History lesson needed...Why do Afro Americans to such a large extent support the Democratic Party?

Great question.

At the time of Lincoln and the American Civil War (1861-1865), the democratic party was firmly the conservative party in American politics and the republican party (which was new -it was just started in 1856) was just as firmly the liberal party.

Generally, slave owners and other southerners were democrats and northerners were republicans. At that time, blacks identified with the republican party because the republican party was for emancipation and the democratic party was for continued slave ownership.

However, as time passed, the parties began to slowly change political philosophies. Teddy Roosevelt split the republican party into two factions in 1912. Liberal or progressive republicans followed him into his new Bull Moose party (which soon disappeared after the election). Conservative republicans remained loyal to the republican party.

When the republican party elected Warren G. Harding to the presidency in 1920, it was primarily as a conservative party. However, the democratic party was also a traditionally conservative party, particularly in the south.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt changed that old order in 1932. The democratic party clearly emerged as the liberal or progressive party and the republican party became the clear conservative party. Blacks began to solidly identify with the democratic party around this time.

However, conservatives in the south generally remained democrats. They passed and enforced most of the Jim Crow laws. Importantly, there were huge struggles in the democratic party for identity and control at this time. Strom Thurmond led what were called "Dixiecrat's" (conservative southern democrats) in 1948 out of the democratic party and eventually into the republican party. By 1968, the Dixiecrat movement picked up steam under George Wallace and by 1972, the south had solidly realigned as republican and conservative.

That basically is still the situation today. The democratic party is identified as the liberal party and is strongest in the northeast, midwest, and on the west coast. The republican party is idendtified as the conservative party and is strongest in the south, plains midwest, and rocky mountain west.

African-Americans have always identified with the socially more liberal party in American politics. That was once the republican party, but it is now the democratic party. Essentially, over the past 100 years, the parties have completely flipped.

Republicans today are fond of calling themselves "the party of Lincoln." This is a curious and surprisingly uneducated claim. Were Lincoln alive today, he would surely be a democrat.

It would be far more historically accurate for republicans to call themselves "the party of Warren G. Harding." However, I doubt this will ever happen sice Harding was one of the worst, if not the worst, president in American history - at least until George W. Bush darkened the White House doors.

Historically African Americans in the North supported Republicans. This is due to Lincoln (A Republican) emancipating slaves during the Civil War.

Also historically African Americans from the South did not get the opportunity to vote as there were too many men in white hoods burning crosses on their lawns on polling day for that to be a safe option.

During the 1950's and 1960's as the Civil Rights movement became more and more the cause celebre of the Democratic Party African American voters were drawn to the party. Many of the young college students who came to do voter registration drives were Democrats so there was a natural gravitation towards what was seen as the party of opportunity.

Bobby Kennedy was a leading figure in this Civil Rights activism within the Democratiic party but there were others before him. Many prominent Republicans also supoorted Civil Rights and many Southern Democrats were intractibly opposed to it so the relationship is complex and layered.

Probably it WAS Bobby Kennedy who indelibly stamped the Dems as the party of Civil Rights. He earned enormous personal respect amongst the black community for moving freely within black neighbourhoods and for his fearless pursuit of legislative authority for Civil Rights.

I believe that Martin Luther King, though a personal friend of Bobby Kennedy's was actually a Republican. But I am not sure of that fact so please don't howl me down. It is something I remember reading long ago.

You could ask them, but that would first require you to accept that they can have legitimate reasons. And if you're anything like the Republicans who've answered so far, you don't. I can't tell you what any of the individuals in your class think, but I see the GOP as having established a place for itself as the party of social intolerance and economic elitism. The party that calls women who want their healthcare to cover birth control whores (or at least looks the other way when Rush Limbaugh does) and people who don't pay income tax freeloaders. And I think there's a reaction against it that is stronger among young people than among the general population. You can call them naive or you can call them whores and freeloaders. I call them decent people who haven't yet gone through whatever the hell would make someone think that way.

The parties have switched over the years. Democrats broke ranks in Opposition to segregation - Another Group broke off led by Strom Thurmond called the Dixiecrats that had segregation as their platform - then the Dixiecrats and Republicans coelesced into one entity. But The Democrats were the proponets of aboloshing segregation

One votes for the party that helps you and looks out for your interests.

Most white American working women and mothers vote Democrat as well.

Has your mother ever been wrong?

I've been asking myself that question for years. Since the civil rights movement 40+ years ago the Democrats have done NOTHING to help improve the lives of urban black families. Trust me, I live in Baltimore and see it everyday.

Modern Republicans resemble the antebellum South more than Lincoln.

It really is illogical, but I think it may be that Democrats tend to be stronger supporters of "affirmative action".

Demos traditionally support "giveaway" programs, quotas and other affirmative action plans, and Blacks are usually the recipients of these sorts of programs. Deal with it.

Democrats write the welfare checks and are the big daddy to the 80% single parent households in the black community.