Reddit reviews A Short History of Reconstruction [Updated Edition] (Harper Perennial Modern Classics)

Good question. Some folks might be surprised to hear about white supremacist activity in Iowa, but there have been a bunch of high profile incidents lately, to show just a few:

• https://www.kcci.com/article/some-iowa-city-residents-find-white-supremacist-flyers-on-lawns/15116891
  
  
• https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/politics/2018/08/29/mollie-tibbetts-robocall-brooklyn-iowa-immigration-white-supremacist-white-nationalist-neo-nazi/1134435002/
  
  
• https://www.splcenter.org/hatewatch/2018/01/24/national-alliance-member-arrested-while-distributing-white-supremacist-flyers
  
  I'm not positive how this compares to the previous few years, but I would be surprised if we haven't seen an uptick.
  
  Honestly, the most important thing we can do is to vote Steve King out of office. Even the Congressional Republicans are sick of his racist crap, and are (finally!) starting to call it out, which should tell you something. Replacing him would send a very powerful message.
  
  Self-education is a big piece, too. I was in my early twenties when I decided that I hadn't learned enough about America's history with race in school, so I started trying to figure out what I should learn and know. I read a bunch of books, and the two I recommend the most are Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson, which is about the modern day, and A Short History of Reconstruction by Eric Foner, which is about the period immediately following the Civil War and how white people messed up the one shot we had as a country to really correct the evils of slavery at that moment in history. And one of the most shocking parts about the legacy of Reconstruction is that until very, very recently (like the 1980-90s) the most widely taught history of Reconstruction was that it went "too far" in helping former slaves and empowering black people (!!) not that our nation messed it up by ending Reconstruction less than fifteen years after starting it. Slavery, by contrast, existed in America for over two hundred years.
  
  And beyond just learning more, deciding to take action is most important. Be willing to attend community or town hall meetings if there is some kind of event. Join counter-protests if there are white supremacists in your community. Find or create opportunities to engage the public. I went to my first-ever Juneteenth event over the summer. I would love to see more towns and cities celebrate it. It's a great American holiday for anyone who loves freedom.

Man I just want to say that this is an incredibly white-washed view of modern racism. Throughout the course of American history, Black people have suffered from institutional racism that has barred their access to the voting process, property, land access, economic opportunity, social security access, veteran's rights, personal freedom, you name it. This continues into the modern day. These modern issues will not be fixed by colorblindness; instead, they can only be fixed through race conscious affirmative action.

Here are some great books if you want to get more informed on historical and modern racism, proper reactions to it, and why "colorblindness" is not an acceptable form of dealing with it:

• Fredrickson, George M. 2002, Racism: A Short History
  
• Higginbotham, A.Leon, Jr. 1996, Shades of Freedom: Racial Politics and Presumptions of....
  
• Foner, Eric. 1990, A Short History of Reconstruction
  
• Packard, Gerald M. 2003, American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow
  
• Katznelson, Ira. 2005, When Affirmative Acton Was White: An Untold History of...
  
• Massey, Douglas S. 1993, American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underc

I'd like to caution you that "reconstruction caused this mess in the first place" is a bit of a weird way to frame such a complicated political period.

If you want to get a good understanding of the period here are some good books you can read that are either on the period or have some material that overlaps with it.

Reconstruction: America's Unfinished Revolution by Eric Foner. I've linked you the abridged version, but there is a 600p version if you're really interested.

Nothing But Freedom by Eric Foner.

Capitol Men by Philip Dray

Deep Souths: Delta, Piedmont and Sea Island Society by J William Harris

A Nation Under Our Feet by Steven Hahn

At the Hands of Persons Unknown by Phillip Dray

Black Reconstruction in America W. E. B Du Bois

The beauty of /r/AskHistorians is that is an academic subreddit with sourcing built in. But, here are two things that I would read:

1. The Myth of the Lost Cause and Civil War History edited by Gary W. Gallagher and Alan T. Nolan. Now this is actually just nine essays on basically this subject with a good overview. Keep in mind also that Gary W. Gallagher has written extensively fighting against Union revisionist history that attempts to portray the primary motivation of the Union as the abolition of slavery. But as many historians note, there is a fallacy in thinking that just because the Union's goal was not ending slavery, then the Confederate's goal was not about preserving it, which is certainly not the case.
   
   
2. A Short History of Reconstruction, Updated Edition by Eric Foner. The preeminent scholar on Reconstruction history, he is also a very engaging speaker that I saw once. Though not specifically on the Civil War, it does do a good job of touching on how the Civil War was reimagined during the period and the rise of histories that downplayed the centrality of slavery to Confederate states.
   
   In general, I would very much agree with your proposed "midway view," which is a far cry from your original statement that South Carolina was not succeeding to protect slavery. This "midway view" recognizes that the fundamental reason for Southern secession was slavery and then there was a reaction to Lincoln's attempt to preserve the Union. There are very few reputable scholars who go so far to say that state's rights or anything else besides slavery were the dominant cause of secession (Donald Livingston comes to mind). Again, if you were to read any mainstream history, they would all focus on the centrality of slavery to the creation of the CSA.
   
   So what you really have here is the Confederacy, a regime that stood for the preservation of slavery. Certainly, I cannot read the consciences of every person who waves a Confederate flag, nor did I ever claim to. But again with the question of monuments, I see little reason as a Catholic to defend a bygone regime that was created to protect a horrible sin. Honor fallen soldiers? Sure. Put up statues of Jefferson Davis in your town square? No.