In Threatening Property, Elizabeth A. Herbin-Triant investigates campaigns to enact residential segregation in North Carolina in the early twentieth century. Although many scholars have analysed the advent of racial segregation in North Carolina and other southern states, Herbin-Triant's treatment stands out for two reasons. First, by analysing cities and rural areas together, Herbin-Triant demonstrates the ways that location mattered and involved different actors and motivations in the debates over residential segregation. And next, Herbin-Triant argues that class keenly shaped white North Carolinians’ opinions around residential segregation. Elite white southerners, for instance, were not overly concerned about African Americans moving into white neighbourhoods. But their lack of opposition was not necessarily rooted in racial egalitarianism. Rather, these elite white men did not see black property ownership as a threat to their economic well-being precisely because they needed a steady supply of low-paid black workers, who could offer a stable labour force to nurture their capitalist ambitions. Middling white southerners, on the other hand, were anxious to climb the ladder and feared that black property ownership in white neighbourhoods would cause their own home values to decline. Drawing on periodicals, archival materials, newspapers, and creative use of Sanborn maps, Elizabeth Herbin-Triant effectively reconstructs the history of white North Carolinians who differed in their opinions about residential segregation.

Over the course of five chapters, Herbin-Triant chronicles profound transformations in North Carolina, marked by the rise of industrial capitalism, shifts in rural landownership, third-party politics and the codification of white supremacy through racial segregation in public accommodations and the disfranchisement of many black voters in the state. It is within these political and economic contexts that she situates the debates over residential segregation in North Carolina's cities and countryside. The pacing of Threatening Property is a bit uneven. While the first two chapters offer background information, Herbin-Triant does not fully address the central issues of the book. In particular, Herbin-Triant's second chapter on populism largely synthesizes the scholarship of other historians. It is in the final three chapters of Threatening Property that she fully grapples with the politics of residential segregation. Herbin-Triant reveals the surprising inspirations for residential segregation, stretching from restrictions against Chinese immigrants in California in the 1850s to other southern cities, and to South Africa. This demonstrates the ways that racial segregation in the South drew on national and global forces.

The book comes alive in the last two chapters, when Herbin-Triant offers case-studies of the campaigns to enact residential segregation in Winston, North Carolina and rural areas. In 1912, white citizens in Winston banded together to enact legislation that would prevent black property ownership in certain neighbourhoods in the city. R.J. Reynolds – the top business man in the city and owner of the Reynolds Tobacco Company – did not support this legislation. In 1912, the city passed a segregation ordinance but one year later, William Darnell, a black tobacco worker, contested the ordinance in court (and won in 1914). For debates about residential segregation in rural areas, Herbin-Triant turns to the figure of Clarence Poe (1881–1964), a white southerner who served as the editor of the Progressive Farmer, to discuss the positions of middling white North Carolinians. Through his travels and readings, Poe became a proponent of rural segregation, convinced that these policies would bolster the economic position of white North Carolinians. In many articles, Poe warned his readers that black property ownership would threaten the economic prosperity of middling white Southerners. Even though white farmers were unable to pass legislation, Herbin-Triant suggests that they used racial violence as an instrument to intimidate prospective black farmers. Ultimately, in the epilogue, Herbin-Triant explores how African Americans were kept out of white neighbourhoods through restrictive covenants and subsequently planning and zoning. Indeed, the pernicious effects of residential segregation exist in most American cities and contribute to vast inequalities, especially around wealth accumulation.

While this book has many strengths, there are also some areas for clarification and richer analysis. Herbin-Triant describes gender ideology among poor white southerners, for whom property ownership and independence were deeply connected with ideas about white masculinity. However, it would have been interesting for her to investigate how these ideas evolved for black Southerners, especially as men and women, for the first time, had the opportunity to define gender roles in the aftermath of slavery. Furthermore, the author could have devoted more attention to black property ownership in North Carolina and its change over time. Finally, this book could have benefited from tighter organization. Herbin-Triant uses the biography of Clarence Poe as a narrative hook, but her analysis of him is scattered, and she often repeats facts about his life. Despite these criticisms, Threatening Property stands out for illuminating complexities into white supremacy around residential segregation, which opens up new avenues for research into this important subject matter. This book will be of value to scholars of cities, African American history and Southern history.