American political and moral elite have not thought kindly of the way everyone else behaved.  Too many vices, too much leisure, too irresponsible, too free.  External controls seemed to be too totalitarian, therefore the reformers such as the Founding Fathers wanted to replace them with internal controls.  Self-rule was meant to make people responsible.  As through democracy, would people have an interest in their own future, and therefore change their behavior. 

 

This is a history of America’s struggle for personal liberties, a moral clash in society.  As there were those trying to make people responsible, there were also those who wanted the freedom to do what they wanted.  These are the renegades.  Activist who changed culture by behaving the way they wanted to.  During a time of repression, renegades fought for various freedoms and made socially acceptable the behaviors that seemed repulsive.  They fought for: diverse entertainment in arts, dance, music, and movies; time away from work and the pursuit of leisure; racial and ethnic integration of establishments; sexual liberty to be with whom they wanted to be with no matter the race, ethnicity, or sex of the partner.  The renegades came from diverse backgrounds and diverse cultures, such as slaves, prostitutes, gangsters, African Americans, Jews, Irish, and Italian.  Renegades who were often mistreated by society, but changed the American culture. 

 

This book shares a host of socially sensitive topics.  Topics that could have been handled a bit more sensitively.  This book shares a diverse set of values that has changed American culture, but explanations of the events are sometimes given a too simple and one-sided narrative, without caveats.  For a book on renegades and diversity, there seems to be too much homogeneity in how the different sides treated others and were treated themselves.