Red/Blue States Vs. Free/Slave States

[patric]

The core of today's Republican Party consists of the states that seceded from the United States and formed the Confederate States of America.
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/10/slave_states_vs_free_states_2012/



Every now and then someone highlights the overlap between today's Republican states and the slave states of the former Confederacy.   As clichéd as the point may be, it remains indispensable to understanding what is happening in American politics today:
http://www.salon.com/2012/10/10/slave_states_vs_free_states_2012

The geographic divide is interesting, but I don't necessarily agree with much of the authors analysis of "covert racism."  If anything, I have felt racism to be very prevalent in some northern regions that don't have substantial black populations.

[heironymouspasparagus]

The geographic divide is interesting, but I don't necessarily agree with much of the authors analysis of "covert racism."  If anything, I have felt racism to be very prevalent in some northern regions that don't have substantial black populations.

And many that do.  The north has always had as much racism as the south - quite possibly (probably?) more.

[Ed W]

I saw this cartogram that depicts states according to their population rather than their area.  This one is from the 2008 election.  I wouldn't go so far as to say that the red/blue division follows the north/south division of the Civil War because it's obvious that the Democrats are making inroads in the south, while the Republicans have solid control of the west and mid-west.  Most of those were not states during the war.

Historically, the south belonged to the Democrats up until the Civil Rights era.  Southerners viewed the Republicans as the party of Lincoln, and we know how that turned out.