Perspectives S34/Ep22: The Southernization of America: A story of Democracy in the Balance

In 1974 John Egerton wrote a book called the Americanization of Dixie. In 2022, Pulitzer Prize-winner Cynthia Tucker and award winning author Fry Gaillard carry that work forward in their book, The Southernization of America: A Story of Democracy in the Balance. In this work they take a deep dive into Nixon's Southern Strategy, the party of Reagan, the backlash against Barack Obama and so much more. Our conversation with Tucker comes days after another mass shooting in Uvalde, Texas where the souls of 19 children and 2 teachers were lost to gun violence. Tucker argues we are at a critical moment in American history. She and Gaillard call this a time of racial reckoning with democracy under siege.