Chocolate City

A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital

Chris Myers Asch, George Derek Musgrove

• Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press
• Year: 2017
• Print ISBN: 9781469654720, 9781469635866
• eBook ISBN: 9781469635873
• Topic: History
• Subtopic: North American History
• Index: History

Monumental in scope and vividly detailed, Chocolate City tells the tumultuous, four-century story of race and democracy in our nation’s capital. Emblematic of the ongoing tensions between America’s expansive democratic promises and its enduring racial realities, Washington often has served as a national battleground for contentious issues, including slavery, segregation, civil rights, the drug war, and gentrification. But D.C. is more than just a seat of government, and authors Chris Myers Asch and George Derek Musgrove also highlight the city’s rich history of local activism as Washingtonians of all races have struggled to make their voices heard in an undemocratic city where residents lack full political rights.

Tracing D.C.’s massive transformations — from a sparsely inhabited plantation society into a diverse metropolis, from a center of the slave trade to the nation’s first black-majority city, from “Chocolate City” to “Latte City” — Asch and Musgrove offer an engaging narrative peppered with unforgettable characters, a history of deep racial division but also one of hope, resilience, and interracial cooperation.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations and Tables
• Acknowledgments
• Introduction | Always a Chocolate City
• One | Your Coming Is Not for Trade, but to Invade My People and Possess My Country: A Native American World under Siege, 1608–1790
• Two | Of Slaving Blacks and Democratic Whites: Building a Capital of Slavery and Freedom, 1790–1815
• Three | Our Boastings of Liberty and Equality Are Mere Mockeries: Confronting Contradictions in the Nation’s Capital, 1815–1836
• Four | Slavery Must Die: The Turbulent End to Human Bondage in Washington, 1836–1862
• Five | Emancipate, Enfranchise, Educate: Freedom and the Hope of Interracial Democracy, 1862–1869
• Six | Incapable of Self-Government: The Retreat from Democracy, 1869–1890
• Seven | National Show Town: Building a Modern, Prosperous, and Segregated Capital, 1890–1912
• Eight | There Is a New Negro to Be Reckoned With: Segregation, War, and a New Spirit of Black Militancy, 1912–1932
• Nine | Washington Is a Giant Awakened: Community Organizing in a Booming City, 1932–1945
• Ten | Segregation Does Not Die Gradually of Itself: Jim Crow’s Collapse, 1945–1956
• Eleven | How Long? How Long?: Mounting Frustration within the Black Majority, 1956–1968
• Twelve | There’s Gonna Be Flames, There’s Gonna Be Fighting, There’s Gonna Be Rebellion!: The Tumult and Promise of Chocolate City, 1968–1978
• Thirteen | Perfect for Washington: Marion Barry and the Rise and Fall of Chocolate City, 1979–1994
• Fourteen | Go Home Rich White People: Washington Becomes Wealthier and Whiter, 1995–2010
• Epilogue | That Must Not Be True of Tomorrow: History, Race, and Democracy in a New Moment of Racial Flux
• Essay on Sources
• Notes
• Selected Bibliography
• Index