Description
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 Baltimore, 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.Author: Gregory Smithsimon
Publisher: New York University Press
Published: 04/12/2022
Pages: 312
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.95lbs
Size: 8.90h x 5.90w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9781479861491
ISBN10: 1479861499
BISAC Categories:
- Social Science | Sociology | Urban
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | American | African American & Black Studies
- Biography & Autobiography | Cultural, Ethnic & Regional | General
About the Author
Gregory Smithsimon is Professor of Sociology at Brooklyn College and Graduate Center of the City University of New York. He is the author of September 12: Community and Neighborhood Recovery at Ground Zero, The Beach Beneath the Streets: Contesting New York City's Public Spaces, and Cause: ...And How It Doesn't Always Equal Effect.