Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters: The Struggle over Segregated Recreation in America

by Victoria W. Wolcott

Throughout the twentieth century, African Americans challenged segregation at amusement parks, swimming pools, and skating rinks not only in pursuit of pleasure but as part of a wider struggle for racial equality. Well before the Montgomery bus boycott, mothers led their children into segregated amusement parks, teenagers congregated at forbidden swimming pools, and church groups picnicked at white-only parks. But too often white mobs attacked those who dared to transgress racial norms. In Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters , Victoria W. Wolcott tells the story of this battle for access to leisure space in cities all over the United States. Contradicting the nostalgic image of urban leisure venues as democratic spaces, Wolcott reveals that racial segregation was crucial to their appeal. Parks, pools, and playgrounds offered city dwellers room to exercise, relax, and escape urban cares. These gathering spots also gave young people the opportunity to mingle, flirt, and dance. As cities grew more diverse, these social forms of fun prompted white insistence on racially exclusive recreation. Wolcott shows how black activists and ordinary people fought such infringements on their right to access public leisure. In the face of violence and intimidation, they swam at white-only beaches, boycotted discriminatory roller rinks, and picketed Jim Crow amusement parks. When African Americans demanded inclusive public recreational facilities, white consumers abandoned those places. Many parks closed or privatized within a decade of desegregation. Wolcott's book tracks the decline of the urban amusement park and the simultaneous rise of the suburban theme park, reframing these shifts within the civil rights context. Filled with detailed accounts and powerful insights, Race, Riots, and Roller Coasters brings to light overlooked aspects of conflicts over public accommodations. This eloquent history demonstrates the significance of leisure in American race relations.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Race

320 pages, Hardcover

First published August 3, 2012

Reviews

[chats · Rating 4 out of 5]

A really worthwhile summer read about the way Black families were historically shut out of urban recreational spaces, and the ways in which activists (and people who didn’t consider themselves as such) pushed to desegregate them. I would love to read more about Chicago in particular (because I live there), and I would have liked to know more about how this affected non-Black POC who tried to use the spaces as well.

[Katie · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very readable, interesting book about the fight for civil rights in public recreation areas, North and South. This book fits well into and makes good use of a nice cross section of literature--on recreation in the interwar period, on prewar civil rights activism, and on urban studies. She makes a very convincing argument that the segregation of recreation was closely linked to a wide range of other rights black Americans were fighting for, and is also convincing about how the study of this particular aspect of the civil rights movement allows us to appreciate more fully the role of women and children in fighting for access to recreational areas.

[Johanna Lemon · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very thorough and educational book about a subject that doesn't get a lot of cover.