John Avlon comments on the Republican Party's increasingly monolithic complexion and reminds us that this was not always the case. The GOP was once the party of diversity and civil rights and many provided many minority groups their first opportunity to get elected to office. He speculates on what happened.
When we discuss political parties, we do the same. Both our major political parties went through major changes during the civil rights era in the 1960s - notably the consequence of the decision of a Texas Democrat to support the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Each saw opportunity in pilfering identifiers from the other. What has emerged is a diverse Democratic Party and a relatively Anglo Republican Party.
Avlon's article allows us to look at this a bit early.
