Katznelson's historical review of how legislation has been implemented from the Great Depression's New Deal to Johnson's Great Society is an eye-opener for its detail, and for linking the way legislation that looks universal was implemented through states rights to benefit whites and not blacks.
The control of Congress by 17 southern states intent on maintaining racist states' rights segregation made every decent piece of legistation including the GI Bill a boon for white folks and an impediment for African-Americans. Thus affirmative action for whites, of the books's title, was a result of a nearly invisible operation over and over; IN ORDEWR TO GET ANY LEGISLATION PASSED, CONCESSIONS HAD TO BE MADE TO THE SOUTHERNERS WHO CONTROLLED COMMITTEES AND THUS LEGISLATION. Because of their one-party white rule in their states, they had seniority in national legislatures, so they had control until Johnson, part of the southern bloc, broke rank during the civil rights struggles.
This is a must-read book for its historical documentation of how white working class peoiple benefitted and african-american working class people were denied.

This is a wonderful work! His account of the power of Southern politicians to impose their own policy preferences on the national sphere during the New Deal and the GI Bill is not only extremely factually fruitful, but also highly readable. He is a data-driven political scientist whose arguments resonate quite loudly as a result. His interjection into the debate on affirmative action will surely add a third voice for a very long time.