ELI5: Explain Like I'm 5

Southern Democrats

Okay kiddo, let me tell you about Southern Democrats!

A long time ago, in the United States, there was a group of people called Democrats. Democrats are a political party, which means they believe in different ideas about how to run the country.

The Southern Democrats were a specific group of Democrats who lived in the southern part of the United States. This was a long time ago, before you were born, and the world was a very different place back then.

One thing you need to know is that in the southern states, many people believed in something called "segregation." This means they wanted to keep different groups of people separated, based on things like their skin color. Southern Democrats tended to support this idea of segregation.

The reasons why people believed this varied. Some people thought that it was just the way things had always been, while others thought that different races should be kept separate because they believed one race was better than others.

Regardless of why, many Southern Democrats believed in this idea of segregation, and it was a big part of their political platform. They believed that the government should be allowed to make laws that separated people based on their race.

Eventually, a lot of people began to think that segregation was wrong, and they fought to change the laws. But, for a long time, the Southern Democrats were still a powerful force in the southern states, and they continued to support segregation.

It wasn't until much later, when the civil rights movement gained momentum and laws began to change, that things started to shift. Today, Southern Democrats are just like any other Democrats, and they don't believe in segregation. But, it's important to remember the history of Southern Democrats and how their beliefs affected the United States.