This is an item of faith among the Left, that Republicans became racist for courting the working class White vote in the South starting in the 60s. As with many items of Leftist conventional “wisdom”, it is pure crap.
Two articles for you:
The Dixiecrat Myth
http://www.black-and-right.com/2010/03/19/the-dixiecrat-myth/
Urban Legends: The Dixiecrats and The GOP
http://www.freedomsjournal.net/2011/10/22/urban-legends-the-dixiecrats-and-the-gop/
The first article references FReeper LS, aka history professor Larry Schweikart.
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