When It's Darkness on the Delta

Name: When It's Darkness on the Delta
Brand: RANDOM HOUSE US
Price: 57.75 AUD
Availability: PreOrder

How America's Richest Soil Became Its Poorest Land

By: W. Ralph Eubanks

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Hardcover | 13 January 2026

At a Glance

Hardcover
264 Pages

Dimensions(cm)
0.1 x 0.1 x 0.1

Hardcover

$57.75

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Available: 13th January 2026

Preorder. Will ship when available.

For readers of The Sum of Us and South to America, an essential new look at the roots of American inequality-and the seeds of its transformation

For readers of The Sum of Us and South to America, an essential new look at the roots of American inequality-and the seeds of its transformation

Once the powerhouse of a fledgling country's economy, the Mississippi Delta has been consigned to a narrative of destitution. It is often faulted for the sins of the South, portrayed as a regional backwater that willfully cleaved itself from the modern world. But buried beneath the weight of good ol' boy politics and white-washed histories lies the Delta's true story.

Mississippi native and award-winning writer W. Ralph Eubanks unearths the region's buried history, revealing a microcosm of economic oppression in the US. He traverses the Delta, examining its bellwether efforts to combat income inequality through vivid portraits of key figures like

Theodore G. Bilbo and William Whittington, segregationist congressmen who sabotaged federal reparations for former sharecroppers in the 1940s and '50s
Gloria Carter Dickerson, founder of the Emmett Till Academy, whose parents were instrumental in desegregating schools in Drew, MS, where Till was murdered
Calvin Head, a community organizer who runs a farming co-op in Mileston, who revived the legacy of his hometown, the only Black resettlement community in Mississippi

Eubanks delivers a powerful and insightful examination of how racism and economic instability have shaped life in the Mississippi Delta. He traces the enduring consequences of political decisions that have entrenched inequality across generations. At the same time, he brings attention to the resilience of local communities and the grassroots movements working toward meaningful change. The book offers a thoughtful framework for policy reform and community investment, underscoring the need to support those who have long sustained the region through their labor and lived experience.

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