Going to School in Black and White

A Dual Memoir of Desegregation

Published Copy

Genres

Cultural Nonfiction, Social Justice, History, Memoir, 1970s, and Racism

Trigger Warnings

Violence, Rape, Racial Prejudice, and Abuse

Type of Ending

Series

Not part of a series

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Publication Date

Sep 26, 2017

Page Length

216 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Going to School in Black and White

A Dual Memoir of Desegregation

Published Copy

Blurb

A Parallel Narrative of Desegregation in the 1970s

The school careers of two teenage girls who lived across town from each other—one black, one white—were altered by a court-ordered desegregation plan for Durham, NC in 1970. LaHoma and Cindy both found themselves at the same high school from different sides of a court-ordered racial “balancing act.” This plan thrust each of them involuntarily out of their comfort zones and into new racial landscapes. Their experiences, recounted in alternating first-person narratives, are the embodiment of desegregation policies, situated in a particular time and place. Their intertwining coming of age stories are part of a bigger story about America, education, and race—and about how the personal relates to the political.

This dual memoir covers the two women’s trajectories from early school days to future careers working in global public health and challenging gender biases, racial inequities, and health disparities. LaHoma and Cindy tell their stories aware of the country’s return to de facto school segregation, achieved through the long-term dismantling of policies that initially informed their school assignments. As adults, they consider the influence of school desegregation on their current lives and the value of bringing all of us into conversation about what is lost or gained when children go to school in black and white.

Details

Genres

Cultural Nonfiction, Social Justice, History, Memoir, 1970s, and Racism

Trigger Warnings

Violence, Rape, Racial Prejudice, and Abuse

Type of Ending

Series

Not part of a series

Author Prefers A Review On

Goodreads, Amazon, BookBub, or Barnes & Noble

Reader Spots Remaining

Number of days to read

Publication Date

Sep 26, 2017

Page Length

216 pages

Available Formats

ePub and PDF

Author

Cindy Waszak Geary graduated from Hillside High School in Durham, NC in 1973 as Cindy Stock. She completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Northern Arizona University. She worked more than 30 years as a social scientist focused on global health, based in Chapel Hill, N.C., and traveling often to Africa and Asia as part of her job. She now lives in Baltimore, MD with her husband Ron, where she consults for public health organizations, wrote much of Going to School in Black and White, thinks a lot about racial justice and enjoys more time for yoga. She is the mother of two grown children, and has one granddaughter. Cindy still considers North Carolina her home and returns frequently to visit her mother and friends.

Publisher

Torchflame Books