Were the agonizing reappraisals of the 60's a good thing?

[MikeG]

Or did they hopeless divide the country?

[forgethell]

1. The country got divided

during the 60s. Not later. It's been divided since then.

[adwon]

2. Always been divided

Vietnam, like the year or so before Pearl Harbor, acted as a catalyst to expose the divide.

[mcscajun]

3. And the Civil Rights Act of 1964 began the severing the South

from Democratic Party.

[adwon]

4. Yes and no

Federally, yes. State level, not necessarily. The region did need to become more competitive...one party rule isn't a good idea anywhere. Though the GOP is riding high atm, it's unlikely to last. I suspect that the Baby Boom generation of the South is the primary reason for Republican ascendancy. People my age, 28, just don't have the same emotional investment in dead and buried issues.