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Blexit: How The Party Of Abraham Lincoln Lost Black Voters : Code Switch How did the party of the Ku Klux Klan became the party of choice for black voters? And how did the party of Abraham Lincoln become 90 percent white? It's a messy story, exemplified by the doomed friendship between Richard Nixon and his fellow Republican, Jackie Robinson.
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Blexodus: The Black Exodus From The GOP

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Blexodus: The Black Exodus From The GOP

Code Switch

Blexodus: The Black Exodus From The GOP

Blexodus: The Black Exodus From The GOP

  • <iframe src="https://www.npr.org/player/embed/805713126/807190690" width="100%" height="290" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" title="NPR embedded audio player">
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Vice President Richard Nixon shakes hands with former baseball star Jackie Robinson in Plainfield, New Jersey, Oct. 4, 1960 where Nixon was campaigning. Robinson has been speaking for Nixon around the country. The vice president's wife Pat, right, looks on. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin) Henry Griffin/AP hide caption

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Henry Griffin/AP

Vice President Richard Nixon shakes hands with former baseball star Jackie Robinson in Plainfield, New Jersey, Oct. 4, 1960 where Nixon was campaigning. Robinson has been speaking for Nixon around the country. The vice president's wife Pat, right, looks on. (AP Photo/Henry Griffin)

Henry Griffin/AP

How did the party of the Ku Klux Klan became the party of choice for black voters? And how did the party of Abraham Lincoln become 90 percent white? It's a messy story, exemplified in the doomed friendship between Richard Nixon and his fellow Republican, Jackie Robinson.

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