The Making of Twenty-First-Century Richmond: Politics, Policy, and Governance, 1988–2016

Williamson, Julian M. Hayter, and Amy L. Howard (respectively, professor of leadership studies and philosophy, politics, economics, and law; associate professor of leadership studies; and associate provost for strategic initiatives and community engagement, each at the University of Richmond) offer an in-depth look at the governance of post–civil rights era Richmond, VA, and why American cities, not just in the South, are still facing common economic and political woes and fostering economic inequality and institutionalized racism. The authors are deeply knowledgeable about Richmond and its politics, racial history, and leadership. The book begins with a reminder that Confederate statues stood on the main avenue of Richmond until the summer of 2020, after the murder of George Floyd. As the authors of this fascinating study of the internal politics of modern-day Richmond explain, the diverse group of Black Lives Matter activists in Richmond in July 2020 tore down the Confederate statues, symbols of long-standing structural racism and segregation. The book further focuses on the political history and complex governance of contemporary Richmond.