Soul City

November 9, 2020
An attempt to build an American city “where Blacks would call the shots” foundered on bureaucracy, economic headwinds, and racial antagonism, according to this wistful and well-documented history. Seton Hall law professor Healy (The Great Dissent) recounts the story of Soul City, a community intended by its founder, civil rights activist Floyd McKissick, as a showcase for Black economic and political empowerment. Construction started in 1972 on 5,000 acres in rural North Carolina, but the project fizzled after losing its loan guarantees from the Department of Housing and Urban Development in 1979, leaving behind a subdivision, inhabited to this day, and an abandoned factory where prison inmates now make soap. Healy paints Soul City as a mix of idealistic urbanism, muted Black separatism, and transactional politics (McKissick switched parties from Democrat to Republican and endorsed President Richard Nixon’s 1972 reelection campaign in order to get federal backing). Healy emphasizes how racial prejudice contributed to Soul City’s demise, but also notes the flaw in McKissick’s strategy of basing the town’s economy on manufacturing in an era of stagflation and deindustrialization. Full of incisive character sketches and thought-provoking insights into the politics of Black empowerment, this is a worthy elegy for what might have been. Photos.

November 15, 2020
An in-depth account of the rise and fall of Soul City, North Carolina, designed to be a new city focused on racial equality. Healy, a law professor and North Carolina native, provides a comprehensive history of the town, proposed for an area "in the middle of what one roadside billboard boldly proclaimed 'Klan Country.' " Introduced in 1969 by civil rights leader Floyd McKissick (1922-1991), Soul City was meant to be "a new kind of city, one with a stronger sense of community, a deeper regard for the well-being of others, and a more egalitarian distribution of wealth. He also hoped to incorporate the latest innovations in social policy and urban design, boasting that Soul City would be 'a showpiece of democracy in a sea of hypocrisy.' " Throughout this deft historical narrative, the author provides useful context and perspective about the civil rights movement and the lives of the key players in the venture, including McKissick, the government officials who opposed it (one was Jesse Helms, who "had little enthusiasm for the kind of federal programs supporting Soul City, and even less enthusiasm for the project's goal of racial uplift"), the journalists who reported on it, and the people who lived there. Healy ably delineates the complex process of creating a city from scratch, which involved promotion, fundraising, grueling bureaucracy and political attacks, and attempting to convincing people and businesses to relocate to the proposed city--not to mention the devastating series of articles in the Raleigh News & Observer alleging fraud and corruption on the part of McKissick. Charting this significant but overlooked piece of modern American history, the author's intent "is not to assign blame. It is to understand the forces that lead to its failure and the lessons it offers for the pursuit of racial equality today." On that note, the author succeeds admirably. An engrossing and often heartbreaking look at a singular attempt to achieve some measure of racial equality in the U.S.

COPYRIGHT(2020) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from January 1, 2021

In 1969, civil rights leader Floyd McKissick proposed developing Soul City, in rural Warren County, North Carolina. Unlike other planned communities of its time, Soul City was intended to exemplify Black economic empowerment and reverse the migration of Black people to the North. Healy (The Great Dissent) brings the saga of Soul City to life from its inception to eventual demise. First, Healy provides background on McKissick's life and motivations for building the community. McKissick's vision for Soul City encompassed homes, amenities, infrastructure and businesses, none of which existed on the undeveloped land. Healy chronicles McKissick's struggle to obtain funding, his troubles with the Department of Housing and Urban Development, as well as Jesse Helms, North Carolina's racist senator. Additionally, McKissick argued with the Raleigh News and Observer, which published a series of negative articles on the project. Despite these setbacks, McKissick obtained the support of local community members, and his vision proved attractive to potential tenants. Additionally, Healy engages with issues of race and segregation and provides insightful analysis of the project's successes and failures. Included are occasional photographs of prominent figures involved in the development. VERDICT An absorbing account of a visionary project that will engage readers interested in Southern history.--Rebekah Kati, Univ. of North Carolina, Chapel Hill

Copyright 2021 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

January 1, 2021
Congress of Racial Equality leader Floyd McKissick devised an alternative to three solutions offered by the 1968 Kerner Commission to address urban unrest, which were: maintain current policies, improve the quality of inner-city life while abandoning integration as a goal, or encourage "Negro movement" out of central city areas. McKissick's idea was, instead, to create entirely new towns, composed largely but not solely of African Americans, all placed in rural settings. His first, Soul City, set on 5,000 acres of North Carolina farmland and backed by $14 million in federal loan guarantees, would create jobs and housing for tens of thousands of people, offering a clean slate to the urban poor and stabilizing a rural population otherwise moving to overcrowded cities. However, worn down by red tape at HUD, battered by a well-meaning but misunderstanding local press, and relentlessly attacked by newly minted, right wing Senator Jesse Helms, among other barriers, Soul City would die on the vine. Seton Hall University law professor Healy brings equal measures of sympathy and detail to this quixotic story.

COPYRIGHT(2021) Booklist, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.