"How Racism Caused the Shutdown"

This article: http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/10/09/2730651/how-racism-caused-the-shutdown/   was published two days ago on ThinkProgress, a liberal political news outlet. The article argues that the reason the government shut down is because of polarization of the two political parties-because of racism-which led to the reaction of the Tea Party.

Essentially, the article says that the racism of Southern Democrats during the Civil Rights Movement is the reason the government is shut down right now. To me this argument seems a little far-fetched, even with the rationale provided. The authors argument begins pre-Civil Rights Movement with Democrats in the South advocating for anti-black policies and Northern Democrats focusing more on New Deal deals. Because of the disagreement within the party, Northern Democrats began to vote more like their Republican counterparts in the North. The parties became regionally divided when Southern whites began migrating from the Democratic party when they realized they could no longer achieve their white supremacy goals within the party. Long story short, we have the heavily Southern Republican party of today. As the party becomes more and more conservative, the Tea Party spins off. Led by Ted Cruz, we have the government shut down.

Additionally, the author states that the reason we have the government shutdown because we have a black president. So, a culmination of the fact that a new party was built because people couldn't give up their racist agenda, coupled with the fact that we have a black president-apparently a government shutdown was just BOUND TO HAPPEN.

In response, I believe there are a few things that the author needs to be reminded of. 1) This is not the first time that the government has shut down, but this is our first black president. So obviously this doesn't have an impact. (Additionally, the last time it shut down was also over Healthcare, with a Democratic president in office. Clinton & Gingrich) 2) To say that the sole cause of a huge, complicated governmental issue is race, introduces race where it doesn't need to be. It is often said that issues all become about race once it is brought up in even the slightest aspect. Do you think mentioning race tints issues that otherwise don't need to be? Additionally, do you buy the authors argument? Do you think racism caused the shutdown?