[quote author=biscuit1953]I grew up in the old South. [/quote]
That is part of your problem. The "old south" included a wing of racist Democrats that have since gone over to the Republican party. Keep reading.
Every white supremacist or Klansman I ever met or even heard about was a Democrat.
If I assume that your screenname "biscuit1953" indicates your birth year, then you are remembering the old southern wing of the Democratic party, before the Civil Rights Act. Here's the clue: after the Civil Rights Act, the southern racist Democrats left the party and were welcomed by the welcoming arms of the GOP, which is where they have been ever since. This is the GOP's "Southern Strategy".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_Strategy
I'm talking about how things are *today*.
David Duke -
REPUBLICAN
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Duke#1992_Republican_Party_presidential_candidate
Ku Klux Klan Member Elected as
REPUBLICAN Precinct Delegate in Midland, Michigan
http://www.mediamouse.org/news/2008/09/ku-klux-klan-me.php
White supremacist running for sheriff as a
REPUBLICAN in Idaho:
http://www.kxly.com/news/north-idaho-news/White-Separatist-wants-your-vote-for-Bonner-County-Sheriff/-/101230/9580644/-/tp3nc8z/-/index.html
Another white supremacist also running for sheriff as
REPUBLICAN , again in Idaho:
http://www.rightwingwatch.org/category/organizations/aryan-nations
JT Ready, militia leader, white supremacist in Arizona, also running as a
REPUBLICAN :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/J._T._Ready
White supremacist and neo-nazi elected on the
REPUBLICAN ticket in Pennsylvania:
http://usnews.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/06/07/12107097-steve-smith-reputed-white-supremacist-causes-stir-by-winning-election-to-pennsylvania-county-gop-seat?lite
Neo-nazi, Holocaust-denier Arthur Jones (who, incidentally, organizes 'family friendly' celebrations of Hitler's birthday) - running on the
REPUBLICAN ticket in Illinois:
http://oaklawn.patch.com/articles/republican-congressional-candidate-says-holocaust-never-happened
Are you getting the hint yet?
I recall Democratic Senator Byrd from West Virginia was a former Klansman.
And apparently you don't remember his denunciation of those acts. How convenient for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Byrd
Race
Portrait of Byrd as Majority Leader
Late in his life, Byrd explicitly renounced his earlier views favoring racial segregation.[49][50] Byrd said that he regretted filibustering and voting against the Civil Rights Act of 1964[51] and would change it if he had the opportunity. He said joining the KKK was "the greatest mistake I ever made."[49] Byrd also said that his views changed dramatically after his teenage grandson was killed in a 1982 traffic accident, which put him in a deep emotional valley. "The death of my grandson caused me to stop and think," said Byrd, adding he came to realize that black people love their children as much as he does his.[52]
So tell me, biscuit:
Have the neo-nazis and KKK members running as Republicans ever denounced and recanted their views, hmmm?
I remember Al Gore's father who was a Democratic Senator from Tennessee opposing all kinds of civil right legislation.
And again: that was the old southern wing of the Democratic party, prior to the Civil Rights Movement. Once they lost on those grounds, the dissatisfied Democrats left the party and went over to the Republicans.
http://blackhistorycorner.blogspot.com/2012/06/what-made-conservative-southern.html