Painting Dixie Red: When, Where, Why, and How the South Became Republican (New Perspectives on the History of the South) : when, where, why, and how the South became Republican

"An eloquent and important examination of one of the most significant political trends of the last fifty years, revealing how prescient President Lyndon Johnson was on the occasion of his signing of the 1965 Civil Rights Bill when he made his famous comment about handing the South over to the Republicans for a generation."--Ralph Young, author of Dissent in America Has the South, once the "Solid South" of the Democratic Party, truly become an unassailable Republican stronghold? If so, when, where, why, and how did this seismic change occur? Moreover, what are the implications for the U.S. body politic? Painting Dixie Red is the first volume to grapple with these difficult yet critical questions. In this fascinating and timely collection, a distinguished group of scholars engages in an enlightening debate. Some make the case that the South has become Republican, and some contend that it has not. Some outline the region's exceptionalism, and some reject the idea of regional distinctiveness. Some point to white discontent over civil rights as the root of political changes, and some cite color-blind factors. All offer invaluable insights into U.S. politics during these ultra-partisan times. Glenn Feldman is professor in the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Alabama at Birmingham and author or editor of numerous books including The Disfranchisement Myth: Poor Whites and Suffrage Restriction in Alabama and Before Brown: Civil Rights and White Backlash in the Modern South. A volume in the series New Perspectives on the History of the South, edited by John David Smith