Subject: Re: Reagan Racist
But of course what you quote says it was all done for political expediency.

Because it was. That's historical fact. It just happens to partially wreck the narrative you all have been pushing.

This isn't fun pointing this out to you, it's all a partisan game to you.

As it is to you, evidently.

So LBJ was a product of his Texas time, and spoka dat lingo that all the segregationist/bigots knew back then. It looks like he's appealing to the bad part of Russel's character to pass a bill, and failed at that point because it got destroyed in committee. I know this observation will be lost on you. I wish we had a good US historian here to learn from.

No, you're handwaving away LBJ's racist history something fierce. With this statement you're attempting to play to the Appeal To Authority card hoping that some "expert" (that conveniently agrees with you) shows up to bail you out. Not going to happen; you need to make arguments that stand on their own.

The great thing about history is that...it is. All the facts are there, the stories are out there. One merely needs the courage to go out and confront some uncomfortable truths about one's beliefs.
You've been shown in this thread that your assumptions about the Republican party were based on incorrect information and that in reality if you really want to fault a modern political party for racist tactics you really ought to be looking in the other direction.

The US has a mixed history. We've done a lot of good in the world, we've done our share of harm in the world. More harm than some, but not as much as others. We're not perfect and we have a ways to go, but guess what?

We're still the best place on Earth.