You obviously don't know my history then. When El Bee Jay was pusing those civil rights things, Southern Democrats swore they would fight it tooth and nail, and if it came to pass they would leave the Democrat party and forever vote against any Democrat proposal as strictly partisan Republicans.
Well suffice it to say all parties made good on their word, which is why Buckley spent the best part of his career trying to chase the racists out of the Republican party. By the late '80's, I thought he had succeeded. In actuality all that happened is they got tired of being outed and harassed so they simply went ``underground'' and started speaking in code. Only very rarely did one lift up his head until 2015, when then-Candidate Trump started his campaign.
After his victory in November of 2016 things become quite plain and obvious. The message from Trump was clear: Hey, it's ok! You don't have to hide anymore. Come on out now. We actually own the joint now!