Good Parents, Better Homes, and Great Schools: Selling Segregation Before the New Deal (Hardcover) (ISBN-13: 9781469684932)

Good Parents, Better Homes, and Great Schools examines how white residential developers, planning consultants, and their allies in government strategically replaced block-level segregation with segregation at the neighborhood level in New South cities such as Atlanta, Baltimore, Birmingham, Houston, Raleigh, and Winston-Salem. Going beyond the well-known Home Owners' Loan Corporation maps of the 1930s, Karen Benjamin traces segregation tactics back to the late nineteenth century, when this public-private partnership laid the groundwork for the nationwide segregation strategies codified by the New Deal.

This book links the tactics of residential and school segregation to prevailing middle-class ideas about what constitutes good parenting, ensuring the longevity of both practices. By focusing on efforts that specifically targeted parents, Benjamin not only adds a new dimension to the history of residential segregation but also helps explain why that legacy has been so difficult to undo.

Author: Karen Benjamin
ISBN-10: 1469684934
ISBN-13: 9781469684932
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Language: English
Published: 05/13/2025
Pages: 440
Format: Hardcover