Liberty road : Black middle-class suburbs and the battle between civil rights and neoliberalism / Gregory Smithsimon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Smithsimon, Gregory, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

African American neighborhoods--Maryland--Randallstown.

African American neighborhoods.

African Americans--Maryland--Randallstown.

African Americans.

Discrimination in housing--Maryland--Randallstown.

Discrimination in housing.

Randallstown (Md.)--Social conditions.

Randallstown (Md.).

Randallstown (Md.)--Race relations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource : 19 b/w illustrations

Place of Publication:

New York : New York University Press, [2022]

Language Note:

In English.

Summary:

A unique insight into desegregation in the suburbs and how racial inequality persists Half of Black Americans who live in the one hundred largest metropolitan areas are now living in suburbs, not cities. In Liberty Road, Gregory Smithsimon shows us how this happened, and why it matters, unearthing the hidden role that suburbs played in establishing the Black middle-class. Focusing on Liberty Road, a Black middle-class suburb of Randallstown, Maryland, Smithsimon tells the remarkable story of how residents broke the color barrier, against all odds, in the face of racial discrimination, tensions with suburban whites and urban Blacks, and economic crises like the mortgage meltdown of 2008. Drawing on interviews, census data, and archival research he shows us the unique strategies that suburban Black residents in Liberty Road employed, creating a blueprint for other Black middle-class suburbs. Smithsimon re-orients our perspective on race relations in American life to consider the lived experiences and lessons of those who broke the color barrier in unexpected places. Liberty Road shows us that if we want to understand Black America in the twenty-first century, we must look not just to our cities, but to our suburbs as well.

Contents:

Frontmatter

Contents

Introduction: Arriving on Liberty Road

1. Beyond Blockbusting: How Racial Transition Works

2. Building a Black Community: Activists Bring Racial Transition to the Suburbs

3. Desegregation: Resident Activists Craft a New Story in the Suburbs

4. Growth: How Suburban Space Reshapes Black Community Issues and Politics

5. Barriers: The Right to the City and Changing Suburban Space

6. Foreclosure: Punctuated Equilibrium

7. Conservative Politics: Left and Right or Black and White?

Conclusion: The Future of the Black Middle Class and Suburbia

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index

About the Author

Notes:

Includes index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781479860692

1479860697

OCLC:

1298386890