Prohibition,Racism and Class Politics in the Post-Reconstruction South

Abstract

The virulent racism associated with the southern prohibition movement in the late 19th and early 20th century is practially invisible in literature on the history of alcohol reform movements. This paper explores the rise of racist ideology in the anti-liquor movement and its particular relationship to political factionalism and class conflict in the Post-Reconstruction South. The analysis suggests that the strong role of the anti-liquor movements in campaigns for black disfranchisement and Jim Crow legislation was tied into broader struggles for economic control and political power in an era of socio-economic crisis. In the wake of a prolonged period of radical reform and labor protests, the prohibition movement played an increasingly important role in the political and economic repression of both blacks and lower class whites.