The Dream Is Lost: Voting Rights and the Politics of Race in Richmond, Virginia

Civil Rights and the Struggle for Black Equality in the Twentieth Century

by Julian Maxwell Hayter

Once the capital of the Confederacy and the industrial hub of slave-based tobacco production, Richmond, Virginia has been largely overlooked in the context of twentieth century urban and political history. By the early 1960s, the city served as an important center for integrated politics, as African Americans fought for fair representation and mobilized voters in order to overcome discriminatory policies. Richmond's African Americans struggled to serve their growing communities in the face of unyielding discrimination. Yet, due to their dedication to strengthening the Voting Rights Act of 1965, African American politicians held a city council majority by the late 1970s.

In The Dream Is Lost , Julian Maxwell Hayter describes more than three decades of national and local racial politics in Richmond and illuminates the unintended consequences of civil rights legislation. He uses the city's experience to explain the political abuses that often accompany American electoral reforms and explores the arc of mid-twentieth-century urban history. In so doing, Hayter not only reexamines the civil rights movement's origins, but also seeks to explain the political, economic, and social implications of the freedom struggle following the major legislation of the 1960s.

Hayter concludes his study in the 1980s and follows black voter mobilization to its rational conclusion―black empowerment and governance. However, he also outlines how Richmond's black majority council struggled to the meet the challenges of economic forces beyond the realm of politics. The Dream Is Lost vividly illustrates the limits of political power, offering an important view of an underexplored aspect of the post–civil rights era.

360 pages, Hardcover

Published June 2, 2017

Reviews

[Michael · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has been eye-opening for a newcomer to Richmond such as myself and the author does a great job of contextualizing local governance with what was happening nationally. My big takeaways are how from the 50s to the 80s the civil rights movement evolved from being about direct action and litigation to governance and political economy. Protestors got Washington to join in the defense of their rights that helped African-Americans assume greater political power. Once in office Richmond’s first Black Majority Council faced white obstructionism and deep cuts in federal aid from the Reagan years. As African-Americans gained greater access to political power, they fielded candidates with different responses to the shared experience of racism. This led to the rise of Roy West, who downplayed racial politics and aligned himself with white powerbrokers. One of the more memorable facts I learned was why there is a Marriot and a Hilton sitting across one another on E. Broad St. African-Americans backed development of the Marriot north of Broad in the name of spurring revitalization of Jackson Ward. Whites didn’t think anyone would stay in a hotel so close to Jackson Ward and backed development of the Hilton south of Broad. It’s a powerful symbol of the racial strife of the 70s and 80s. The book errs on the side of academic but I’d still recommend it to anyone looking to get more back story on some of the debates that are playing out today about economic development, poverty and regionalism.