By the 1950s, Virginia had become a key site for developing complex legal strategies aimed at maintaining the dominance of the minority elite over the majority population. These efforts focused on creating rules and policies that would restrict voting rights and political influence for the broader public, ensuring continued control for those in power. Virginia's actions during this period laid the groundwork for more sophisticated efforts to preserve elitist advantages through the legal and political systems.

"By the 1950s, the nation's premier workshop for the shrewd construction of elaborate rules to ensure the minority elite's power over the majority was the state of Virginia," highlights Nancy MacLean in her book. This quote emphasizes Virginia’s role as a hub for engineering policies designed to reinforce elite dominance, a strategy that would evolve and influence American political frameworks long after. These efforts were part of a broader, calculated plan to subtly undermine electoral and democratic processes to benefit the privileged few.