First published 2013
Atlanta once proudly called itself "The City Too Busy to Hate" during the civil rights movement. The city presented itself as a Southern exception where Black and white residents coexisted and prospered. But the 1960s and 1970s brought massive white migration to suburban areas, earning Atlanta a bitter new moniker: "The City Too Busy Moving to Hate." Kevin Kruse examines this white flight phenomenon in Atlanta and across America, moving beyond surface explanations to understand segregationists within their own worldview. He reveals how white resistance to civil rights, while failing to halt the movement itself, succeeded in preserving segregation through more sophisticated methods. Kruse argues that white flight represented far more than physical relocation. It marked a fundamental shift in political thinking that helped forge modern conservative ideology. The book traces how traditional conservative principles like distrust of federal power and belief in free markets evolved through postwar segregation battles, while white resistance spawned new causes including tax revolts, school vouchers, and privatization efforts. Kruse follows Southern conservatives as they moved from explicit white supremacy to suburban political power, revealing the roots of contemporary American politics.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, american-history
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-perspective, social-commentary
Setting: Atlanta, America
Period: 1960s, 1970s
352 pages · ebook · Princeton University Press
Content warnings: racism