Why the Vote Wasn't Enough for Selma

In Why the Vote Wasn't Enough for Selma Karlyn Forner rewrites the heralded story of Selma to explain why gaining the right to vote did not bring about economic justice for African Americans in the Alabama Black Belt. Drawing on a rich array of sources, Forner illustrates how voting rights failed to offset decades of systematic disfranchisement and unequal investment in African American communities. Forner contextualizes Selma as a place, not a moment within the civil rights movement -a place where black citizens' fight for full citizenship unfolded alongside an agricultural shift from cotton farming to cattle raising, the implementation of federal divestment policies, and economic globalization. At the end of the twentieth century, Selma's celebrated political legacy looked worlds apart from the dismal economic realities of the region. Forner demonstrates that voting rights are only part of the story in the black freedom struggle and that economic justice is central to achieving full citizenship.

Author: Karlyn Forner
Publisher: Duke University Press
Published: 10/17/2017
Pages: 376
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 1.10lbs
Size: 9.10h x 5.90w x 0.80d
ISBN: 9780822370055

Review Citation(s):
Library Journal 08/01/2017 pg. 106
Publishers Weekly 08/14/2017

About the Author
Karlyn Forner is Project Manager of the SNCC Digital Gateway at Duke University Libraries.