The black-and-tan faction was an American biracial faction in the Republican Party in the

Southern United States The Southern United States (sometimes Dixie, also referred to as the Southern States, the American South, the Southland, Dixieland, or simply the South) is List of regions of the United States, census regions defined by the United States Cens ...

from the 1870s to the 1960s. It replaced the Negro Republican Party faction's name after the 1890s. Southern Republicans were divided into two factions: the lily-white faction, which was practically all-white, and the biracial black-and-tan faction. The former was strongest in heavily white counties. The final victory of its opponent, the lily-white faction, came in 1964. The disintegration of their influence in the Republican Party came about with the replacement of Old Right-oriented politics amidst the rise of the New Right under Eisenhower Republicanism.

History

In the early years of the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

, newly enfranchised Southern blacks in states including

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

enthusiastically threw overwhelming support to the Republican Party, which spearheaded the cause of ensuring their civil rights.Byarlay, Ryan (May 10, 2009)
Black and Tan Republicans
''BlackPast''. Retrieved February 16, 2022. They unified with a minority of racially tolerant Southern whites to form "black and tan" clubs.McBride, Earnest (2006)
Black and Tan Party Rule in Mississippi
''Lest We Forget''. Retrieved February 16, 2022. Within state GOPs, they clashed with

scalawag In United States history, scalawag (sometimes spelled scallawag or scallywag) was a pejorative slur referred to white Southerners who supported Reconstruction policies and efforts after the conclusion of the American Civil War. As with the t ...

s, native-born Whiggish Southern whites who generally placed greater emphasis on business interests and economic expansion than safeguarding the newly secured rights of freedmen. During Reconstruction, efforts by black-and-tan Republicans in favor of racial equality drew violence from Democratic white supremacists including the

Ku Klux Klan The Ku Klux Klan (), commonly shortened to KKK or Klan, is an American Protestant-led Christian terrorism, Christian extremist, white supremacist, Right-wing terrorism, far-right hate group. It was founded in 1865 during Reconstruction era, ...

, who resorted to violence against the early civil rights activists. Families of Southern Republicans, both black and white, were harassed by Democratic whites. The increasing decline of Southern Republicanism brought about by the rise of

Jim Crow The Jim Crow laws were state and local laws introduced in the Southern United States in the late 19th and early 20th centuries that enforced racial segregation, " Jim Crow" being a pejorative term for an African American. The last of the ...

led many white Republicans to view abandoning civil rights advocacy as the only means of maintaining significant party influence in the region, contributing to the rise of the lily-white movement which would clash with black-and-tans for decades to come. The black-and-tan faction was biracial. It sought to include most African-American voters within the party. They often took a prominent part in the national conventions of the Republican Party. One reason for the continuance of the black-and-tan faction was its effect in holding the African-American Republican vote in northern states. The black-and-tans predominated in counties with a large black population, the whites in these counties being usually Democrats. The lily-whites were mostly found in the counties where fewer blacks lived. Factionalism in Southern GOP politics between the black-and-tans and the lily-whites flared up in

1928 Events January * January – British bacteriologist Frederick Griffith reports the results of Griffith's experiment, indirectly demonstrating that DNA is the genetic material. * January 1 – Eastern Bloc emigration and defection: Boris B ...

. Among the black-and-tans, Mississippi leader Perry Wilbon Howard II advocated a nomination of

conservative Conservatism is a cultural, social, and political philosophy and ideology that seeks to promote and preserve traditional institutions, customs, and values. The central tenets of conservatism may vary in relation to the culture and civiliza ...

isolationist Hamilton Fish III for vice president on the Republican ticket to maintain GOP popularity among black voters.

Eisenhower Republicanism and the demise of black-and-tans

During the 1952 United States presidential election where factionalism once again became an intense highlight, the black-and-tan Republican delegations in the

Republican National Convention The Republican National Convention (RNC) is a series of presidential nominating conventions held every four years since 1856 by the Republican Party in the United States. They are administered by the Republican National Committee. The goal o ...

that year supported the nomination of

U.S. senator

Robert A. Taft Robert Alphonso Taft Sr. (September 8, 1889 – July 31, 1953) was an American politician, lawyer, and scion of the Republican Party's Taft family. Taft represented Ohio in the United States Senate, briefly served as Senate majority le ...

over

Dwight Eisenhower Dwight David "Ike" Eisenhower (born David Dwight Eisenhower; October 14, 1890 – March 28, 1969) was the 34th president of the United States, serving from 1953 to 1961. During World War II, he was Supreme Commander of the Allied Expeditionar ...

. This included the

delegation led by Perry Wilbon Howard II. In contrast to Eisenhower, who testified in opposition to integrating the United States military in 1945, the strongly conservative Taft was devoted in his concern for blacks, continuously pushing civil rights measures in Congress. B. Carroll Reece, a pro-civil rights Old Right congressman from

East Tennessee East Tennessee is one of the three Grand Divisions of Tennessee defined in state law. Geographically and socioculturally distinct, it comprises approximately the eastern third of the U.S. state of Tennessee. East Tennessee consists of 33 coun ...

, predicted adamant support for Taft from Southern GOP delegations. This proved true particularly for the states of Mississippi and

Arkansas Arkansas ( ) is a landlocked state in the West South Central region of the Southern United States. It borders Missouri to the north, Tennessee and Mississippi to the east, Louisiana to the south, Texas to the southwest, and Oklahoma ...

, whose delegations were led by Howard and Osro Cobb respectively. The influence of Eisenhower Republicanism over the Republican Party resulted in a dissipation of black-and-tan influence in Southern GOP politics, particularly in 1956. The surviving Black-and-tan factions lost heavily in

1964 Events January * January 1 – The Federation of Rhodesia and Nyasaland is dissolved. * January 5 – In the first meeting between leaders of the Roman Catholic and Orthodox churches since the fifteenth century, Pope Paul VI and Patria ...

with the nomination of

Barry Goldwater Barry Morris Goldwater (January 2, 1909 – May 29, 1998) was an American politician and major general in the United States Air Force, Air Force Reserve who served as a United States senator from 1953 to 1965 and 1969 to 1987, and was the Re ...

for President and practically vanished.

Notable figures

Arkansas

* Joseph Robert Booker *

Powell Clayton Powell Foulk Clayton (August 7, 1833August 25, 1914) was an American politician, diplomat, and businessman who served as the 9th List of Governors of Arkansas, governor of Arkansas from 1868 to 1871, as a Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

Scipio Africanus Jones Scipio Africanus Jones (August 3, 1863 – March 2, 1943) was an American educator, lawyer, judge, philanthropist, and Republican politician from the state of Arkansas. He was most known for having guided the appeals of the twelve African-Am ...

* Harmon L. Remmel