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Yes, the filibuster is racist

Jesse Helms and Ronald Reagan

A short history of the filibuster by historian Kevin Kruse:

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1874

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1875

Filibuster against a pension for a black official, 1906

Filibuster against confirmation of a black official, 1909Filibuster against anti-lynching bill, 1921

Filibuster against anti-lynching bill, 1922

Filibuster against anti-lynching bill, 1925

Filibuster against anti-lynching bill, 1938

Filibuster against bill targeting racial discrimination in employment, 1945

Filibuster against Truman’s civil rights proposals, 1948Filibuster against Truman’s civil rights proposals, 1949

Filibuster against Truman’s civil rights proposals, 1950

Filibuster against measures to fight housing discrimination, 1954

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1957

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1962

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1963

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1964

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1966

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1968

Filibuster against bill targeting employment discrimination, 1972

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1976

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1976Filibuster against extension of Voting Rights Act, 1982

Filibuster against creation of MLK Day federal holiday, 1983

Filibuster against civil rights bill, 1984

As this thread blows up, I should stress this isn’t remotely an exhaustive list — I did it quickly and I didn’t repeat years in which there were multiple filibusters on different civil rights issues. But it should still give a sense of the “racial history” in the filibuster. 

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