I don't think anybody has said that being a Democrat makes one a racist.  Of course there are knuckleheads on both sides of the political aisle.  You, my friend, are the one missing the point.  None of the things you cited above alters the fact that historically, the Republican party has the better record when it comes to advancing civil rights, a fact which you do not dispute.  I also take issue with your assertion that

"Civil rights were allowed to languish in limbo for almost a century under the administrations of both parties."

That is only true if one is talking about the 100 years preceding the Civil War, during which time the Republican party did not even exist.  From Emancipation through the present day, Republicans have historically been on the side of equal rights for black Americans.  It was Republicans who pushed for amending the Constitution to guarantee blacks freedom (13th Amendment) citizenship (14th Amendment) and allowing them to vote (15th Amendment). It was Republicans who sponsored the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the first attempt to end the segregationist Jim Crow laws.  Between 1870 and 1935, all blacks elected to Congress were Republicans.

The NAACP was founded by a racially diverse group of Republicans on February 12, 1909 (President Lincoln's 100th birthday).  A majority of the justices who decided Brown v. Board of Education were Eisenhower appointees.  In fact, Ike was known for selecting nominees who were firmly commited to civil rights.  Under his administration, racial segregation in the military was abolished, although President Truman, to his credit, tried with limited success to do so.

LBJ's appointment of Justice Marshall, as well as his signing of the the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 are what cost him the support of southern Democrats, leading to his decision not to seek or accept his party's nomination in 1968.  Both bills were Republican initiatives which were vociferously opposed by such Democrat stalwarts as J. William Fulbright (mentor to former President Clinton), Al Gore, Sr. (father of the former Vice-President) and Robert Byrd (former KKK recruiter).

Oh, and about Welfare Reform: that was another Republican-sponsored bill twice vetoed by President Clinton before he was dragged to it kicking and screaming going into the 1996 election after his handlers told him that signing the bill was the only way he could keep his sizeable derriere parked on Air Force One for another four years.

You are correct that racism was the status quo in this country for many years--my point is that through history, it is Democrats who have sought to maintain it, while Republicans have fought hard as the "party of change".

 ***UPDATE/CLARIFICATION:  It has been brought to my attention that Chief Justice Earl Warren was the only Eisenhower appointee on the Supreme Court at the time Brown v. Board of Education was decided.  I stand corrected on this point.  Nonetheless, it was Chief Justice Warren who wrote and carefully crafted the opinion, which was, in his words, "...short, readable by the lay public, non-rhetorical, unemotional and, above all, non-accusatory..." and which was joined unanimously by the other justices, including Justice Black.