Includes bibliographical references (pages 149-177) and index.

Paving the way: Spokane's Black pioneers and the settlement of Washington State -- The impact of the second great migration on Spokane -- Responding to racial discrimination in the inland northwest -- The elusive double victory: race relations during the postwar period -- The momentum swings: the struggle for racial equality during the 1950s -- Challenging racial barriers in the 1960s -- Political currents in post-civil rights era Spokane: Black empowerment.

In 1981, decades before mainstream America elected Barack Obama, James Chase became the first African American mayor of Spokane, Washington, with the overwhelming support of a majority-white electorate. Chase’s win failed to capture the attention of historians—as had the century-long evolution of the black community in Spokane. In Black Spokane: The Civil Rights Struggle in the Inland Northwest, Dwayne A. Mack corrects this oversight—and recovers a crucial chapter in the history of race relations and civil rights in America.