The Rhetoric of Black Mayors explores the rhetorical and practical efforts of Black mayors in building coalitions to win elections and govern cities. Atwater discusses and analyzes the process of creating coalitions by each mayor by dealing with the news coverage of the mayors by both the black and mainstream press. As a unique feature, the text includes interviews with most of the mayors included in The Rhetoric of Black Mayors. These mayors are from cities on the east coast, ranging from the large city of Philadelphia to the small city of Glenarden, Maryland. This text covers successful administrations, as well as those that are challenging and problematic.

Recent years have seen an increase in the number of African Americans elected to political office in cities where the majority of their constituents are not black. In the past, the leadership of black politicians was characterized as either "deracialized" or "racialized"--that is, as either focusing on politics that transcend race or as making black issues central to their agenda. Today many African American politicians elected to offices in non-majority-black cities are adopting a strategy that universalizes black interests as intrinsically relevant to the needs of their entire constituency. In Black Mayors, White Majorities Ravi K. Perry explores the conditions in which black mayors of majority-white cities are able to represent black interests and whether blacks' historically high expectations for black mayors are being realized. Perry uses Toledo and Dayton, Ohio, as case studies, and his analysis draws on interviews with mayors and other city officials, business leaders, and heads of civic organizations, in addition to official city and campaign documents and newspapers. Perry also analyzes mayoral speeches, the 2001 ward-level election results, and city demographics. Black Mayors, White Majorities encourages readers to think beyond the black-white dyad and instead to envision policies that can serve constituencies with the greatest needs as well as the general public.

The Legacy of Mayor Anthony Williams: Economic Development in the Federal City examines the leadership of former Washington, D.C., Mayor Anthony Williams during his tenure in the office from 1998 to 2006. The first purpose of this book is to provide an analytical tool for effective mayoral leadership that will be appropriate for the unique characteristics of Washington, DC, which may also be applicable to other jurisdictions that have similar issues. The second purpose is to address the gap in academic analysis with a specific focus on political leadership at the mayoral level. This book, therefore, proffers the hypothesis that the performance of a scientific study with a specific focus on the issue of mayoral leadership within Washington, DC, will increase the probability of effective mayoral leadership in the future.

With case studies from across the country, in medium-sized and large cities, and mayors of various backgrounds, this volume provides an account of how different minority mayors have handled minority representation in historically majority Caucasian cities and what lessons academics and politicians can learn from them.

In this ground-breaking book, Stephen C. Ferguson addresses a seminal question that is too-often ignored: What should be the philosophical basis for African American studies? The volume explores philosophical issues and problems in their relationship to Black studies. Ferguson shows that philosophy is not a sterile intellectual pursuit, but a critical tool to gathering knowledge about the Black experience. Cultural idealism in various forms has become enormously influential as a framework for Black studies. Ferguson takes on the task of demonstrating how a Marxist philosophical perspective offers a productive and fruitful way of overcoming the limitations of idealism. Focusing on the hugely popular Afrocentric school of thought, this book’s engaging discussion shows that the foundational arguments of cultural idealism are based on a series of analytical and historical misapprehensions. In turn, Ferguson argues for the centrality of the Black working class—both men and women—to Black Studies.

The concept of a more perfect union remains a constant theme in the political rhetoric of Barack Obama. From his now historic race speech to his second victory speech delivered on November 7, 2012, that striving is evident. “Tonight, more than two hundred years after a former colony won the right to determine its own destiny, the task of perfecting our union moves forward,” stated the forty-fourth president of the United States upon securing a second term in office after a hard-fought political contest. Obama borrows this rhetoric from the founding documents of the United States set forth in the US Constitution and in Abraham Lincoln's “Gettysburg Address.” How naive or realistic is Obama's vision of a more perfect American union that brings together people across racial, class, and political lines? How can this vision of a more inclusive America be realized in a society that remains racist at its core? These essays seek answers to these complicated questions by examining the 2008 and 2012 elections as well as the events of President Obama's first term. Written by preeminent race scholars from multiple disciplines, the volume brings together competing perspectives on race, gender, and the historic significance of Obama's election and reelection. The president heralded in his November 2012, acceptance speech, “The idea that if you're willing to work hard, it doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from, or what you look like . . . . whether you're black or white, Hispanic or Asian or Native American.” These essayists argue the truth of that statement and assess whether America has made any progress toward that vision.

How can we create and sustain an America that never was, but should be? How can we build a robust multiracial democracy in which everyone is valued and everyone possesses political, economic and social capital? How can democracy become a meaningful way of life, for all citizens? By critically probing these questions, the editors of Community Wealth Building and the Reconstruction of American Democracy seize the opportunity to bridge the gap between our democratic aspirations and our current reality.

Hailed as one of the best treatments of the civil rights movement, Race and Democracy is the most comprehensive and detailed study yet of the movement at the state level. Adam Fairclough marshals a wealth of research to recount more than five decades of struggle for justice and equality in the South's most politically intriguing, ethnically diverse, and racially complex state. This sweeping and dramatic narrative ranges in time from the founding of the New Orleans branch of the NAACP in 1915 to the beginning of Edwin Edwards's first term as governor in 1972. Fairclough takes readers to the grass roots of the movement as it was defiantly advanced and resisted in scores of places like the New Orleans shipyards, the voter registrar's office in Opelousas, and the Little Union Baptist Church in Shreveport. Race and Democracy, winner of the Lillian Smith Award, A Choice Outstanding Academic Book Award, the Gustavus Myers Award, and the Louisiana Literary Award, is a dynamic, landmark work on the civil rights movement. It impressively demonstrates that by studying the contours of grassroots activism, we can gain a much clearer picture of the struggle for racial justice.

After reestablishing the connection between morality and the law, the author develops a coherent position on many of the most controversial issues of urban life: the political uses of the streets; verbal assaults and the defamation of racial groups; the legitimate restriction of public speech; segregation, busing, and the use of racial quotas; education, housing, and the problem of the ghetto"; prostitution, gambling, and the "regulation of vices." Originally published in 1981. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

"J. Phillip Thompson III, an insider in the Dinkins administration, provides the first in-depth look at how the black mayors of America's major cities achieve social change. This unique work opens a window on the oft-shuttered inner dynamics of black politics. In his highly original treatment of the last thirty years in post-civil rights progressive social change, Thompson offers a powerful argument that the best way to broaden democracy in to practice it internally."--BOOK JACKET.