When you collectively fall asleep for three generations and allow the asshole class to subvert the rule of law, you deserve whatever you get.
And let's be straightforward about the form of that sleep: political apathy which led the non-asshole class to stop voting. Apathy allowed the assholes to walk in and take the place in broad daylight. And when apathy didn't work, they worked to weaken the very process of voting. The Voting Rights Act was the last visible sign of this, but the last two presidential elections were rife with voter suppression.