This article explains perfectly why my family was Republican two generations ago, but Democratic now. One of the oddest things to me is that so many people I know, people who lived through these changes, have no concept of the Big Picture.
http://weeklysift.com/2012/12/03/a-short-history-of-white-racism-in-the-two-party-system///cdn.embedly.com/widgets/platform.js