Final answer:
The prevailing attitude among many southern whites was that African Americans should not be accorded equal political rights or social equality, which was enforced through systemic racism, restrictive laws, and disenfranchisement tactics.
Step-by-step explanation:
The attitude of many southern whites after the Civil War and into the era of Reconstruction and beyond was complex and varied, but largely it could be characterized by a resistance to African American enfranchisement and equality.
While some southern whites may have personally wished to help African Americans rise socially and economically, systemic racism, laws, and social codes often prevented African Americans from achieving political and social equality.
Throughout the late 19th and early 20th centuries, tactics like literacy tests, property requirements, disenfranchisement through state constitutions, and white supremacist ideologies largely aimed at preserving political power within the white population and actively worked to subvert any progress made towards African American civil rights.