Description
Book SynopsisTracing the evolution of an extraordinary biracial coalition in Los Angeles behind Mayor Tom Bradley, this book shows how 'crossover' politics and racial violence coexist in urban America. Challenging the pessimism about biracial coalitions in general, it compares their relative successes in Los Angeles to their disheartening failures in New York.
Trade ReviewWinner of the 1994 Ralph J. Bunche Award, American Political Science Association "[A] perceptive and compelling analysis of the course of interracial politics in Los Angeles."--John White, The Times Higher Education Supplement "An excellent account of the Bradley era."--Los Angeles Times "In addition to being almost as current as the newspaper, Raphael Sonenshein provides a wealth of detail carefully placed in the evolving history of racial politics of Los Angeles... Much like Moses and the promised land, Sonenshein's book offers a view of what the future may hold for racial coalitions... The analysis in Politics in Black and White offers valuable guidance to those who seek to understand politics in our increasingly diverse society."--Charles S. Bullock, III, Political Science Quarterly "This is clearly a valuable volume that needs to be studied by anybody who is concerned with the pragmatic and moral problems of race and ethnicity in American politics."--John Louis Lucaites, Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science "... a book that will set an agenda for research and the interpretation of urban politics for years to come... The story that Sonenshein tells is vivid, based on solid evidence, and convincing."--Melvin L. Oliver, Contemporary Sociology
Table of ContentsList of IllustrationsList of TablesPrefaceAcknowledgmentsPt. 1Background1Overview: Biracial Coalition Politics32Minorities in the Entrepreneurial City: 1781-1960213First Victories: 1960-196336Pt. 2The Road to Power4The Roots of Biracial Politics: The Tenth District555Race, Ideology, and the Formation of a New Citywide Coalition676The 1969 Mayoral Crusade857Biracial Victory: The 1973 Mayoral Election1018Factional Conflicts and the Consolidation of Biracial Power114Pt. 3The Coalition in Power9Political Change: Power Shifts13910Economic Change: A Mixed Record16311Political Hegemony: 1973-198517612The Breakdown of Consensus: 1985-199019113The Rodney King Case and Los Angeles Coalition Politics210Pt. 4Endings and Beginnings14Biracial Coalition Politics in Los Angeles and New York City22915Multiracial Coalitions in the Future of Los Angeles: Politics beyond Black and White24616Conclusions and Implications: Toward a New Contract for Biracial Politics269References283Index293
