By Michael Davidow

After President Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he predicted that Democrats would lose the South for one generation. History showed a much longer shift, spanning three generations and continuing today.

Johnson, from Texas, grasped these regional realities. The South stayed loyal to Democrats largely because of the Civil War. Republicans from the North claimed victory and its gains in banks, railroads, and factories. This divide explains lingering tastes, with Democrats often preferring bourbon and Republicans favoring Scotch.

New York Republicans embodied the city's elite power. New immigrants found their place instead with Democrats, leading the Irish to dominate Tammany Hall. Southern Protestant farmers and northern Catholic workers shared little beyond frustration with the wealthy. The Great Depression then pulled in progressives, reformers, and new ethnic groups. Will Rogers captured the chaos by saying he was a Democrat since he avoided organized parties.

Through the 1930s, black Americans still leaned Republican, the historic party of civil rights. Tom Dewey, Nixon's early guide, hired black officials first. Hubert Humphrey later pushed similar steps in Minneapolis. Johnson shattered that old order, Nixon used the pieces, and the result was a Republican South often tied to racial appeals alongside a Democratic North built on black voter support.

Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act in 1965 to protect southern black voting power from his own party. The fix created majority-black districts that secured some wins but reduced influence elsewhere. Republicans backed the approach when it helped them.

The Supreme Court recently struck down key parts of that law in Louisiana v. Callais. The conservative majority argued that race relations have advanced enough since 1965 to drop racial factors in district maps. Southern states now move quickly to erase those safe black seats, cutting black political strength. The ruling aids Republicans facing weak polls during Donald Trump's challenges and will shape elections for years ahead.

Politics has always tilted one way or another. Law follows power, and outcomes favor different sides over time. The game stays rough.

Robert Kennedy stood out for his focus on working people in every region. He liked to quote Dante on government limits, noting that justice weighs cold-blooded sins and warm-hearted ones on separate scales.

DEI programs stretched too far lately, turning into self-parody and doing real damage. Yet the claim that America no longer needs remedies for past denials remains a pleasant story. Policy cannot rest on such hopes.

The world the Supreme Court describes does not match the one most people see. It must feel comfortable there.