Charleston: Race, Water and the Coming Storm

by Susan Crawford

An unflinching look at Charleston, a beautiful, endangered port city, founded by English settlers in 1669 as a hub of the sugar and slave trades, which now, as the waters rise, stands at the intersection of climate and race.

Unbeknownst to the tourists who visit the charming streets of the Charleston peninsula, rapidly rising sea levels and increasingly devastating storms are mere years away from rendering the city uninhabitable. Weaving science, narrative history, and the family stories of Black Charlestonians, Race, Water, and the Coming Storm chronicles the tumultuous recent past in the life of the city – from protests to hurricanes – while illuminating the escalating riskiness of its future. Charleston’s vulnerability is emblematic of vast portions of global coastlines that are likely to be chronically inundated in just a few decades. In Charleston, as in other global cities, little planning is underway to ensure a thriving future for all residents.

Charleston , by Harvard Law School professor and author Susan Crawford, tells the story of a city that has played a central role in America's painful racial history for centuries.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Science, Politics, Environment, Race, Urban Planning

384 pages, Paperback

Published August 24, 2023

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author by this name in the Goodreads data base.

Reviews

[Joanna Warrens · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent Charleston book

I read this book while on vacation in Folly Beach. It helped me to see the layers around me: in the landscape, in the people, in the water, in the history.

[Miranda · Rating 2 out of 5]

To sound like a broken record, another one that could have been a long magazine article. Still, it's infuriating what continues on there and everywhere!

[Abbey · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow. This book put into words so many of the feelings I had living in Charleston, and I can see why so many Charlestonians have bombed these reviews. I could see this being very difficult to read if you are a white person in love with the side of Charleston you get to enjoy. This book is very honest about the "Southern Charm" veneer the peninsula clings to and the refusal to change. The history and continued racism of the city is everywhere if you look even an inch below the surface.

In just the two years I lived there, the flooding downtown was debilitating - at our downtown schools, we had students who would be kept home if it threatened to rain because parents knew they wouldn't be able to get to the school if it flooded. And those schools are in the neighborhoods the city's "plans" ignore. I can imagine how much worse it will get in the coming years, and this book faces that head on. There was a lot to love in the city, and I'm sad to think about all that will be lost with climate change, but this book is an important read to understand what so many coastal cities will face in the coming decades.

[Corey · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5. Parts of this book were fascinating, but also scary. Parts of this book were literally just repeating itself. It could have been condensed and that would have made it so much more dynamic and punchy. But the info in this book is both engaging and daunting.

[Kate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Pros: I am a map geek, and this book is, at heart, a geography book. I loved all the maps, detailed geographic descriptions, and ties to history of the region. Learned a lot about the Charleston region and its challenges. Cons: the author is a lawyer (so am I...), and too often she inserted her opinions rather artlessly and jarringly into the narrative. A good writer will weave in their thesis or their points through storytelling, quotes from others, or compilation of facts. While she certainly did plenty of that, she would also just insert her "conclusions" into paragraphs like she was a 1L IRACing her first legal memo. (#iykyk). Example: In discussing North Charleston, she described various challenges and then just states (in her own voice): "What [the city] really needs to do is build more affordable housing and ensure that the children going to school there learn to read." These kind of blunt, spoon-fed pronouncements take away from the narrative. We are not an overworked judge, and we don't need your legal brief instructing us how to rule. *LEAD* us to that conclusion through narrative, anecdote, or quotes from others. She used a lot of repetition too. Again, perhaps a compelling tactic for a legal brief, not so much for an engaging popular non fiction read. Anyway, I liked the book, I learned a lot from it, I just wish the author would have gotten out of her own way a little bit, trusted the readership, and let the compelling story speak for itself.

[Mitchell Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

It has been a long time since I was last in Charleston. I considered it a beautiful city with awesome food and just a great place to visit. And really it is clear that I wasn't alone to think this.

That's not really what this book is a bout. This book is about a train wreck that is already happening. And one that already has winners or losers, and the likeliness that you are one or the other largely depends on the color of your skin. Sigh.

The book itself was a bit of a slog. And at times repetitive. But it was also fairly clear.

Not an enjoyable book. Not an easy read.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

I gave this three stars because it is not very well written. However it is a five star read in terms of “everyone should read it” because it is sounding the alarm of ignoring climate change while also ignoring the effects of historic racial discrimination at the same time. It is a warning to us all!

[Libby Doyle · Rating 3 out of 5]

We’re all fucked

[Brian Grover · Rating 4 out of 5]

Laura and I make an annual pilgrimage to Charleston to visit her brother and his family, and I took this along as reading material this year. It's a really interesting book (imo). The main takeaway is that almost all of Charleston proper is built in a floodplain less than ten feet above sea level, so in theory it (along w/ Miami and New Orleans) is going to be in major trouble as soon as a few decades from now, as sea levels continue to rise.

However, it's also part history text, and deals alot with the politics of race. Specifically, it documents how the steps Charleston is taking to preserve its historic old town are coming at the expense of thousands of lower income residents who live in majority Black neighborhoods on the east and west sides of town. Crawford is a Harvard professor, so I have no doubt she's brilliant, but I don't love her writing style. I also think she came at this from an angle, and while it's one I'm sympathetic to, I feel like she might have talked to a few of the city leaders who are driving this policy, rather than limiting her interviews to leaders of these low-income communities.

At the end of the day, I thought it was an interesting read, and makes me think I should probably consider mixing in more similar non-fiction into my reading diet. Four stars.

[Anna Logan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think Crawford does a great job here recounting the history of Charleston as it relates to the current persistence of racial and environmental issues. I enjoyed the approach of using stories about important individuals who embody the themes of these issues — it added a personal touch beyond the history lesson that demonstrates how Charleston’s awful background manifests into negative impacts for community members in the present day. At times I think she went a little too far into depicting Charleston as this hellscape of a landscape, although given the myriad of issues they are set to face in the next century I can definitely see it beginning to transition that way. Also had a quote from my boss Joshua Robinson featured which was cool to read! It made me feel really connected to the narrative and see how my specific work as an engineer can fit into the puzzle. Great read for anyone interested in the past, present, or future of Charleston

[Martin Empson · Rating 3 out of 5]

A stark discussion of the intersection between race, class and climate driven flooding in the city of Charleston, South Carolina, USA. A city blighted by the legacy of slavery and contemporary racism. Crawford ably describes the coming disaster and how the black community and the poorest will be hit worst and first. She also shows how racism and a city bureaucracy obsessed with profits and tourist dollars care little for the majority of the city inhabitants. But while themes of activism and change from below are ever present in the account Crawford displays an illogical hope that the Federal government and the US state might be able to prevent disaster. It would have been useful to include some closer studies of New Orleans after Katrina or other places destroyed by floods. Nonetheless a frightening and important read.

[Mary D · Rating 5 out of 5]

I lived in the Charleston area from 2004-2019 and found this book to be accurate with what I personally noticed that subsequently made me decide to sell my house and leave the area. Flooding was definitely more frequent in my last few years there and I watched with alarm the 26.88" of rain that fell in four days in the fall of 2015 in Mt Pleasant where I lived. If I remember right this was recorded at Boone Hall which was less than a mile from my house. I read some about the race issues in the Post and Courier but had no firsthand knowledge of it. I hope that relocation is done for those economically not well off but doubt it will happen before it's too late.

[Nick · Rating 3 out of 5]

Susan Crawford doesn’t want yo, or anyone else, to live in Charleston. It’s a very enlightening read but also extremely judgmental, one-sided, and almost perversely fixated on a racial divide between whites and African-Americans.

Based on the book you would think moving to Charleston is like moving to hell on earth, yet this forces you to assume literally all of the people who live there you’ve talked to are profoundly deluded. A weird assumption to have. But that’s what Crawford wants you to assume.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

The points made in "Charleston: Race, Water, and the Coming Storm" by Susan Crawford; warming climate, rising sea level, the disaster awaiting millions of people, and the huge disparity of options for the economically disadvantaged and minorities are all extremely important - worthy of 5 stars. But Crawford's writing is sub par and the book's repetitiveness are tedious, 3 stars is generous.
Still, as someone originally from Charleston, I'm hoping current Charlestonians read and think long and hard about the issue raised here.

[Debbie Sarvis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Climate change, racism, over development, and a glaring lack of planning to mitigate a catastrophe that is on its way to the city I am living in. Thanks to this book, I will be a better informed voter and resident of Charleston. If you live near the ocean anywhere in the US, you should read this book, the author used Charleston as a cautionary tale for everyone everywhere.

[Lonnie Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thorough look at the convergence of climate science, race, history, and urban planning in Charleston, SC.
Infuriating to read at several parts, but rewarding overall.
Worth a read if you need some facts and/or a case study to fuel your climate catastrophe dread.

[Michelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5: clear explanation of the complex historic and scientific issues that will be the end of Charleston, sooner or later. Intriguing and sad.

[milan Patel · Rating 5 out of 5]

phenomenal and timely book

This was a truly great read. The author presents the issues clearly and fairly, compiling information from a great deal of resources

[Debbie Cole]

This book needs to be read by every climate change denier out there! Also has a lot of facts supporting climate change that can be used effectively in conversation with climate change deniers.

[pianogal · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an interesting read. If I had any property in Charleston, I’d be selling it.

[Helen Wallace · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while visiting Charleston. The book is eye opening about ongoing racism, a culture of corruption and incredibly reckless public policy. Sadly, there will be a reckoning.

[Grayson Stiglbauer · Rating 1 out of 5]

Doomsday porn. Over-simplified vindication of a complicated southern city written by a Californian living in Massachusetts.

[Richard · Rating 2 out of 5]

If it had not been for a favorable review by the NYT I probably would never have read this book.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/10/bo...

On the one hand, I am glad that I did. With 106 pages of endnotes Crawford clearly did a tremendous amount of research to substantiate her arguments. A clear, narrative style of prose made Charleston quite readable. Charts, tables, and maps elaborated on and increased my engagement with the book. After providing some history of and a primer on the geography of the city each chapter focused on a particular area of the city and some of the people who play(ed) a significant role in it.

On the other hand, my interest began to wane towards the last few chapters. This was because her descriptions of the people got to be too lengthy for my tastes. And the sociopolitical and racial dynamics she was discussing became redundant. How many times does one need to read that systemic racism and that short sighted profit making underlie the decision making of the city’s leaders while they ignore the medium, let alone the longer term threats which the city faces? Thus, I skipped the last two chapters and skimmed the concluding one.

Perhaps readers with a greater interest in the city itself might not find that the book becomes tedious towards the end. As I skipped two chapters and skimmed the last I do not feel I can give it more than 2 stars.

[Tom Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

Anyone who is concerned about climate change and the impact that it will have on the coastal communities in the United States should read this book. Charleston's history has played a major role in the city's lack of preparedness for the coming of sea level rise. Charleston has protected its historic district that drives the local economy while ignoring the poor communities that sit just outside that area. The coming problems with sea level rise will exacerbate those problems since Charleston has not done any preparation to help those poor communities survive the coming decades of the 21st century. Charleston prides itself on being one of the most visited cities in the U.S. yet it has done almost nothing to prepare for its future. It seems to be relying on the federal government to ride to the rescue after a major catastrophe like Hurricane Hugo destroys the city. I found the story of Charleston to be one of recklessness and shortsightedness. Sadly it is not typical of most of our coastal communities. In all honesty, everyone should read this book since all of us will be asked to "save" Charleston after it has done nothing to prepare for the flooding, rainfall and storms that seem likely to come more frequently with each passing decade.

[Mark Thompson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent, captivating, and so thorough a dive into both American history and the many parts neglected before. Yes, the storms, plural, have come and are coming. This book tells us, warns us, of the inevitable crisis, no matter how many deny it. And it links the swallowing up of coastal cities with the poor neighborhoods that will go first. How anyone can deny structural racism after reading such a book, and learning of its impact in wide swaths of our culture, I will never know. A challenging and insightful book that should be read by all.