the highly visible immediate cause of the political transition involved civil rights. the civil rights movement caused enormous controversy in the white south with many attacking it as a violation of states' rights. when segregation was outlawed by court order and by the civil rights acts of 1964 and 1965, a die-hard element resisted integration, led by democratic governors orval faubus of arkansas, lester maddox of georgia, ross barnett of mississippi and, especially george wallace of alabama. these populist governors appealed to a less-educated, blue-collar electorate that on economic grounds favored the democratic party and supported segregation.