{"product_id":"pre-order-5-12-26-release-the-cruelty-of-nice-folks-why-minneapolis-is-the-story-of-america-by-justin-ellis","title":"The Cruelty Of Nice Folks: Why Minneapolis Is the Story of America by Justin Ellis","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e“In writing a book about Minneapolis, Justin Ellis has really written a book about America's favorite lie—that good intentions lead to justice. Ellis is a rigorous historian and a visceral storyteller, and he has produced something essential: a reckoning with a city that wanted to be a safe haven for all and built a foundation that made this impossible.” –Aaron Robertson, author of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Black Utopians\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eOne of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Millions’\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eMost Anticipated Spring 2026 Books\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA revelatory look at one of America’s most progressive cities—Minneapolis—as journalist Justin Ellis returns to his hometown to grapple with the quiet history of white supremacy in the wake of George Floyd’s murder, uncover his family’s story of surviving “Minnesota nice,” and revisit the city years later as state violence again forces the question of what a real reckoning looks like.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eIt’s the “North,” they like to say, not the Midwest. It’s dif­ferent. Minneapolis is a city for everyone. But in 2020, George Floyd’s murder by the city’s police left many Americans stunned and wondering, “How could this hap­pen in Minneapolis?” To Ellis, the real question is: What made people think it couldn’t?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe Minneapolis Justin Ellis grew up in is not the idealistic metropolis it claims to be. The “City of Lakes” was built on discrimination— in its housing, its schools, its politics—much like all other American cities. Black families were systematically cut out of the prosperous neighborhoods, lush parks, and pristine lakes that make Minneapolis a haven of the heartland. Because of its image as a liberal ally in the fight for civil rights, Minne­apolis has rarely been forced to confront this fact. But when George Floyd's murder sparks a global protest movement with the city as ground zero, its residents must finally ask what being a good neighbor actually means.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eIn a powerful new epilogue, Ellis turns his gaze back to Minneapolis as the sweeping federal immigration operation once again thrusts the city into national headlines. If George Floyd’s murder forced Minneapolis to confront questions of policing, power, and responsibility, the events of 2026 ask what those years of reckoning ultimately changed. Where fear once threatened to overwhelm the city’s response to state violence, Ellis finds a community newly practiced in dissent and collective action. The crisis reveals a Minneapolis still wrestling with its identity, but also one transformed by experience—no longer shocked into awakening, but shaped by it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold a-text-italic\"\u003eThe Cruelty of Nice Folks\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003estands to be a record of a moment in time as well as a definitive portrait of America, documenting:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul class=\"a-unordered-list a-vertical\"\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe Myth of Post-Racial America:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eReveals how the promises of the George Floyd reckoning faded, exposing a nation still shaped by deep inequality\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eThe Hidden Cost of “Nice” Liberalism:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eShows how progressive spaces can avoid real change, allowing injustice to persist beneath a veneer of goodwill\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eMinneapolis as America in Microcosm:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eUses one “model” city to uncover the deeper roots of segregation, policing failures, and systemic racism\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-list-item\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003eA Personal Story with National Stakes\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan class=\"a-text-bold\"\u003e: Blends memoir and reporting to explore what it means to be Black in a place that sees itself as fair and just\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e","brand":"Harper Collins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":53025423196476,"sku":"9780063091245","price":30.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0273\/2005\/files\/91ItjDah_pL._SL1500.jpg?v=1777557571","url":"https:\/\/frugalbookstore.net\/products\/pre-order-5-12-26-release-the-cruelty-of-nice-folks-why-minneapolis-is-the-story-of-america-by-justin-ellis","provider":"Frugal Bookstore","version":"1.0","type":"link"}