Book description
Martin Luther King's 1965 address from Montgomery, Alabama, the
center of much racial conflict at the time and the location of the
well-publicized bus boycott a decade earlier, is often considered by
historians to be the culmination of the civil rights era in American
history. In his momentous speech, King declared that segregation was
"on its deathbed" and that the movement had already achieved
significant milestones. Although the civil rights movement had won
many battles in the struggle for racial equality by the mid-1960s,
including legislation to guarantee black voting rights and to
desegregate public accommodations, the fight to implement the new laws
was just starting. In reality, King's speech in Montgomery represented
a new beginning rather than a conclusion to the movement, a fact that
King acknowledged in the address.
After the Dream: Black and White Southerners since 1965 begins where
many histories of the civil rights movement end, with King's
triumphant march from the iconic battleground of Selma to Montgomery.
Timothy J. Minchin and John Salmond focus on events in the South
following the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and the 1965 Voting
Rights Act. After the Dream examines the social, economic, and
political implications of these laws in the decades following their
passage, discussing the empowerment of black southerners, white
resistance, accommodation and acceptance, and the nation's political
will. The book also provides a fascinating history of the
often-overlooked period of race relations during the presidential
administrations of Ford, Carter, Reagan, and both George H. W. and
George W. Bush. Ending with the election of President Barack Obama,
this study will influence contemporary historiography on the civil
rights movement.
""Minchin and Salmond have written a first-rate work
that deserves a wide-readership. Their work greatly adds to scholars'
understanding of the struggle for racial equality." -- Timothy N.
Thurber, author of The Politics of Equality" --
Timothy J. Minchin, professor of history and deputy head of the
School of Historical and European Studies at La Trobe University, is a
recipient of the Richard A. Lester Prize from Princeton University and
a Fellow of the Australian Academy of the Humanities. He has published
widely on recent American history, especially that of the southern
states. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
John Salmond, professor emeritus of history at La Trobe University,
is the author of numerous books, including Gastonia 1929: The Story of
the Loray Mill Strike, He is also a Fellow of the Australian Academy
of the Humanities. He lives in Melbourne, Australia.
