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Abstract
This dissertation argues that Richmond, Virginia—the former Confederate capital—compelled the nation to heal its race relations after the modern Civil Rights Movement. As a black suburbanite born in the 1990s, I grew up experiencing an unprecedented level of racial harmony in Richmond. I later learned that residents used downtown revitalization in the 1980s and public history in the 1990s to mend their racial divides. Richmond’s efforts became national in the next century when several cities, along with the White House, began socially engineering a post-racial America. My dissertation informs the historiographic consensus that the South maintained its regional distinction after World War II. The South, once seen as a blight upon the nation in terms of race relations, has become one of the most racially progressive regions in America. Scholars focusing on Charlotte, Atlanta, and Houston credit metropolization with this development. However, I argue that Richmond’s struggles with acknowledging, embracing, and changing its collective identity better explains the South’s recent thirst for racial reconciliation.