African American Urban History

Overview

This textbook traces the historical development of African American urban communities and the institutions, cultures, and conflicts that shaped them. Students study migration, segregation, street organizations, civil rights politics, economic transformation, crime, punishment, gentrification, and community memory in order to understand the long struggle for survival, autonomy, and belonging in Black urban America.

Table of Contents

1. Chapter 1: Emancipation, Reconstruction, and the Origins of Black Urban Life
2. Chapter 2: The Great Migration and the New Black City
3. Chapter 3: Segregation, Redlining, and the Urban Enclosure of Black America
4. Chapter 4: Youth Clubs, Corner Groups, and Neighborhood Identity
5. Chapter 5: Car Clubs, Social Clubs, and Street Organizations
6. Chapter 6: Chicago and the Institutionalization of Street Organizations
7. Chapter 7: Civil Rights, Black Power, and Political Organization
8. Chapter 8: Deindustrialization and the Urban Crisis
9. Chapter 9: Crack Cocaine and the Drug Economy
10. Chapter 10: The War on Drugs
11. Chapter 11: Mass Incarceration and the Prison System
12. Chapter 12: Gentrification and Urban Redevelopment
13. Chapter 13: Fragmentation and the New Street Landscape
14. Chapter 14: Legacy, Memory, and the Future of Urban Communities
15. Back Matter

Learning Outcomes

• Explain the historical roots of African American urban life after emancipation.
• Analyze the impact of migration, segregation, and redlining on Black neighborhoods.
• Describe the role of youth clubs, social clubs, and street organizations in urban identity.
• Understand the relationship between civil rights politics and urban community power.
• Evaluate the effects of deindustrialization, the drug economy, and the war on drugs.
• Assess how mass incarceration and redevelopment reshaped Black urban communities.
• Interpret the cultural memory and historical legacy of African American city life.