Myths/the Democrats are more racist than the Republicans

Myth: The Democratic Party is the truly racist party, not the Republican Party.

seedling article
This article is incomplete. It might be useful as a reference, but avoid offering it as a definitive presentation.

Myth

The myth is that Democrats are far more racist than Republicans, and are therefore being hypocritical when they criticize Republicans for being racist or for opposing equality measures.

This is often accompanied by a claim that the Confederate flag was actually primarily supported by Democrats.

Examples

• Bryan Fischer "spent a segment on his radio program yesterday insisting that Republicans in South Carolina should have refused to even vote on the removal of the flag because “this is a Democratic Party icon” and evidence that Democrats “have been horrible racists from day one” and that the party’s past is “so black, and so bad, and so dark, and so tinged with racism” that Democrats must now remove it in an effort to cover up the party’s sordid history."
• "In July of 1948, at the Democratic convention, nine southern states backed Georgia’s Senator Richard Russell over Harry Truman, and paraded about waving a Confederate flag to the strains of Dixie. That moment sprung a movement, and Confederate flags flew off shelves in the months that followed. A few decades later, then Democrat Governor, Ernest “Fritz” Hollings, presided over the first Confederate flag being hoisted above the South Carolina State House. The Confederacy was comprised of Democrats, and they’re the ones who kept that flag flying. A Republican took it down."

Reality

Yes, the Southern branch of the Democratic Party was racist prior to 1965. The Democratic Party in the South was essentially a refuge for racists who didn't want to be associated with the "Party of Lincoln".

The Civil Rights Act of 1964, which was opposed by most Democrats from the Southern states, resulted in the Republican Party launching their "southern strategy", bringing an end to the Southern Democratic Party's tenure as the primary home of racists and bigots. Right-wing bigot Jesse Helms famously switched his party affiliation from Democrat to Republican in 1970 before running for the US Senate, becoming the first Republican senator from North Carolina since Reconstruction.

Since 1965 or so, the Democratic Party has consistently been the supporters of measures to improve equal rights for all, while the Republicans have consistently been opposed to such measures.

The only lawmakers in South Carolina who voted against removing the Confederate flag were Republicans.