Beyond Integration

“Beyond Integration is a powerful, compelling addition to the historical literature on the movement and its multiple legacies. This thoughtful, well-written book joins the effort to combat the narrative of Florida exceptionalism by placing the Sunshine State firmly back into the former Confederacy.”—Journal of American History

“An important topic and valuable study, J. Michael Butler’s work offers insight into aspects of the civil rights movement that have not yet had this kind of attention. Clear and focused, Beyond Integration makes an important contribution to our knowledge about the movement outside the spotlight and the challenges African Americans faced in influencing public policy when they were an electoral minority.”—Emilye Crosby, SUNY Geneseo

“Beyond Integration does a superb job of using the civil rights movement in Pensacola, Florida, to tell larger truths about United States history. Arguing that the ‘long civil rights movement’ endured far beyond standard periodization, Butler likewise demonstrates that ‘white resistance’ to the fragile gains of the civil rights movement in the Deep South was far more robust, long-lasting, and multifaceted than historians have generally argued. Beyond Integration will make an immediate impact on debates over change and continuity in the civil rights movement as well as the nagging persistence of inequality in American life.”—Paul Ortiz, University of Florida