States’ Rights Democratic Party, also known as the Dixiecrat Party, ticket during the 1948 Presidential Election. Unfortunately, it only won the Deep South states of Mississippi, Louisiana, South Carolina, and Alabama. This move signaled the beginning of the end of the Solid South. While it took Dixie until the end of the Civil Rights Movement, the South began moving towards the Republican Party as a result of the communist takeover of the Democratic Party at the hands of the North.

In regards to contemporary matters, the South has continued to neglect its own well being within political matters since the Civil Rights Movement. The migration over to the rootless Party of Lincoln crippled the South’s ability to represent itself within the political sphere. Alienating any elements of genuine conservatives and traditionalists, especially of Southern backgrounds and sympathies, such as Mel Bradford opened the floodgates for the GOP to take advantage of Dixie, while also securing its vote. Fortunately, there exists a plethora of genuine, right-wing politicians native to Dixie that could reform a new Southern Political Bloc.

Whereas men like Ross Barnett, Strom Thurmond, Harry Byrd Sr., Lester Maddox, Huey Long, George Wallace, and Leander Perez fought to ensure Southerners maintained control over their own homeland and power within the government, Southern leaders today should work to rebuild the bloc which once ensured our representation within a hostile government, which loathes the Southern People. If Dixians wish to ensure the survival of their people within an antagonistic society, they must be willing to play the long game. Ultimately, the end game of such a political bloc would be the reintroduction and peddling of secessionist sentiments at the upper echelons of society, as well as, the formation of a new political party to represent the South.

A new political party, a Southern Party, would allow the establishment of the framework for a government once Dixie secedes again. A genuine revolution cannot take place and hope to succeed, unless it already has a political vanguard in place; everyone throughout history already had a government in waiting and some sort of political framework that worked within their respect systems so as to work against the system. The Founding Fathers and the Bolsheviks are prime examples of this phenomenon. While Dixie may not have been successful in its own revolution, it did succeed in protecting itself from outsiders following the Compromise of 1877. This is thanks to Southerners controlling their own bloc of the Democratic Party, which for a time was a genuine Southern Party, which allowed their voices to be heard and their will enforced below the Mason Dixon Line.

The South needs these connections again; it needs its own party, or at least a political bloc, once more. The governor of Mississippi, Phil Bryant, declared April Confederate History Month after being attacked for his support of the state’s flag; the governors of Louisiana, Alabama, and Georgia, John Bel Edwards, Kay Ivey, and Brian Kemp respectively, signed in law heavily restrictive anti-abortion bills as of late. Additionally, South Carolina unsuccessfully attempted to pass a state level bill that would have given itself the right to secede should the government begin firearms confiscation. This level of resistance and conservatism exists nowhere else in the country and is reminiscent of the Southern Democrat segregationists of old. These leaders need to reunite with each other and form a new political bloc to protect Southern interests, just as their forbears once did.

Interestingly enough, many of them most likely would embrace the idea should it be presented to them as having a chance. Dixie currently has all it needs to begin the process of separating from the Federal Empire; however, it has neglected this strategy since the 1960s. Should Dixie wish to have a future, it must begin rebuilding its political foundation and ultimately the framework for what will function as its own government within the current federal system and the one it hopes to build for itself someday.