Integrated - Large Print by Noliwe Rooks (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

A powerful, incisive reckoning with the impacts of school desegregation that traces four generations of the author's family to show how the implementation of integration decimated Black school systems and did much of the Black community a disservice

On May 17, 1954 the landmark case Brown v. Board of Education determined that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Heralded as a massive victory for civil rights, the decision's goal was to give Black children equitable access to educational opportunities and clear a path to a better future. Yet in the years following the ruling, schools in predominantly Black neighborhoods were shuttered or saw their funding dwindle, Black educators were fired en masse, and Black children faced discrimination and violence from their white peers as they joined resource-rich schools that were ill-prepared for the influx of new students.

Award-winning interdisciplinary scholar of education and Black history Noliwe Rooks weaves together sociological data and cultural history to challenge the idea that integration was a boon for Black children. She tells the story of her grandparents, who were among the thousands of Black teachers fired following the Brown decision; her father, who was traumatized by his experiences at an almost exclusively-white school; her own experiences moving from a flourishing, racially diverse school to an underserved inner-city one; and finally her son and his Black peers, who over half-century after Brown still struggle with hostility and prejudice from white teachers and students alike. She also shows how present-day discrimination lawsuits directly stem from the mistakes made during integration.

At once assiduously researched and deeply engaging, Integrated tells the story of how education has remained both a tool for community progress and a seemingly inscrutable cultural puzzle. Rooks' deft hand turns the story of integration's past and future on it's head, and shows how we may better understand and support generations of students to come.

Review Quotes

"Integrated is a powerful, heartbreaking ode to the sustained determination of Black parents and their children to access quality education only to have that quest thwarted at every turn by governors, white parents, and judges. The personal and societal consequences are devastating. . . . Through memoir, data, studies, and histories, Rooks lays the responsibility where it rightfully belongs and demonstrates that systemic educational inequality is not sustainable for a viable democracy."
--Carol Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide

"An indispensable and brilliantly crafted examination of the impact of integration on Black children and the broader trajectory of America's democracy. Rooks is one of the most admired scholars in education today, and her writing style is nothing short of magical. . . . With so much uncertainty facing education today, Integrated is a book that must find its way into the hands of every teacher, parent, and high school student, as it reminds us that the failures of the past do not have to become the permanent reality of our future."
--Bettina Love, New York Times bestselling author of Punished for Dreaming

"Rooks deftly sketches this lamentable, sobering history."
--The Atlantic

"This illuminating study . . . is a paradigm-shifting reassessment of a milestone of the civil rights movement."
--Publishers Weekly (starred)

"Education can be a great societal equalizer, but as Noliwe Rooks deftly shows in Integrated, the pathway to education's promise is too often impeded by the ghosts of racial, ethnic, economic and geographic segregation haunting public schools in the United States. Viewed through the prism of Noliwe's family story, this book is a powerful reminder of the children too often left out of our national discussions about the promise of public education."
--Soledad O'Brien, award-winning host of Matter of Fact with Soledad O'Brien

"As the son of two educators, I grew up knowing about the importance and value of education. I also saw firsthand the fight to bend the arc of educational justice so that all might benefit from the promise of public education. That battle is ongoing. A masterfully told story, Integrated is also a clarion call to action. It asks readers to confront the present reality of present-day ethnic, economic, language and race-based segregation."
--Van Jones, CNN host & New York Times bestselling author of Beyond the Messy Truth

"A vivid account of the emotional and economic damage done to generations of children of color. . . . A powerful and uncompromising indictment of the public school system."
--Kirkus Reviews

"This indictment of the American educational system and how it has routinely failed children of color and those from lower social and economic classes offers fresh insights and alternative interpretations of long-held assumptions....[Rooks's] readable and well-reasoned account makes an eloquent plea for new solutions."
--Booklist

About the Author

Noliwe Rooks is the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Africana Studies, and the chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. Her work explores how race and gender both impact and are impacted by popular culture, social history, and political life in the United States. She studies the cultural and racial implications of beauty, fashion, and adornment; race, capitalism and education, and the urban politics of food and cannabis production. Rooks has received research funding from the Ford Foundation, the Mellon Foundation, and the Woodrow Wilson School among others. She is the author of five books, and a regular contributor to outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, TIME, and NPR.