The Southern strategy is not a racist strategy. In fact, it was largely due to movement of industry down south. It was new fringe members of the Republican Party younger members of the Republican Party who switched over to the Republican Party in the south not old Democrats who remained old Democrats and are still old Democrats today.
The Southern strategy is an appeal that was made to white suburban voters, not, as is often believed, to rural and working-class whites.
The Southern strategy is older than generally thought -- it was born not in the 1960s but in the 1950s Southwest, and was in fact explicitly racial in motivation and application.
The Southern strategy is an intentional maneuver on the part of the Republican Party to win elections, and Goldwater, with his ability to appeal to racist sentiments in the South, was seemingly the only candidate who could deliver enough Southern votes to ensure a Republican victory.
The Southern strategy is a strategy partly grounded in a spiritual defense of segregation, which held that the Bible prohibited the integration of blacks and whites.