The thing here is that the dixiecrats who were southern democrats did primarily switch to the republican party due to integration. There may be several reasons outside of the fact that one wants to claim that Carter swept the south as a bass that it was not so. Number 1 being that no one wanted more Nixon and saw Ford as an extension of Nixon. There was a reason why Regan began is campaign in the town where the 3 slain civil rights workers were found dead sneaking in favor of states rights. Yes there was a southern strategy. The leftist academia did not make this up, a republican political operative did. Reagan did appeal to racism and what Reagan started created what we see today in Trump.
Why Did The South Turn Republican?
There are a range of opinions on this matter so I added the link to a search about this.
why did the south turn fro democrat to republican - Yahoo Search Results
The Republican political operative that you mention was Lee Atwater. The following is the full audio interview with him regarding The Southern Strategy
Exclusive: Lee Atwater’s Infamous 1981 Interview on the Southern Strategy
Yes it was Lee Atwater and that interview is very telling. I've seen it before.
There s no debate as to what he did to turn the south republican really.
There is no debate about it, because it is a matter of blind faith with lefties and you ignore all evidence to the contrary.