New Orleans after the Promises (Paperback)

Kent B. Germany

ISBN 10: 0820329002 / ISBN 13: 9780820329000

Published by University of Georgia Press, Georgia, 2007

About this Item

Paperback. In the 1960s and 1970s, New Orleans experienced one of the greatest transformations in its history. Its people replaced Jim Crow, fought a War on Poverty, and emerged with glittering skyscrapers, professional football, and a building so large it had to be called the Superdome. New Orleans after the Promises looks back at that era to explore how a few thousand locals tried to bring the Great Society to Dixie. With faith in God and American progress, they believed that they could conquer poverty, confront racism, establish civic order, and expand the economy. At a time when liberalism seemed to be on the wane nationally, black and white citizens in New Orleans cautiously partnered with each other and with the federal government to expand liberalism in the South.As Kent Germany examines how the civil rights, antipoverty, and therapeutic initiatives of the Great Society dovetailed with the struggles of black New Orleanians for full citizenship, he defines an emerging public/private governing apparatus that he calls the "Soft State": a delicate arrangement involving constituencies as varied as old-money civic leaders and Black Power proponents who came together to sort out the meanings of such new federal programs as Community Action, Head Start, and Model Cities. While those diverse groups struggledviolently on occasionto influence the process of racial inclusion and the direction of economic growth, they dramatically transformed public life in one of America's oldest cities. While many wonder now what kind of city will emerge after Katrina, New Orleans after the Promises offers a detailed portrait of the complex city that developed after its last epic reconstruction. Germany offers a detailed portrait of the complex city that developed after its last epic reconstruction. He examines how the civil rights, antipoverty, and therapeutic initiatives of the Great Society dovetailed with the struggles of black New Orleanians for full citizenship to transform public life in one of America's oldest cities. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780820329000

Bibliographic Details

• Title: New Orleans after the Promises (Paperback)
• Publisher: University of Georgia Press, Georgia
• Publication Date: 2007
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0820329002
• ISBN 13: 9780820329000
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

In the 1960s and 1970s, New Orleans experienced one of the greatest transformations in its history. Its people replaced Jim Crow, fought a War on Poverty, and emerged with glittering skyscrapers, professional football, and a building so large it had to be called the Superdome. New Orleans after the Promises looks back at that era to explore how a few thousand locals tried to bring the Great Society to Dixie. With faith in God and American progress, they believed that they could conquer poverty, confront racism, establish civic order, and expand the economy. At a time when liberalism seemed to be on the wane nationally, black and white citizens in New Orleans cautiously partnered with each other and with the federal government to expand liberalism in the South.

As Kent Germany examines how the civil rights, antipoverty, and therapeutic initiatives of the Great Society dovetailed with the struggles of black New Orleanians for full citizenship, he defines an emerging public/private governing apparatus that he calls the "Soft State": a delicate arrangement involving constituencies as varied as old-money civic leaders and Black Power proponents who came together to sort out the meanings of such new federal programs as Community Action, Head Start, and Model Cities. While those diverse groups struggled―violently on occasion―to influence the process of racial inclusion and the direction of economic growth, they dramatically transformed public life in one of America's oldest cities. While many wonder now what kind of city will emerge after Katrina, New Orleans after the Promises offers a detailed portrait of the complex city that developed after its last epic reconstruction.

About the Author

KENT B. GERMANY, a native of Louisiana and former resident of New Orleans, is Assistant Professor of History and African American Studies at the University of South Carolina. Previously he was Deputy Director of the Presidential Recordings Program and director of the LBJ Project at the University of Virginia’s Miller Center of Public Affairs. He is co-host of "For The Record," a PBS program on politics and history, and is coeditor of two books about Lyndon Johnson and the 1960s: The Kennedy Assassination and the Transfer of Power and Toward the Great Society.