The Southern Strategy Analysis

Originally derived from a three lectures series delivered by Woodward in the mid-1950’s, this book summarizes the history of racial oppression that developed in the United States after Reconstruction and that has remained with us ever since. Woodward explains how perpetual racial animus was not necessarily the inevitable outcome to be expected at the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction, but instead, was the product of choices by opportunistic politicians who furthered their own ends by furnishing their frightened constituents with someone to hate, despise, denigrate and abuse (Woodward, 12).
It is essentially the story of “The Southern Strategy” rewound a century in which the role of the modern GOP is replaced by Conservative Southern

"The party of white supremacy had become on the national plane, the outspoken champion of Negro rights, while the party of emancipation had been left free to seek alliance in the South with the disaffected white-supremacy leaders." In an additional paradox unknown to me previously, progressive activists were allied with Jim Crow enablers. The more forward thinking the south became, the more entrenched did Jim Crow.
In the end, what is apparent is that Jim Crow thinking was implemented not to ensure the state's survival in the 20th century and was not a defense against any sort of pressure from the North but instead more combative and assertive in a virulent racism. As race again takes prominence in the 21st century and the discussion of representations of confederate "heritage" are debated openly, this book is highly relevant and should be compulsory; this is especially true for those who believe the federal government is evil and is out to "get"

His coverage of the actual Jim Crow era is somewhat light compared to other sections with the assumption that his target audience was already familiar with the topic (Chafe, Raymond and Robert, 56).
He further speeds along to the decline of Jim Crow following World War II. Before this date, the judicial and executive branches were involved in desegregation on the small scale, but the public was largely uninvolved. After 1954, widespread public involvement spurred legislative action. Several later revisions by the author take the narrative of the Civil Rights movement up to around 1970, covering familiar topics like Martin Luther King, Malcolm X; sit ins, black nationalism, etc.
The two slight flaws have more to do with the nature of historical writing in the 50's than with any flaw in his research. First, he incorporates a wide variety of sources in his book, second, this history is rather a "top down" history, focusing on governmental laws, newspapers, etc. He does not include the viewpoints of many common people, especially women and most importantly