Sharing the Prize: The Economics of the Civil Rights Revolution in the American South

摘要

What did the Civil Rights Movement really accomplish? Nearly fifty years after the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, the question is still contentious. The persistence of racial disparities in economic status is undeniable, but Gavin Wright's historical perspective puts him solidly on the optimistic side of the debate. He argues that the Civil Rights Movement led to real and lasting improvements in the lives of African Americans in the South and, importantly, had broad benefits for the region's economic development, implying that by and large southern whites gained, too. In sum, "... this was a revolution in which almost all parties gained" (xi).