Historians still dispute whether race or economics drove white Southern exit from the Democrats.

Evidence

That disagreement could remain on the cause of this historic realignment may seem surprising, but data limitations have severely hampered research on this question. Until recently, consistently worded survey questions on racial attitudes from before and after the major Civil Rights victories of the 1960s, have not been widely available. — Ilyana Kuziemko and Ebonya Washington, Why Did the Democrats Lose the South?…, 49

Categorization

• DEEPTHINKING: flagged by the selector, no supporting note recorded
• XREF: The open question of race-vs-economics motivation directly bears on whether threatened privilege is separable from ordinary class interest. — connects to: Southern economic catch-up could independently explain realignment away from Democrats. — Ilyana Kuziemko and Ebonya Washington, Why Did the Democrats Lose the South?…, 43; Origins of white response to blackness remain historically uncertain.; Racially conservative whites’ defection drove the Southern realignment (+7 more)

Broader Connections

• Origins of white response to blackness remain historically uncertain. #corroborates (0.85)
• Racially conservative white Southerners abandoned Democratic identification after 1964. #expands (0.85) — Ilyana Kuziemko and Ebonya Washington, Why Did the Democrats Lose the South?…, 1327
• Racially conservative whites’ defection drove the Southern realignment #contradicts (0.80)
• Civil-rights-era policy shifts drove southern whites into the Republican Party #responds-to (0.75) — Kristin Kobes Du Mez, Jesus and John Wayne, 105