If you are interested in racial justice in education, or want to understand why racism wasn't 'fixed' by integration, I strongly recommend this book.
Full disclosure: It's a long slog. Not because it's badly written--it's not. But it is long and full of So. Much. Detail. The author is a scholar, and ...more
Black educators supported and wanted integration. They imagined an additive model, in which black children would have more than what they already had. They had school climates that taught black students to aspire. They took the negative messages from the larger society, reconstructed them, and made ...more
This is a deep ethnographic historical analysis of the long fight for educational equality by the Black Georgia Teachers & Educators Association (GT&EA) from the turn of the 20th century to the 197os. I thought I was going to read about how integration harmed the education of Black students. The aut ...more
The Lost Education of Horace Tate was a gem waiting to be unearthed for me. I like to have something sizeable and of substance to read during the Holidays and Divine Providence answered that request. Quite by happenstance, Dr. Vanessa Siddle Walker’s comprehensive study of black education fell into ...more
This is just fantastic! If you've heard of Brown v Board of Education, but couldn't tell me much more about what was going on, then you really need to read this. The clandestine, life-endangering work of folks like Horace Tate is practically unknown even in African-American communities. Men like Tat ...more
This book blew my mind. While it sometimes dragged a bit through replicating lots of formal, mid-20th century, flowery prose, it’s core story is basically a true story of amazingly courageous, persistent heroes.
All teachers are heroes. The black educators of the segregated south who quietly collect ...more
This is a meticulously researched book that tells a very important history of segregation and integration in Georgia. Two thirds of the way through, it became a bit of a slog, however. I think some of the minute details (e.g. start and end times of conference registrations) could have edited to make ...more
This book taught me a lot about a side of integration that is kept in shadow, out of the sun of the popular narrative about segregation. My only complaint is the book purports to be about Dr. Tate but is really about the GTE&A. Which is fine but since it was supposed to be about Dr. Tate I found mys ...more
Powerful. Deeply moving. Took time to digest because of the depth of this work and how intensely personal the story of complete strangers can often be. ...more