The Cruelty of Nice Folks: Why Minneapolis Is the Story of America

"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 The Black Utopians

One of The Millions' Most Anticipated Spring 2026 Books

A 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.

It'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?

The 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.

In 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.

The Cruelty of Nice Folks stands to be a record of a moment in time as well as a definitive portrait of America, documenting:

• The Myth of Post-Racial America: Reveals how the promises of the George Floyd reckoning faded, exposing a nation still shaped by deep inequality
• The Hidden Cost of "Nice" Liberalism: Shows how progressive spaces can avoid real change, allowing injustice to persist beneath a veneer of goodwill
• Minneapolis as America in Microcosm: Uses one "model" city to uncover the deeper roots of segregation, policing failures, and systemic racism
• A Personal Story with National Stakes: Blends memoir and reporting to explore what it means to be Black in a place that sees itself as fair and just

Justin Ellis is a journalist and co-owner of Defector, a worker-owned media company. His work has appeared at ESPN, the Atlantic, The New York Times, Boston Globe and GQ. His TV credits include the Netflix docuseries How to Fix a Drug Scandal and Wyatt Cenac's Problem Areas on HBO. He lives in New York City.