A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization - Hardcover

McBride, Dennis R.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0253074061 ISBN 13: 9780253074065

Publisher: Indiana University Press, 2025

Synopsis

Some years change the course of history. 2020 was one of those years. As a pandemic, lockdowns, and economic downturn convulsed America, police shootings of George Floyd and other Black men touched off the largest protest movement in U.S. history. At the same time, mass shootings soared; many states saw unprecedented increases in gun-related incidents. Churning in the background were a bitter presidential election campaign and counter-protests opposing public health measures and the election result itself. Mayors of cities big and small struggled with some of these challenges, but Dennis McBride, the new mayor of a mid-sized, mostly-White suburb bordered by the majority-minority City of Milwaukee – called the "heartland of the heartland" – faced them all. His city, a microcosm of a troubled America, teetered on the verge of anarchy while playing a crucial role in the presidential election. Though the chaos of that historic year has gradually subsided, the pandemic's impact is still reverberating in the nation's economy, politics, and psyche. Americans and their leaders are searching for a new equilibrium. That balance will be found first in America's hometowns. A City on the Edge: Pandemic, Protest, and Polarization offers a path forward.

About this title

About the Author

Dennis R. McBride is the mayor of Wauwatosa, Wisconsin and co-author of The Luckiest Boy in the World. He holds a journalism degree from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, a master of public administration degree from Princeton University, and a law degree from New York University.

Edition details

• Publisher: Indiana University Press
• Publication date: 2025
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0253074061
• ISBN 13: 9780253074065
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288