Steve Suitts has spent decades studying Alabama; along the way, he came to know Big Jim Folsom, George Wallace, and Derrick Bell. His book A War of Sections centers the class war that structured Alabama politics for 140 years.
In this conversation:
1819: Black Belt planters vs North Alabama plain folk at statehood
Some plain folk refuse Confederacy’s war
Redemption, planters take the state back
1901: planters disenfranchise black Alabamians and many poor whites
1921: black and white miners defeat another disfranchisement amendment
Big Jim Folsom: the plain folk find their champion
1946: another disfranchisement amendment, Boswell, passes
Brown makes race personal; plain folk coalition cracks
1958: the planters win
A War of Sections is available on UGA Press or Amazon. Follow Steve’s Substack.
