In August , after the Republican National Convention , Ronald Reagan gave a campaign speech at the annual Neshoba County Fair on the outskirts of Philadelphia , Mississippi , where three civil rights workers were murdered in 1964 . He was the first presidential candidate ever to campaign at the fair . Reagan famously announced , " Programs like education and others should be turned back to the states and local communities with the tax sources to fund them . I believe in states ' rights . I believe in people doing as much as they can at the community level and the private level . " Reagan also stated , " I believe we have distorted the balance of our government today by giving powers that were never intended to be given in the Constitution to that federal establishment . " He went on to promise to " restore to states and local governments the power that properly belongs to them . " President Carter criticized Reagan for injecting " hate and racism " by the " rebirth of code words like ' states ' rights ' " . Two days later , Reagan appeared at the Urban League convention in New York , where he said , " I am committed to the protection and enforcement of the civil rights of black Americans . This commitment is interwoven into every phase of the plans I will propose . " He then said that he would develop " enterprise zones " to help with urban renewal
murdered in 1964
Murders of Chaney, Goodman, and Schwerner
1980 United States presidential election