This fervent antagonism towards the federal government continued into the 1950s and 60s, where many Whites viewed civil rights and anti-discrimination legislation as a threat to their individual freedoms.

[2] The book documents how throughout American history, White citizens have often embraced the ideals of individual liberty and freedom from government interference as they committed racist acts towards other peoples.

During the massacre, a racist paramilitary group (The White League) murdered several Black Americans, injured many more and drove away more than a thousand from a polling station during the 1874 elections.

Violence against Blacks was commonplace during the reconstruction era South and various white supremacist groups formed to resist government reforms.

However Herschtahl criticized the work for overly focusing on the federal government as a driver for racial justice while neglecting grassroots civil rights organizations such as Black Communists, or the more moderate NAACP.