Back To Birmingham
376 pages, 6 x 9
10 B&W figures
Paperback
Release Date:19 Mar 2019
ISBN:9780817359454
Back To Birmingham
Richard Arrington, Jr., and His Times
University of Alabama Press
The story of Richard Arrington Jr., the first African American mayor of Birmingham, Alabama
During the 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama was the central battleground in the struggle for human rights in the American South. As one of the most segregated cities in the United States, the city of Birmingham became infamous for its suppression of civil rights and for official and vigilante violence against its African American citizens, most notoriously the use of explosives in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing and the bombing of the home of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth.
In October of 1979, Birmingham elected its first Black mayor, Richard Arrington Jr. He was born in the rural town of Livingston, Alabama. His family moved to Birmingham when he was a child. A man of quiet demeanor, he was nevertheless destined to bring to fruition many of the fundamental changes that the Civil Rights Movement had demanded. This is his story. Not a conventional political or Civil Rights history, Back to Birmingham is the story of a man who demonstrated faith in his region and people. The work illuminates Arrington's sense of place, a quality that enables a person to claim sentimentally a portion of the natural and human environment. Franklin passionately underscores the importance of the attachment of Southern Blacks to their land and place.
Back to Birmingham will appeal to both the general reader and the serious student of American society. The book endeavors to bridge the gap between popular and scholarly history. It is guided by the assumption that Americans of whatever description can find satisfaction in comprehending social change and that they are buoyed by the individual triumph of those who beat the odds.
During the 1960s, Birmingham, Alabama was the central battleground in the struggle for human rights in the American South. As one of the most segregated cities in the United States, the city of Birmingham became infamous for its suppression of civil rights and for official and vigilante violence against its African American citizens, most notoriously the use of explosives in the Sixteenth Street Baptist Church bombing and the bombing of the home of Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth.
In October of 1979, Birmingham elected its first Black mayor, Richard Arrington Jr. He was born in the rural town of Livingston, Alabama. His family moved to Birmingham when he was a child. A man of quiet demeanor, he was nevertheless destined to bring to fruition many of the fundamental changes that the Civil Rights Movement had demanded. This is his story. Not a conventional political or Civil Rights history, Back to Birmingham is the story of a man who demonstrated faith in his region and people. The work illuminates Arrington's sense of place, a quality that enables a person to claim sentimentally a portion of the natural and human environment. Franklin passionately underscores the importance of the attachment of Southern Blacks to their land and place.
Back to Birmingham will appeal to both the general reader and the serious student of American society. The book endeavors to bridge the gap between popular and scholarly history. It is guided by the assumption that Americans of whatever description can find satisfaction in comprehending social change and that they are buoyed by the individual triumph of those who beat the odds.
Back to Birmingham is an insightful, timely work. In examining the career of Richard Arrington, Jr., Jimmie Lewis Franklin has revealed the potential for significant change in the modern urban South, as well as the shifting barriers still blocking the path of interracial progress.’
—Journal of American History
This volume is an important addition to the literature on the struggle for black political equality. Arrington's participation in this struggle is not complete. The perspective of time will demand further study of his role as both symbol and activist. But Franklin's book will likely remain for many years the definitive study of this remarkable career.’
—American Historical Review
Jimmie Lewis Franklin is professor emeritus of history at Vanderbilt University. He is the author of Journey Toward Hope: A History of Blacks in Oklahoma, The Blacks in Oklahoma, and Born Sober: Prohibition in Oklahoma, 1907–1959.
Illustrations
Preface
1. Depression and Segregation: Background in Sumter County
2. The Quest for Excellence: From Fairfield to Leadership
3. Shape of the Old Order: The Black Community and the City-Council Years
4. Do Not Abuse the Citizens: Assault on Police Brutality
5. Bottom Rails and Ballots: The 1979 Election
6. Neither Black nor White: The New Administration Takes Shape
7. The Spectre of Race: A Police Chief and a Council
8. The Man Up Close: Values, Reform, and Racial Imperatives
9. A New Day Cometh: Reelection to Office
10. Consolidation of Power: Arrington's Second Term
Appendix
Essay on Sources
Index
Preface
1. Depression and Segregation: Background in Sumter County
2. The Quest for Excellence: From Fairfield to Leadership
3. Shape of the Old Order: The Black Community and the City-Council Years
4. Do Not Abuse the Citizens: Assault on Police Brutality
5. Bottom Rails and Ballots: The 1979 Election
6. Neither Black nor White: The New Administration Takes Shape
7. The Spectre of Race: A Police Chief and a Council
8. The Man Up Close: Values, Reform, and Racial Imperatives
9. A New Day Cometh: Reelection to Office
10. Consolidation of Power: Arrington's Second Term
Appendix
Essay on Sources
Index
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