If Roe is overturned, will interracial marriage bans follow? Until a few years ago this would have sounded like a bizarre question, now however… Apparently the anti-abortion movement has its origins in racism. This might be surprising for some, the discovery that anti-abortion activism turns out to be linked to Robert Byrd, William Fulbright or other Dixiecrats.
But don’t forget that the parties switched. Nixon made the Republican Party the party of racists during his presidential campaign (in 1968 not 1960).
Yet, it were 3 Nixon nominees who supported Roe (though one of them, Burger, would turn against it later). Does this mean Roe was actually tainted by Nixon’s ‘Southern strategy’?
Justice Byron White was one of the two dissenters during Roe, yet he had supported Loving v. Virginia, the case that overturned interracial marriage bans. Clarence Thomas has been the most important foe of Roe for over 30 years. Scalia was a fierce critic of the Supreme Court’s decision in Korematsu that allowed for the internment of American citizens of Japanese descent.
Most important to consider however it that the fight against Roe in the USA was largely started by the Catholic Church, ironically, they initially had the support of many democrats as well. But Catholics had been the victims of the KKK and xenophobia and only supported the more tolerant elements within the Democratic Party under FDR and then Truman, not the Dixiecrats.
It was Bozell Jr. a fanatical anti-abortion and anti-contraception Catholic who convinced his brother in law William F. Buckley to oppose segregation; Buckley was more lukewarm as a Catholic, and regarding abortion.
Dixiecrats and segregations were often supported by (conservative classical) liberal protestants. The first head of the second KKK was a Methodist.
Obviously, perspectives and values can evolve and change, Barrack Obama said he opposed gay marriage and only supported civil unions in 2008. But that is why it is silly to try to create a simplified narrative where pro-life=racist.
Honestly, it is begging pro-lifers to bring up Margaret Sanger’s more controversial positions again. The way Catholic churches are currently being threated reminds me more of the KKK than pro-life protests honestly.
Ramon Giralt