There’s a New Southern Strategy– one built for working people and Down Home’s Deep Canvass team is bringing it.
The Old Southern Strategy was a backlash against progress. In response to the signing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, certain Republican began appealing to white resentment and even white racism in order to build and maintain power for themselves.They criticized federal civil rights legislation and challenged federal desegregation orders; they railed against busing, government programs, and welfare. All signals to preserve Jim Crow. They used phrases like “states’ rights” and “local control” in an attempt to preserve Jim Crow. Behind closed doors they called their deceptive strategy to divide Southerners along race and suppress working class votes their “Southern Strategy.: The resentment and division sown through this strategy served one goal: To keep the wealthy few in power at the expense of working families.
And it worked. Until now.
Down Home’s Deep Canvass team is redefining “Southern Strategy” and making it our own. We believe that the fear and division of the past have no place in the present. Our New Southern Strategy – Deep Canvass Academy is about unifying and bringing people together across differences. We know we are stronger together: We must connect people to their personal experiences and build statewide multi-racial relationships. It’s the only way to get the things we need.
The New Southern Strategy – Deep Canvass Academy will engage, educate, train, support, and develop leaders (like you!) across North Carolina so we can win on the issues that matter most to our families right here at home.
Next month, April 26, marks the debut of the New Southern Strategy Deep Canvass Academy. By joining the Academy, Down Home members will learn how to have deep, impactful conversations that build trust and connection with people that cross differences, disagreements, and party affiliations. Our New Southern Strategy training program is a home for folks working to build the power of Black, Brown, white, poor, working-class, and gender-oppressed people. We are dedicated to transformational change and believe that training is most effective when it builds on people’s story and lived experiences.
