White Flight
Atlanta and the Making of Modern Conservatism
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Narrated by:
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Aaron Williamson
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By:
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Kevin M. Kruse
About this listen
During the civil rights era, Atlanta thought of itself as "The City Too Busy to Hate," a rare place in the South where the races lived and thrived together. Over the course of the 1960s and 1970s, however, so many whites fled the city for the suburbs that Atlanta earned a new nickname: "The City Too Busy Moving to Hate."
In this reappraisal of racial politics in modern America, Kevin Kruse explains the causes and consequences of "white flight" in Atlanta and elsewhere. Seeking to understand segregationists on their own terms, White Flight moves past simple stereotypes to explore the meaning of white resistance. In the end, Kruse finds that segregationist resistance, which failed to stop the civil rights movement, nevertheless managed to preserve the world of segregation and even perfect it in subtler and stronger forms.
Challenging the conventional wisdom that white flight meant nothing more than a literal movement of whites to the suburbs, this book argues that it represented a more important transformation in the political ideology of those involved. In a provocative revision of postwar American history, Kruse demonstrates that traditional elements of modern conservatism, such as hostility to the federal government and faith in free enterprise, underwent important transformations during the postwar struggle over segregation.
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In 1950, Fairfax County, Virginia, was 90 percent white, 10 percent African American, with a little more than 100 families who were "other". Currently the African American percentage of the population is about the same, but the Anglo white population is less than 50 percent, and there are families of Asian, African, Middle Eastern, and Latin American origin living all over the county. A Nation of Nations follows the lives of a few immigrants to Fairfax County over recent decades as they gradually "Americanize".
By: Tom Gjelten
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Sundown Towns
- A Hidden Dimension of American Racism
- By: James Loewen
- Narrated by: Norman Dietz
- Length: 26 hrs and 20 mins
- Unabridged
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Sundown Towns examines thousands of all-white American towns that were - and still are, in some instances - racially exclusive by design.
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Honest Reportage on American Racial's Shame
- By Anonymous User on 12-26-08
By: James Loewen
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Black Detroit
- A People's History of Self-Determination
- By: Herb Boyd
- Narrated by: James Shippy
- Length: 10 hrs and 23 mins
- Unabridged
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The author of Baldwin's Harlem looks at the evolving culture, politics, economics, and spiritual life of Detroit - a blend of memoir, love letter, history, and clear-eyed reportage that explores the city's past, present, and future and its significance to the African American legacy and the nation's fabric.
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Selective Recall
- By Rick on 07-19-17
By: Herb Boyd
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Parting the Waters
- America in the King Years 1954-63
- By: Taylor Branch
- Narrated by: Prentice Onayemi, Janina Edwards
- Length: 45 hrs and 10 mins
- Unabridged
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Hailed as the most masterful story ever told of the American civil rights movement, Parting the Waters is destined to endure for generations. Moving from the fiery political baptism of Martin Luther King, Jr., to the corridors of Camelot where the Kennedy brothers weighed demands for justice against the deceptions of J. Edgar Hoover, here is a vivid tapestry of America, torn and finally transformed by a revolutionary struggle unequaled since the Civil War.
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Excellent
- By Judith Princz on 05-15-19
By: Taylor Branch
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Kennedy and King
- The President, the Pastor, and the Battle over Civil Rights
- By: Steven Levingston
- Narrated by: Dan Woren
- Length: 19 hrs and 54 mins
- Unabridged
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A New York Times Editors' Choice Pick. Kennedy and King traces the emergence of two of the 20th century's greatest leaders, their powerful impact on each other, and on the shape of the civil rights battle between 1960 and 1963. These two men from starkly different worlds profoundly influenced each other's personal development. Kennedy's hesitation on civil rights spurred King to greater acts of courage, and King inspired Kennedy to finally make a moral commitment to equality.
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Voices Too Much
- By drewdpeabody on 10-17-17
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Waging a Good War
- A Military History of the Civil Rights Movement, 1954-1968
- By: Thomas E. Ricks
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 14 hrs and 9 mins
- Unabridged
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Thomas E. Ricks offers an utterly new perspective on America’s greatest moral revolution—the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s—and its legacy today. While the Movement has become synonymous with Martin Luther King Jr.’s ethos of nonviolence, Ricks draws on his deep knowledge of tactics and strategy to advance a surprising but revelatory idea: the greatest victories for Black Americans of the past century were won not by idealism alone, but through recruiting, training, discipline, and organization—the hallmarks of any successful military campaign.
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I was born and raised in Alabama. Jim Crow Era.
- By Moses Pitts on 10-06-22
By: Thomas E. Ricks
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Black Titan
- A.G. Gaston and the Making of a Black American Millionaire
- By: Carol Jenkins
- Narrated by: Susan Spain
- Length: 11 hrs and 41 mins
- Unabridged
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A.G. Gaston, the poor grandson of slaves, was born in the Deep South in 1892. Over the course of his extraordinary life, he amassed a fortune of over $130 million and a vast business empire. The story of his remarkable life is written with eloquence and grace by his niece, an Emmy¿ Award-winning journalist and her daughter, who holds degrees from Yale and Harvard.
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Black Gold = Standing Ovation
- By 2Fresh on 01-20-16
By: Carol Jenkins
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Malcolm X
- A Life of Reinvention
- By: Manning Marable
- Narrated by: G. Valmont Thomas
- Length: 22 hrs and 4 mins
- Unabridged
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Of the great figure in 20th-century American history perhaps none is more complex and controversial than Malcolm X. Constantly rewriting his own story, he became a criminal, a minister, a leader, and an icon, all before being felled by assassins' bullets at age 39. Through his tireless work and countless speeches he empowered hundreds of thousands of black Americans to create better lives and stronger communities while establishing the template for the self-actualized, independent African American man.
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invites further reading on Malcolm X
- By connie on 05-14-11
By: Manning Marable
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The Crusades of Cesar Chavez
- A Biography
- By: Miriam Pawel
- Narrated by: Jackson Gutierrez
- Length: 21 hrs and 25 mins
- Unabridged
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In the first comprehensive biography of Chavez, Miriam Pawel offers a searching yet empathetic portrayal. Chavez emerges here as a visionary figure with tragic flaws; a brilliant strategist who sometimes stumbled; and a canny, streetwise organizer whose pragmatism was often at odds with his elusive, soaring dreams.
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Cesar Chávez
- By Ed on 09-10-18
By: Miriam Pawel
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Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story
- King Legacy Series #1
- By: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
- Narrated by: JD Jackson
- Length: 8 hrs and 59 mins
- Unabridged
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Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s account of the first successful large-scale application of nonviolent resistance in America is comprehensive, revelatory, and intimate. King described his book as "the chronicle of 50,000 Negroes who took to heart the principles of nonviolence, who learned to fight for their rights with the weapon of love, and who, in the process, acquired a new estimate of their own human worth."
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A look into the mind of Dr King
- By Georgia Burns on 02-06-16
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Freedom Riders
- 1961 and the Struggle for Racial Justice: Oxford University Press: Pivotal Moments in US History
- By: Raymond Arsenault
- Narrated by: Mirron Willis
- Length: 14 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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The saga of the Freedom Riders is an improbable, almost unbelievable story. In the course of six months in 1961, 450 Freedom Riders expanded the realm of the possible in American politics, redefining the limits of dissent and setting the stage for the civil rights movement. In this new version of his encyclopedic Freedom Riders, Raymond Arsenault offers a significantly condensed and tautly written account.
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excellent book
- By test on 05-05-11
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White Rage
- The Unspoken Truth of Our Racial Divide
- By: Carol Anderson
- Narrated by: Pamela Gibson
- Length: 6 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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As Ferguson, Missouri, erupted in August 2014 and media commentators across the ideological spectrum referred to the angry response of African Americans as 'Black rage', historian Carol Anderson wrote a remarkable op-ed in the Washington Post showing that this was, instead, 'white rage at work. With so much attention on the flames,' she wrote, 'everyone had ignored the kindling.'
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Good History, Was Hoping For More Insight
- By Mike on 09-08-16
By: Carol Anderson
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What listeners say about White Flight
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- sino
- 10-07-21
Political correctness
I love when it was more acceptable to state the obvious. People and their politicians were allowed to speak the truth. The last 15 years seems like we’re walking on egg shells, instead of getting to the root of the problems.
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- James D. Doyle
- 09-11-19
Atlanta's solution to Integration: White Flight
The causes and consequences of the rise of Atlanta White suburbs are elucidated in this detailed analysis of a demographic phenomenon that had a profound impact on the southern political landscape. This crisply told story of the rise of the southern Republican Party due to White Flight to the Atlanta suburbs reverberates in our Trumpian world. Many Atlanta suburbanites are realizing that you to need to be carefull what you wish for and a gradual but profound shift is taking hold in the voting booths throughout the conservative districts of suburban Atlanta.
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4 people found this helpful
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- Melanie
- 07-11-22
Everyone should read this
An in depth look at the history of American Conservatism and our Nation's history. Excellent linear explanation of how we got to where we are today.
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- RB
- 08-06-20
Indeed
This might be half as long if the author removed every time they started a sentence with "indeed..." or "to be sure..."
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- Harold
- 12-23-19
Excellent
Excellent history. Epilogue really brings home the story to the present day. today. Nicely performed, as well.
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5 people found this helpful
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- Izaac
- 06-22-22
how to understand today
The modern world has a lot of racial disparities. Taken uncritically this leads to the roots of racism. The idea that skin color somehow impacts behavior. But this book tells how generations of racists shifted policy and language to put power and wealth in the hands of white people. To strategically take opportunities from non-whites. The impacts of this are an endless sea of racist systems. A party of personal responsibility that advocates the same positions as racist segregationists. A nation still bearing the scars of slavery, segregation, and tearing old wounds open again.
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1 person found this helpful
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- Imhotep Coleman
- 03-03-24
History of coalitions, class, and race in Atlanta
This book gives a play-by-play of the scenario and circumstances that cause white flight in the period between the post reconstruction and the post Civil rights era. It’s a familiar tail, and the voice of the speaker creates an ominous tone.
Id love to read a follow up about the present circumstances of political influence in the state of Georgia versus the same political, c circumstances, in the urban center of Atlanta.
Georgia is a true swing state now. This book gives a history on the evolution of that.
I seek more information on present day and even future implications
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- Alex
- 06-09-21
Excellent history. Dry performance.
Kevin Kruse presents excellent analysis of the history of white flight as a phenomenon that played out across the American south in the face of desegregation in the 20th century. Atlanta serves as a case study, and learning more of the details about how “the city too busy to hate” responded to the civil rights movement was both profoundly meaningful as an Atlantan, and really provides a sobering look at the city and its suburbs.
While I appreciated Kruse’s writing, I found the narrators delivery to be monotone and somewhat lifeless, referring to both parades and murders in the same detached voice. Furthermore, there are a few times where the narrator misses the pronunciation of the names of local places. Overall a good read, but maybe not the best listen.
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3 people found this helpful
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- Mark Hamlett
- 08-22-21
Eyeopening
I learned a lot of history from this book. As usual one movement can sweep a country. Sometimes attempting to sweep its dirt under a rug.
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2 people found this helpful
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- Adam Shields
- 10-02-19
Local history is important
Summary in a Quote: ‘White Atlantans made clear when faced with the threat of desegregation they would abandon the public space, no matter how prized, rather than see it integrated.’
Kevin Kruse has become a ‘twitter famous’ historian. He has become known for his long detailed threads, with lots of documentation, rebutting Dinesh D’Souza. If you are on twitter and do not follow him, he is a worthy twitter follow. Earlier this year I read his most recent book, Fault Lines: A History of the United States Since 1974.
Although I live just outside of Atlanta, and my wife’s family has lived in the Atlanta area for generations, I do not know well the history of Atlanta. Local accounts like this are essential to gain an understanding of modern realities. For instance, even this year, there has been much discussion about public transportation and Gwinnett County narrowly voted against extending public transportation from Atlanta into the suburbs. Historical context is necessary to understand the current events fully. (Blood at the Root is another local history about an earlier era that also still has modern implications.)
White Flight is a detailed local history from the early 1940s through the mid-1960s with briefer excursions into the 1990s. Part of the thesis of the book is that the modern conservative movement, especially the libertarian wing of that movement was influenced by the individualism that arose in white flight. My oversimplification of Kruse’s argument is that before desegregation White southerners were not necessarily pro-tax, but were more supportive of public spaces, parks and common good types of activities when those spaces were exclusively White. But as desegregation became required for all public areas, Whites largely abandoned public spaces as those spaces became integrated. White flight created a kind of individualism and self-sufficiency because the home of the individual could not be required to be integrated. And at the same time, support for public good spending decreased because Whites had a decreasing interest in shared common good spending and space (including schools).
Because I do not know the local history well, I literally gasped when I heard about KKK counter-protests to the protests against Rich’s Department stores. As documented earlier in the book, Atlanta had a history of integration of public spaces being the result of behind the scenes negotiations and not public protests. Part of the behind the scenes talks was the coalition of political and business leaders that wanted to avoid financial disruption. Black religious and political leaders of Martin Luther King Sr’s era were willing to allow for slower and partial victories. After Martin Luther King Jr returned to Atlanta after the Montgomery Bus Boycott, the boycotts against Rich’s Department store started. Rich and other business leaders had been supportive of the integration of public schools and public transportation but were opposed to requiring integration in their stores.
One of the consistent themes of the book is that wealthy White Atlantans were in general no less prejudiced than middle and working-class White Atlantans, but the wealthy were more likely to support integration because of the financial and public relations problems of segregation. Early integration fights were about public spaces that the wealthy were not expected to use or areas that the wealthy could pay to avoid, such as public golf courses, public transportation, and public schools. Both wealthy and middle or working-class Whites were not interested in integration, but middle and working-class Whites did not have financial resources to support private schooling, private cars, and private country clubs. Middle and working-class Whites then viewed integration as ‘stealing’ or giving away space to Black Atlantans. The concept that the areas were not being given to Black Atlantans but integrated for use by both White and Black Atlantans was just not considered by White Atlantans.
White Flight is an excellent local history that makes use of concepts that can be applied more broadly. I want to read something from Kruse about how this may or may not reflect White Flight in other areas of the country and how that impacted the rise of conservative politics in other regions. And I would be interested in a sociological exploration of how racism has and has not given rise to social isolation more broadly, and how the rise in housing size may be influenced here as well.
White Flight has not ended. My home county, Cobb, which is just Northwest of Atlanta has become increasingly diverse and is likely to become a majority-minority community in the next 4 to 5 years if the trends continue (the school system is already majority-minority system.) Over the past year or so, the school system and county politics have increasingly had racial conflict as an undercurrent of many issues. East Cobb, which is still predominately White, has a movement to incorporate and form a separate city as the county is likely to swing to a Democratic majority in the next couple of elections. The county voted narrowly for Clinton in the 2016 election and in 2018 US 6th District, Newt Gingrich’s old district was won by Lucy McBath, a Black woman and Democrat. That district does not follow county lines but is a sign of the switch. Politics and race are related, and Kruse highlights the complications of that relationship and how that relationship has changed over the decades.
Similar to Jemar Tisby’s point in The Color of Compromise, methods of racism and racial isolation change over time, but they are not necessarily going away. Part of the benefit of White Flight is that it is a good reminder that the calls for explicit segregation that was common before the 1960s have largely faded. But there is a difference between legal segregation and relational integration; most White people still are relationally segregated. Most people that are calling for a new East Cobb city are not calling for it as an explicit segregationist ideology. But it is hard to think that racial attitudes are not playing some role. And while the explicit segregationist attitudes and rhetoric have faded, many of the arguments that were used to support those calls are remarkably similar. The concepts of ‘outside agitators’, ‘ideological bias’ (now cultural marxism instead of communism), and freedom of choice and many more are relatively unchanged.
History matters. We cannot merely treat contemporary issues that involve race in isolation from the origins — current rise in school segregation matters. The loss of Black homeownership in the post-2007 economy is related to earlier legal segregation. The concern over ‘good schools’ is similar to earlier segregated schools. That is not to say they are exact parallels, but as is a common phrase among historians, history does not repeat, but it often rhymes.
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