Phil Vischer, the creator of VeggieTales, says history is a major reason why Black Christians vote Democrat and White Christians vote Republican.
“What do we see when we look in the rearview mirror?” Vischer says in a 15-minute video posted to YouTube. “White Christians see a simpler time when we went to church … abortion was illegal … when black Christians look in the rearview mirror, they see things very different. They see fire hoses and church bombings and lynchings.”
Vischer’s video is called Why Do White Christians Vote Republican, and Black Christians Vote Democrat?
“An overwhelming majority of White Christians vote Republican,” the video says. “And an overwhelming majority of Black Christians vote Democrat. Why is that? Don't they read the same Bible and pray to the same God? Which group doesn't know they're voting for the wrong party?”
Vischer details a timeline of events dating back to 1870 when the 15th Amendment gave Black men the right to vote. He also said Democrats were thought to be more conservative, while Republicans were thought to be “more progressive.”
“Southern Democrats considered themselves conservatives,” he said.
During the Depression, African Americans and most other Americans supported Franklin Roosevelt’s New Deal program. Roosevelt was a Democrat.
Through the years, African Americans voted both for Democrats and Republicans.
“There used to be conservative and progressive wings of both parties,” Vischer said.
In the late 1940s, Strom Thurmond, Southern Democrat, formed the States’ Rights Democratic Party. He ran for president against Harry Truman and lost.
Then in 1960, Democrat John F. Kennedy supported Civil Rights, and after his assassination Lyndon B. Johnson continued the passage of Civil Rights measures.
With these changes, Thurmond changed to the Republican party and by 1988, the Republican party had become “the party of white Christian conservative Americans and the democratic party was now the party of radical progressives, hippies and black Church ladies.”
In June, Vischer’s video on “Race in America” went viral. In the video, Vischer asked the question, “Why are people so angry?”
In an interview with Religion News Service, Vischer said he designed the video to reach “White Christian America that wants to know what’s going on but just doesn’t have time or easy access to the data.”
Related:
VeggieTales Creator Explains Systemic Racism in New Viral Video
Photo courtesy: Phil Vischer YouTube Screenshot
Video courtesy: Phil Vischer
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.