Southern Democrats Civil Rights Tennessee Steve Cohen

I’m thinking Southern Democrats, some when I was young and some when I am old. And now I’m in a quandary. What about those Blue Dogs?
What I’m not thinking about is George Wallace, who got tired of being a Democrat by the time JFK was president. At the risk of repeating myself, I want to say how much Taylor Branch’s trilogy on the King Years brought home changes which happened in mid-20th-Century. Much has happened since Harry Truman issued an order to integrate the military, which was the first blow to the bigotry of separate but equal patriotism.
From the time of 1864 to 1964, there was denial of the “shadow,” as Toni Morrison portrayed it. She lectured on how all American literature had references to what we call the race question. But if you want deep thoughts turn to another Nobel Prize winner, Martin Luther King and his belief in non-violence. I can’t help but remember his mentor Ghandi, which makes me drift off to the great work his grandson has done in Memphis, and now in the Boston area. As MLK was learning how to learn from those he wanted to lead, he realized that the people are the deciders. Myles Horton, a political activist who held workshops in the early days of the SCLC’s assertion that voting was king, is one of the Tennesseans who made a difference.
But now, to the Blue Dogs. Of the 18 Democrats who voted with the Republicans on the FICA “fix” 10 were from southern states. Seven of the votes were from northern states. Two Tennesseans in the list were Lincoln Davis (4th Dist) and John Tanner (5th Dist), who is considered to have started the Blue Dogs.