Silent Majority

Matthew D. Lassiter, Assistant Professor of History at the University of Michigan, is coeditor of "The Moderates' Dilemma: Massive Resistance to School Desegregation in Virginia".

• List of Illustrations vii List of Tables ix Acknowledgments xi Abbreviations xv Introduction 1 Part I: The Triumph of Moderation 21 Chapter 1: The Divided South 23 Chapter 2: HOPE in the New South 44 Chapter 3: The Open-Schools Movement 69 Chapter 4: The Strange Career of Atlanta Exceptionalism 94 Part II: The Revolt of the Center 119 Chapter 5: The "Charlotte Way" 121 Chapter 6: Suburban Populism 148 Chapter 7: Neighborhood Politics 175 Chapter 8: Class Fairness and Racial Stability 198 Part III: Suburban Strategies 223 Chapter 9: The Suburbanization of Southern Politics 225 Chapter 10: The Failure of the Southern Strategy 251 Chapter 11: Metropolitan Divergence 276 Chapter 12: Regional Convergence 301 Epilogue 324 Notes 331 Index 365

"This is a powerful book on a powerful subject. It should have a lasting impact on the way historians think about modern southern politics, urbanization, civil rights, and race relations."--Raymond A. Mohl, Journal of American History "Matthew Lassiter persuasively argues in The Silent Majority that the Republicans gained in the South not because of regional racism but because of the meteoric growth of the Sun Belt suburbs, which created a new class of middle-income, socially moderate and fiscally conservative voters."--Clay Risen, Atlanta Journal-Constitution "Matthew D. Lassiter argues convincingly that academics and pundits alike are wrong to point to a top-down 'southern strategy' to explain why the South transformed from a Democratic Party into a Republican stronghold. The book presents a fresh way of thinking about not only late-twentieth-century American political history but also the impact of the postwar civil rights movement."--Damon Freeman, Journal of Southern History "In this engaging and important book, Matthew Lassiter recasts the history of the postwar sunbelt South. By focusing on the complex interactions of race, class, consumerism, and the politics of metropolitan space, he supplants the familiar 'southern strategy' interpretation with one of a 'suburban strategy' driven by color-blind arguments, individualism, and free-market consumerism at the grassroots... At a time when once solidly Republican enclaves ... are becoming more diverse and susceptible to incursion by Democrats, Lassiter's fine book offers provocative ways to examine the role of race, class, consumerism, and metropolitan space in our local and national politics."--Craig A. Kaplowitz, H-Net Reviews "Lassiter makes a major contribution ... by examining the importance of the suburb... Lassiter offers first-rate, path-breaking scholarship that covers new ground and raises key questions. This book is quite well suited for graduate courses in urban studies."--Timothy K. Kinsella, Historian