In the 1930s , black voters outside the South largely switched to the Democrats , and other groups with an interest in civil rights ( notably Jews , Catholics , and academic intellectuals ) became more powerful in the party . This led to the national Democrats adopting a civil rights plank in 1948 . A faction of Deep South Democrats bolted the party , and ran their own " Dixiecrat " presidential ticket , which carried four states : South Carolina , Alabama , Mississippi , and Louisiana . Even before then , a number of conservative Southern Democrats felt chagrin at the national party 's growing friendliness to organized labor during the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration , and began splitting their tickets as early as the 1930s
adopting a civil rights plank in 1948
1948 Democratic National Convention
Solid South