Those who DO know history realize that quite some time ago all the racist Dixiecrats from the South who were in the Dem Party moved to the Repub Party, beginning in the 1970s. Needless, to say, their racist followers among the voters, also moved with them to the Repub Party, including some from Northern States as well. Those racists became the base of the Repub Party, and that is why the Repub pols now act as defenders of the Confederacy that fought the civil war against the Northern States. What a difference 150 odd years can make.