Political Changes in the South: Black Majorities, White Minorities and the Fundamentalists

Political Changes in the South: Black Majorities, White Minorities and the Fundamentalists

In Louisiana this past year, two seemingly disparate political events took place: the election of Sidney Barthelemy, a black Democrat, as mayor of New Orleans; and the endorsement of the Reverend Marion G. (Pat) Robertson’s bid for the Republican presidential nomination by televangelist Jimmy Swaggart. In fact, both developments represent embryonic trends within the Democratic and Republican parties that are likely to intensify conflict within the GOP coalition and to ameliorate some of...