Racial History Project Resources and Links

Gracious God, you are the source and summit of all Peace, Mercy and Justice; give us your Spirit so that we might be emboldened to look into our city’s past and recognize harms so deep that they have generational impact; then Lord, strengthen our hearts to meet the demands of justice and peace and join in the work of repair and conciliation with our neighbors so that when future generations wonder what the Kingdom of God looks like, they might say, “Charlotte!”. We pray this in the confidence that you will grant what we ask so long as it accords with your will, in Jesus’ name, through the irresistible power of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

Books:

Greg Jarrell, Our Trespasses: White Churches and the Taking of American Neighborhoods, (Fortress Press, 2024)

Thomas Hanchett, Sorting out the New South City: Race, Class, and Urban Development in Charlotte, 1875-1975 (University of North Carolina Press, 1998, new edition 2020)

Fannie Flono, Thriving in the Shadows: The Black Experience in Charlotte and Mecklenburg County (Novello Festival Press, 2007)

Frye Gaillard, The Dream Long Deferred: The Landmark Struggle for Desegregation in Charlotte, North Carolina (University of South Carolina Press, 3d edition, 2006)

Anna Jean Mayhew, Tomorrow’s Bread (Kensington, 2019)

Articles:

Historic Charlotte Neighborhoods: Brooklyn

https://guides.library.charlotte.edu/c.php?g=621704&p=4626874 

Charlotte Urban Renewal

https://qcnerve.com/black-history-of-charlotte-urban-renewal-development/

Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education

https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-board-of-education/

Greenspon Center Report on Systemic Racism in Mecklenburg County Government

https://www.stangreensponcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/01/SystemicRacismInMecklenburgCountyGovernment.pdf

White Supremacist Historical US Christian Roots

https://www.wfae.org/latest-national-and-international-headlines/2020-07-01/white-supremacist-ideas-have-historical-roots-in-u-s-christianity

Episcopal Racial Justice and Reconciliation 

https://www.episcopalchurch.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2024/06/BBC-Where-You-Are_2024.pdf

North Carolina Racial Equality Dashboard

https://analytics.nccommerce.com/Racial-Equity/

Podcasts:

https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/digital/our-new-south-podcast/

Episode 6: Discrimination and Displacement

Episode 8: Brown v. Board and Beyond

App:

https://www.museumofthenewsouth.org/digital/knowclt/

Download app for self guided tour of Brooklyn neighborhood

Videos:

Author Greg Jarrell (Our Trespasses) speaking to MP Baptist Forum:

https://www.youtube.com/live/zlL-yU_Vapc?si=lcQRW4KTbJYwVSCM

Author Greg Jarrell (Our Tresspasses) with Common Good Podcast (2 of 2):

https://youtu.be/NYdYe1Lx9sU?si=iHnrbeRg0DvGCDtx

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tuu8RLGM6PA

Author Tom Hanchett (Sorting Out the New South City) to CharMeck Public Library Group as prelude-context for their Community Read of Tomorrow’s Bread by Anna Jean Mayhew:

https://youtu.be/NkDedXDl3eU?si=XJepleLqE-Rj4JRb

WTVI (PBS) Short on the history of Brooklyn

https://youtu.be/H5BQtDxG9u0?si=Z60OajsjD4rF2j6a