Slow and Sudden Violence: Why and When Uprisings Occur

Exposing the roots of racial unrest that consistently harm Black communities

In Slow and Sudden Violence, Derek Hyra links police violence to an ongoing cycle of racial and spatial urban redevelopment repression. By delving into the real estate histories of St. Louis and Baltimore, he shows how housing and community development policies advance neighborhood inequality by segregating, gentrifying, and displacing Black communities.

Repeated decisions to “upgrade” the urban fabric and uproot...