Let us not forget: it was the Democrat Party that once supported the formation of the KKK, pushed Jim Crow laws, and defended slavery
They like to conveniently forget that the parties had a flip. So yes, while the democrats IN NAME pushed all that abhorrent ideals, those democrats are the Republicans today.
During the last election, billboards had signs up in my area saying exactly that: Republicans ended slavery blah blah blah. They just bank on the wide populace to not know the history of the parties.