Black Excellence

""This revelatory work provides a fundamentally new perspective on the forms of neoliberalism that the mainstream Democratic Party came to embrace in the 1970s and beyond to show its roots in a distinctive brand of Black politics that took shape in post-civil rights Atlanta. It is a must-read for anyone interested in the past, present, and future of liberalism and the Democrats.""-- ""Lily Geismer, author of Left Behind: The Democrats' Failed Attempt to Solve Inequality"" ""Black Excellence is a remarkable exploration of the political implications of class stratification among Black people. Danielle Wiggins's study is an incredible contribution to the larger scholarship of post-1960s Black politics, guiding us through an urgently needed genealogy of the Black neoliberal turn in modern America.""-- ""Leah Wright Rigueur, author of The Loneliness of the Black Republican: Pragmatic Politics and the Pursuit of Power"" ""Black Excellence is a richly researched and beautifully written analysis of the role of Black liberals, a complicated group of scholars, activists, and leaders, who sought racial justice while holding onto antiquated, moralistic, and harmful views of the Black communities that needed justice the most. Danielle Wiggins provides an invaluable social and political history of the real-life tensions between racial unity and class solidarity in the booming Black Mecca of Atlanta and beyond.""-- ""Marcia Chatelain, author of Franchise: The Golden in Arches in Black America"" ""Beautifully written and wonderfully insightful, Black Excellence is a must read for anyone who wants to understand both the liberatory and disciplinary history of black liberalism in the post-civil rights era.""-- ""George Derek Musgrove, co-author of Chocolate City: A History of Race and Democracy in the Nation's Capital""