Colored Property: State Policy and White Racial Politics in Suburban America (Historical Studies of Urban America)

Northern whites in the post–World War II era began to support the principle of civil rights, so why did many of them continue to oppose racial integration in their communities? Challenging conventional wisdom about the growth, prosperity, and racial exclusivity of American suburbs, David M. P. Freund argues that previous attempts to answer this question have overlooked a change in the racial thinking of whites and the role of suburban politics in effecting this change. In Colored Property , he shows how federal intervention spurred a dramatic shift in the language and logic of residential exclusion—away from invocations of a mythical racial hierarchy and toward talk of markets, property, and citizenship. Freund begins his exploration by tracing the emergence of a powerful public-private alliance that facilitated postwar suburban growth across the nation with federal programs that significantly favored whites. Then, showing how this national story played out in metropolitan Detroit, he visits zoning board and city council meetings, details the efforts of neighborhood “property improvement” associations, and reconstructs battles over race and housing to demonstrate how whites learned to view discrimination not as an act of racism but as a legitimate response to the needs of the market. Illuminating government’s powerful yet still-hidden role in the segregation of U.S. cities, Colored Property presents a dramatic new vision of metropolitan growth, segregation, and white identity in modern America.

In Colored Property, David M. P. Freund shows how federal intervention spurred a dramatic shift in the language and logic of racial integration in residential neighborhoods after World War II-away from invocations of a mythical racial hierarchy and toward talk of markets, property, and citizenship.

Freund traces the emergence of a powerful public-private alliance that facilitated postwar suburban growth across the nation with federal programs that significantly favored whites. Then, showing how this national story played out in metropolitan Detroit, he demonstrates how whites learned to view discrimination not as an act of racism but as a legitimate response to the needs of the market. Illuminating government's powerful yet still-hidden role in the segregation of U.S. cities, Colored Property presents a dramatic new vision of metropolitan growth, segregation, and white identity in modern America.

Winner of the Organization of American Historians' Ellis W. Hawley Prize (2008), the Urban Historical Association's Kenneth Jackson North American Best Book Award (2007), and the Urban Affairs Association's Best Book Award (2009)

Shows How Federal Intervention Spurred A Dramatic Shift In The Language And Logic Of Racial Integration In Residential Neighborhoods After World War Ii - Away From Invocations Of A Mythical Racial Hierarchy And Toward Talk Of Markets, Property, And Citizenship. The New Politics Of Race And Property -- Local Control And The Rights Of Property : The Politics Of Incorporation, Zoning, And Race Before 1940 -- Financing Suburban Growth : Federal Policy And The Birth Of A Racialized Market For Homes, 1930-1940 -- Putting Private Capital Back To Work : The Logic Of Federal Intervention, 1930-1940 -- A Free Market For Housing : Policy, Growth, And Exclusion In Suburbia, 1940-1970 -- Defending And Defining The New Neighborhood : The Politics Of Exclusion In Royal Oak, 1940-1955 -- Saying Race Out Loud : The Politics Of Exclusion In Dearborn, 1940-1955 -- The National Is Local : Race And Development In An Era Of Civil Rights Protest, 1955-1964 -- Colored Property And White Backlash. David M.p. Freund. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [405]-488) And Index. Freund begins his exploration by tracing the emergence of a powerful public-private alliance that facilitated postwar suburban growth across the nation with federal programs that significantly favored whites. Then, showing how this national story played out in metropolitan Detroit, he visits zoning board and city council meetings, details the efforts of neighborhood �property improvement� associations, and reconstructs battles over race and housing to demonstrate how whites learned to view discrimination not as an act of racism but as a legitimate response to the needs of the market. Ultimately, Freund illuminates government s powerful yet still-hidden role in the segregation of metropolitan America. -- From publisher description "Northern whites in the post-World War II era began to support the principle of civil rights, so why did many of them continue to oppose racial integration in their communities? Challenging conventional wisdom about the growth, prosperity, and racial exclusivity of American suburbs, David M.P. Freund argues that previous attempts to answer this question have over-looked a change in the racial thinking of whites and the role of suburban politics in effecting this change. In Colored Property, he shows how federal intervention spurred a dramatic shift in the language and logic of residential exclusion - away from invocations of a mythical racial hierarchy and toward talk of markets, property, and citizenship."--Jacket