Residential segregation was conceived as territorial defense of white islands against black encroachment
Evidence
The Columbians took this “defense” of white working-class neighborhoods quite literally. On a large map at headquarters, the leaders sketched out the perceived threat. “Here on Ashby Street, the Negroes are driving a wedge toward Bankhead Avenue. And here on Chestnut they’re getting another wedge started,” Loomis confided to a reporter. “Objective of the enemy here is to cut off this Western Heights section—and make it an ‘island’ of whites surrounded by Negroes. Then they want to keep moving on in.” The former army private continued, jabbing his finger at a dark red line along Garibaldi and Formwalt streets. “We’ve drawn the color line here,” he said, tapping the map, “and that’s the line we’re going to hold!” All along those streets, his troops patrolled in thirty-minute intervals, armed with . caliber pistols and blackjacks. — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 115
Categorization
- XREF: connects to: White homeowners performed community solidarity as a defensive strategy against desegregation — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 190; Residential desegregation fractured white working-class solidarity into defensive individualism — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 191; Residential transition fractured white communities along proximity-based lines of flight versus fight. — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the Making of…, 210 (+5 more)
Broader Connections
- White homeowners performed community solidarity as a defensive strategy against desegregation
#expands(0.88) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 190 - Whites anchored neighborhood defense to public amenities like parks and schools
#exemplifies(0.86) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 165 - Excluded whites reframed their segregationism as a defense of beleaguered rights
#expands(0.85) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 102 - Residential transition fractured white communities along proximity-based lines of flight versus fight.
#qualifies(0.78) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 210 - Residential desegregation fractured white working-class solidarity into defensive individualism
#complicates(0.75) — Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight, 191