Who were the Dixiecrats?
1 answer
The Dixiecrats were a splinter group of conservative Southern Democrats who broke away in 1948 in protest of the Democratic Party's support for civil rights legislation and racial integration. Led by South Carolina Governor Strom Thurmond, the Dixiecrats formed the States' Rights Democratic Party and nominated Thurmond for president in the 1948 election. Their platform was based on segregation and preserving states' rights. Ultimately, Thurmond and the Dixiecrats carried four Southern states in the election, but their influence declined in the following years as the civil rights movement gained momentum.