Black Power in Dixie

Abstract

Atlanta stands out among southern cities for many reasons, not least of which is the role African Americans have played in local politics. This book studies black politics in the city. From Reconstruction to recent times, the middle-class black leadership in Atlanta, while often subordinating class and gender differences to forge a continuous campaign for equality, successfully maintained its mantle of racial leadership for more than a century through a deft combination of racial advocacy and collaboration with local white business and political elites. The book provides an analysis of how one of the most important southern cities managed, adapted, and coped with the struggle for racial justice, examining both traditional electoral politics as well as the roles of non-elected individuals influential in the community. Highlighting the terms of Maynard Jackson and Andrew Young, the city's first two black mayors, the book concludes by raising important questions about the success of black political power and whether it has translated into measurable economic power for the African American community.