The Dixiecrats were a conservative, segregationist political party formed in 1948 by Southern Democrats who were opposed to the national Democratic Party's increasing support for civil rights. The party's main goal was to oppose federal intervention in the issue of race relations and to preserve segregation in the South. The Dixiecrats vehemently opposed the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision in 1954 which declared segregation unconstitutional, and they adamantly resisted federal legislation aimed at ending segregation and promoting civil rights for African Americans.
