This year marks the 100th anniversary of one of the most shameful political events in Virginia history, one that has repercussions to this day.
In 1921, Virginia Republicans purged Black voters from their ranks. Virginia Republicans werenât alone. Republicans across the South were doing the same thing, in a failed bid to make themselves more acceptable to white voters.
Much context is in order: Before the Civil War, Democrats were the dominant party in the South. The Republican candidates for president werenât even on Southern ballots in 1856 and 1860. After the Civil War, newly enfranchised Black voters were naturally loyal to âthe party of Lincoln.â The Handbook of Texas says that in that state Black voters accounted for 90% of the Republican vote in the 1880s.