9.3.6: Southern Traditionalists
- Page ID
- 212733
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\(\newcommand{\avec}{\mathbf a}\) \(\newcommand{\bvec}{\mathbf b}\) \(\newcommand{\cvec}{\mathbf c}\) \(\newcommand{\dvec}{\mathbf d}\) \(\newcommand{\dtil}{\widetilde{\mathbf d}}\) \(\newcommand{\evec}{\mathbf e}\) \(\newcommand{\fvec}{\mathbf f}\) \(\newcommand{\nvec}{\mathbf n}\) \(\newcommand{\pvec}{\mathbf p}\) \(\newcommand{\qvec}{\mathbf q}\) \(\newcommand{\svec}{\mathbf s}\) \(\newcommand{\tvec}{\mathbf t}\) \(\newcommand{\uvec}{\mathbf u}\) \(\newcommand{\vvec}{\mathbf v}\) \(\newcommand{\wvec}{\mathbf w}\) \(\newcommand{\xvec}{\mathbf x}\) \(\newcommand{\yvec}{\mathbf y}\) \(\newcommand{\zvec}{\mathbf z}\) \(\newcommand{\rvec}{\mathbf r}\) \(\newcommand{\mvec}{\mathbf m}\) \(\newcommand{\zerovec}{\mathbf 0}\) \(\newcommand{\onevec}{\mathbf 1}\) \(\newcommand{\real}{\mathbb R}\) \(\newcommand{\twovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\ctwovec}[2]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\threevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cthreevec}[3]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfourvec}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\fivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{r}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\cfivevec}[5]{\left[\begin{array}{c}#1 \\ #2 \\ #3 \\ #4 \\ #5 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\mattwo}[4]{\left[\begin{array}{rr}#1 \amp #2 \\ #3 \amp #4 \\ \end{array}\right]}\) \(\newcommand{\laspan}[1]{\text{Span}\{#1\}}\) \(\newcommand{\bcal}{\cal B}\) \(\newcommand{\ccal}{\cal C}\) \(\newcommand{\scal}{\cal S}\) \(\newcommand{\wcal}{\cal W}\) \(\newcommand{\ecal}{\cal E}\) \(\newcommand{\coords}[2]{\left\{#1\right\}_{#2}}\) \(\newcommand{\gray}[1]{\color{gray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\lgray}[1]{\color{lightgray}{#1}}\) \(\newcommand{\rank}{\operatorname{rank}}\) \(\newcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\col}{\text{Col}}\) \(\renewcommand{\row}{\text{Row}}\) \(\newcommand{\nul}{\text{Nul}}\) \(\newcommand{\var}{\text{Var}}\) \(\newcommand{\corr}{\text{corr}}\) \(\newcommand{\len}[1]{\left|#1\right|}\) \(\newcommand{\bbar}{\overline{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bhat}{\widehat{\bvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\bperp}{\bvec^\perp}\) \(\newcommand{\xhat}{\widehat{\xvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\vhat}{\widehat{\vvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\uhat}{\widehat{\uvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\what}{\widehat{\wvec}}\) \(\newcommand{\Sighat}{\widehat{\Sigma}}\) \(\newcommand{\lt}{<}\) \(\newcommand{\gt}{>}\) \(\newcommand{\amp}{&}\) \(\definecolor{fillinmathshade}{gray}{0.9}\)Southern Traditionalists
In the Upland and Lowland South, there lives another group of mislabeled “conservatives”. These conservatives should be considered political traditionalists instead. Sometimes, traditionalists are called social conservatives or “the Religious Right” by the media, which is more accurate.Traditionalists seek to maintain a traditional value system they consider necessary for the continuance of traditional cultural practices.
Figure: Vernon, LA- This abandoned nightclub offers a landscape clue into the evolving role of religion in the maintenance of moral law. Alcohol was illegal in the country in the foreground, so those wishing to drink had to cross County Line Road to visit this establishment. The club went out of business when beer was legalized in both counties.
Traditionalists frequently say they oppose “big government”, and it has been true for policies involving civil rights. However, traditionalists have also advanced a great number of laws that regulate even highly personal behaviors of individuals. Abortion is the most well-known issue motivating traditionalists, but they also strongly favor laws promoting prayer-in-school, laws banning alcohol consumption, and some laws that undermine the civil rights of specific groups (gays, minorities, women, etc.).
For a century following the Civil War, the states of the former Confederacy were referred to as “the Solid South” because of their unwavering support for the Democratic Party. For many decades after the Civil War, Southern animosity lingered for the Republican Party (Abraham Lincoln was a Republican). In the years after the Great Depression, Southerners embraced the progressive economic programs of the Democrats that helped the poor, especially during the presidency of Franklin D. Roosevelt. They even called themselves “Boll Weevil Democrats”, referencing insects that infested cotton plants.
Figure Map of Sexual Privacy in the United States. States in blue overturned sodomy laws earlier than purple states. The map demonstrates that Social Conservatives embrace “big government” when it suits their cultural values.
Southern traditionalists first began leaving the Democratic party in the 1950s when northern Democrats pushed hard on their Southern partners to grant more Civil Rights to African-Americans In the South. Battles over abortion laws, women’s rights, prayer in school and other hot-button issues continued to alienate southern Democrats from their northern allies until 1980, when Republican Ronald Reagan managed to get Southern Democrats to leave the party to join forces with pro-business Republicans, a feat now known as the Reagan Revolution.
Though traditionalists have overwhelmingly voted for Republicanssince the 1980s, they occasionally find themselves at odds with the Western libertarians within the Republican Party. A great example is evident in the significant difference in the way libertarians and traditionalists seek to govern sexual privacy. Libertarians would argue that the government has absolutely no right to govern sexual activity among consenting (especially married) adults. Traditionalists, on the other hand, have regularly passed laws regulating the sexual behavior of married couples. As recently as the year 2000, the Louisiana Supreme Court found that the right to privacy within the bedroom was not guaranteed in instances where the state’s legislature had chosen to regulate sexual behavior of married adults. In 2003, the US Supreme Court invalidated the so-called “sodomy laws'' in all states, but in Baton Rouge Louisiana, the Sheriff's continued to arrest gay men for agreeing to engage in “unnatural acts” with undercover police officers, even though court authorities refused to prosecute the cases. Several states have refused to remove these bans. Texas’ Governor Rick Perry even called for the US Congress to remove such cases from the jurisdiction of the US Supreme Court so that local Texas courts could decide such matters.