via The Root:
At his nomination and during the 1964 Republican National Convention, the behavior of Goldwater supporters mirrored Trump supporters, despite being separated by more than 50 years. Several black Republicans recalled an incident in which a Goldwater supporter tried to beat them with a sign while tearing down civil rights banners.
“They call you ‘n--ger,’ push you and step on your feet,” said black Republican George Fleming after deciding to boycott the convention. “I had to leave to keep my self-respect.”
In the most extreme incident, a black Republican’s suit was set on fire. “Keep in your own place,” shouted his attacker. The black Republican’s alleged crime? Protesting the nomination of Goldwater and arguing that his candidacy demonstrated a disregard for black life in the United States.
As baseball legend and black Republican Jackie Robinson once wrote, adopting Goldwater’s brand of conservatism was “political suicide” for the relationship between “Negroes and the Republican Party.” Polls from 1964 found that the vast majority of sincere Goldwater supporters were white, Southern, wealthy men—many of whom identified as Democrats; some supporters explicitly told pollsters that racism and opposition to the 1964 Civil Rights Act was why they joined the Republican Party.
Read the full article HERE.
Read the full article HERE.