America's Johannesburg
Industrialization and Racial Transformation in Birmingham
Bobby M. Wilson
Publisher: University of Georgia Press
Imprint: University of Georgia Press
Published: 12/2019
Pages: 292
Subject: Social Science
Print ISBN: 9780847694815
eBook ISBN: 9780820356280
DESCRIPTION
In some ways, no American city symbolizes the black struggle for
civil rights more than Birmingham, Alabama. During the 1950s and
1960s, Birmingham gained national and international attention as a
center of activity and unrest during the civil rights movement.
Racially motivated bombings of the houses of black families who
moved into new neighborhoods or who were politically active during
this era were so prevalent that Birmingham earned the nickname
“Bombingham.”
In this critical analysis of why Birmingham became such a national
flashpoint, Bobby M. Wilson argues that Alabama’s path to
industrialism differed significantly from that of states in the
North and Midwest. True to its antebellum roots, no other
industrial city in the United States depended as much on the
exploitation of black labor so early in its urban development as
Birmingham.
A persuasive exploration of the links between Alabama’s
slaveholding order and the subsequent industrialization of the
state, America’s Johannesburg demonstrates that arguments
based on classical economics fail to take into account the ways in
which racial issues influenced the rise of industrial
capitalism.
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