- When Southern segregationist politicians used the phrase “law and order,” they were trying to make their support for segregation sound fair and respectable. Of course they wouldn’t admit that they wanted to keep black and white people apart because of racism, instead they said they were just trying to keep the peace and follow the law. The advantages that this gave them is that it hid their true identity and allowed them to continue on to make laws that impact people of color.
The Southern Strategy didn’t disappear, it just took on a new form that developed over time. Today, its influence is still visible in the way some politicians talk about race indirectly. Not only do they use certain phrases that wont negatively impact them directly but they also support policies that end up causing the most harm to communities of color. As Michelle Alexander points out in The new Jim Crow, this kind of political approach helped build a new system of racial control. Practices like mass incarceration and voter suppression are modern ways that racial injustice continues, even if it doesn’t look exactly like it did during the Jim Crow era.
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