Contemporary conservative Republicans are often the targets of anger for promoting legislation that some perceive as unjust and socially antiquated. However, many of today’s conservatives are much more open-minded than their predecessors.

For example, most contemporary conservatives agree that women should have the right to vote. However, it wasn’t until 1920 that some U.S. women gained that legal right in spite of vigorous conservative opposition.

Similarly, most contemporary conservatives believe that women should have the right to own land. But, it wasn’t until the Mississippi Married Women’s Property Act of 1839 that some married women gained the right to own land despite howls from conservatives who felt threatened by this power shift.

Most contemporary conservatives believe that racial and ethnic minorities should be able to open and run their own businesses. However, until the Fair Housing Act of 1968, conservative banks openly denied business loans based on applicants’ racial or ethnic minority status.

Some conservative mobs even burned down non-white businesses and killed non-white business owners. The Oklahoma Tulsa Race Massacre of 1921 is an example.

Many contemporary conservatives with young daughters look forward to the day they will celebrate their offspring at a college graduation ceremony. Until the 19th century, though, conservatives effectively barred U.S. women from higher education. In fact, many Ivy League schools did not admit women until the 1960s and 1970s, and often created separate “sister schools” to placate demands for equality.

Title IX, a provision of the Amendments to the Higher Education Act of 1972, has reduced gender discrimination in higher education and enabled tens of millions of women to achieve their dreams.

Most contemporary conservatives agree that interracial marriage should be legal. However, it wasn’t until the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case in 1967 that interracial marriage was legalized throughout the U.S.

Even white conservative Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell is married to Taiwanese Elaine Chao.

Although some conservative politicians have recently reduced their support for the Americans with Disabilities Act, many still agree that people with disabilities should be treated with dignity. In fact, conservative Sen. Bob Dole was instrumental in getting the Americans with Disabilities Act signed into law by conservative President George Bush in 1990.

Today’s conservatives are clearly more woke about social issues than conservatives of early U.S. history. By supporting these egalitarian laws, contemporary conservatives would likely have been called names like “namby-pambies,” by their conservative predecessors.

Although I’d like even more open-mindedness from today’s conservatives, it’s also important to acknowledge and thank woke conservatives for having the courage and compassion to support these laws.

Tom Hochschild is a professor of sociology at Valdosta State University.