No Common Ground

Confederate Monuments and the Ongoing Fight for Racial Justice

By Karen L. Cox | Publisher: The University of North Carolina Press

About the book

When it comes to Confederate monuments, there is no common ground. Polarizing debates over their meaning have intensified into legislative maneuvering to preserve the statues, legal battles to remove them, and rowdy crowds taking matters into their own hands. These conflicts have raged for well over a century — but they've never been as intense as they are today.

In this eye-opening narrative of the efforts to raise, preserve, protest, and remove Confederate monuments, Karen L. Cox depicts what these statues meant to those who erected them and how a movement arose to force a reckoning. She lucidly shows the forces that drove white southerners to construct beacons of white supremacy, as well as the ways that antimonument sentiment, largely stifled during the Jim Crow era, returned with the civil rights movement and gathered momentum in the decades after the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Monument defenders responded with gerrymandering and “heritage” laws intended to block efforts to remove these statues, but hard as they worked to preserve the Lost Cause vision of southern history, civil rights activists, Black elected officials, and movements of ordinary people fought harder to take the story back. Timely, accessible, and essential, No Common Ground is the story of the seemingly invincible stone sentinels that are just beginning to fall from their pedestals.

Editions of No Common Ground

Hardcover
ISBN 9781469662671
EBook
ISBN 9781469662695
EBook
ISBN 9798890861085
EBook
ISBN 9781469662688
PDF
ISBN 9798890861078

Read an Excerpt

When it comes to Confederate monuments, there is no common ground. Polarizing debates over their meaning have intensified into legislative maneuvering to preserve the statues, legal battles to remove them, and rowdy crowds taking matters into their own hands. These conflicts have raged for well over a century — but they've never been as intense as they are today.

In this eye-opening narrative of the efforts to raise, preserve, protest, and remove Confederate monuments, Karen L. Cox depicts what these statues meant to those who erected them and how a movement arose to force a reckoning. She lucidly shows the forces that drove white southerners to construct beacons of white supremacy, as well as the ways that antimonument sentiment, largely stifled during the Jim Crow era, returned with the civil rights movement and gathered momentum in the decades after the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Monument defenders responded with gerrymandering and “heritage” laws intended to block efforts to remove these statues, but hard as they worked to preserve the Lost Cause vision of southern history, civil rights activists, Black elected officials, and movements of ordinary people fought harder to take the story back. Timely, accessible, and essential, No Common Ground is the story of the seemingly invincible stone sentinels that are just beginning to fall from their pedestals.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is No Common Ground about?

When it comes to Confederate monuments, there is no common ground. Polarizing debates over their meaning have intensified into legislative maneuvering to preserve the statues, legal battles to remove them, and rowdy crowds taking matters into their own hands. These conflicts have raged for well over a century — but they've never been as intense as they are today.

In this eye-opening narrative of the efforts to raise, preserve, protest, and remove Confederate monuments, Karen L. Cox depicts what these statues meant to those who erected them and how a movement arose to force a reckoning. She lucidly shows the forces that drove white southerners to construct beacons of white supremacy, as well as the ways that antimonument sentiment, largely stifled during the Jim Crow era, returned with the civil rights movement and gathered momentum in the decades after the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Monument defenders responded with gerrymandering and “heritage” laws intended to block efforts to remove these statues, but hard as they worked to preserve the Lost Cause vision of southern history, civil rights activists, Black elected officials, and movements of ordinary people fought harder to take the story back. Timely, accessible, and essential, No Common Ground is the story of the seemingly invincible stone sentinels that are just beginning to fall from their pedestals.

What core themes, tropes, or subjects are explored in No Common Ground?

History and Archaeology > History > History: specific events and topics > Social and cultural history

Where can I read a sample of No Common Ground?

You can read an official preview of the few pages here https://www.book2look.com/book/9781469662671

How long is No Common Ground and how many pages does it have?

No Common Ground has 224 page(s)

Is No Common Ground part of a series, and can it be read as a standalone?

Yes it is a part of series A Ferris and Ferris Book

Who is/are the Author/s of the book No Common Ground?

Karen L. Cox

Who is the Publisher of the book No Common Ground?

The University of North Carolina Press

What are the ISBN numbers for the physical and digital editions?

No Common Ground is available as hardcover(ISBN 9781469662671) and ebook(ISBN 9781469662695) and ebook(ISBN 9798890861085) and ebook(ISBN 9781469662688) and pdf(ISBN 9798890861078)

Where can I buy No Common Ground online or support local independent bookshops?

You can buy No Common Ground from below

Where can I buy No Common Ground?