Why were most Southern Democrats, like South Carolina's Strom Thurmond, in opposition to the civil rights acts of the
and early 1960s?
Allowing more rights for minorities was in opposition to Jim Crow policies
and traditions enacted and maintained by many Southern Democrats and
the party's supporters.
According to most Southern Democrats of the time, the civil rights acts of
the late 1950s and early-1960s did not do enough to protect the voting
rights of minorities.
Allowing more rights for minorities would require a change to the method
of choosing the President, since the Electoral College never included
voting rights for minorities.
According to most Southern Democrats of the time, any civil rights act
would require more research, work, and cost by the national government
every ten years during a census.