We Can Do It: A Community Takes on the Challenge of School Desegregation

by Michael T. Gengler

This book tells of the challenges faced by white and black school administrators, teachers, parents, and students as Alachua County, Florida, moved from segregated schools to a single, unitary school system.

After Brown v. Board of Education, the South’s separate white and black schools continued under lower court opinions, provided black students could choose to go to white schools. Not until 1968 did the NAACP Legal Defense Fund convince the Supreme Court to end dual school systems. Almost fifty years later, African Americans in Alachua County remain divided over that outcome.

A unique study including extensive interviews, We Can Do It asks important questions, among How did both races, without precedent, work together to create desegregated schools? What conflicts arose, and how were they resolved (or not)? How was the community affected? And at a time when resegregation and persistent white-black achievement gaps continue to challenge public schools, what lessons can we learn from the generation that desegregated our schools?

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Education, Historical

574 pages, Hardcover

Published September 4, 2018

About the author

Michael T. Gengler graduated from Gainesville High School in Florida in 1962. He received his AB degree from Columbia College (New York) in 1966, magna cum laude, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. He was a member of the managing board of the Columbia Daily Spectator. In 1969, he received his JD degree from Harvard Law School. Until 1974, he served as an assistant staff judge advocate in the USAF. For most of his career, he was a corporate lawyer in Boston and Chicago. He also worked for a few years as a full-time volunteer lawyer for Legal Action of Wisconsin, Madison, representing clients who could not afford counsel. He lives in Gainesville and is a vocal advocate for public school education.

Learn more at www.wecandoitbook.com

Reviews

[Teri · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a very long and exhaustive look at the equally long and exhaustive work to desegregate the schools in Alachua County, Florida in the late 60s and early 70s. Deeply segregated until that time, Alachua County, Florida which includes Gainesville, had several schools with quite a bit of history. Many people, including students in both white and black schools, did not want to integrate. There were many obstacles that the community faced to become a unitary school system. Not only did the students need to integrate, but teachers and administrators too. Some schools were forced to close and new schools were added. There were protests, riots, and eventually assimilation. It was quite an undertaking but as the students once stated: "We Can Do It."

This was an interesting look at the challenges one community faced to integrate. Many faced the same challenges throughout the south in the mid-20th century. This is a good book, a good case study for scholars of Civil Rights and those interested in the process to integrate southern schools. I'm glad I read it but it was very long. I felt the author went on a few tangents that were unnecessary, over-quoted sources, and could have condensed a lot and still offered an accurate portrait of the issues that were faced in Alachua County.

I received this book gratis through Goodreads Giveaways.

[Bob Ayres · Rating 5 out of 5]

As one who grew up in Gainesville, FL during this time of public school desegregation - which I attended throughout my primary and secondary school years - and being the son of two school educators (my father is mentioned and quoted in the book), I find Gengler's book to be excellent on all counts. He answers one of the questions that has nagged me for years: why did they close Lincoln and Mebane during the middle of the school year (Feb 1, 1970)?

Gengler's research is thorough and outstanding, as is his abundance of first-person reports (I know or knew of many of the people he cited). Excellent, excellent book that I highly recommend!

By the way, I believe this account reveals how heroic our Alachua County community was during unbelievably turbulent and troubled times. I also believe the timing and process of closing these schools still haunts this community today. This book would be a great required reading for an advisory group to consider ways of improving our future outcomes in student achievement and academic/vocational success.

[Lourdes · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book through Goodreads.

Great book about South Florida History in Segregation.

[Porter Broyles · Rating 3 out of 5]

Disclaimer: I won this via Good Reads Giveaways.

About me: I'm a white guy who started school in the early 1970s who leans right politically. I'm a huge Civil War buff. That interest in the Civil War has lead to an interest in early American History and now into the after affects of the Civil War. This includes black history and civil rights. I just finished A Girl Stands at the Door, Parting the Water, Black Fortunes, and several other books on black history post Civil War. (All of those I highly recommend.)

Pros: This book has an interesting subject--it is about the struggles of a typical school district. The school district is not a one of the major focal points of the Civil Rights movement, which makes the experiences here relevant. The events recorded in the book start in the late 1960s! This book really forced me to rethink my own youth. I started school in the early 70s. I think a lot of Caucasians learn of the Brown decision and think that the issue was resolved. It is hard to believe that when I went to school, the issue could have still been actively debated in my schools/neighborhoods.

Cons: I question a number of editorial decisions. I felt that the order of chapters could have been rethought. The author chose to start the book talking about Alachua County and went into a significant amount of detail about some of the individuals involved. He then discussed how Alachua County fit into the larger scheme of things. IMO, this should have been the other way around. The amount of details dedicated to the school district without providing a broader context as to why it matters hurt the book. The book sometimes dragged in sections which were too micro-focused on the characters/background involved---the author is too personally affiliated with the subject. The fact that this book was published by a small online publisher came through.

[Dave · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was excited to find this book existed on a friend's Goodreads account. It was an interesting book to read as a current educator in Alachua County and read about different historical figures and places that I see on a daily basis. While I enjoyed the personal stories from the various individuals, I did feel the book at points became a little to dry and focused too much on the back and forth from the courts on ordering Alachua County's desegregation. I would love to be able to find a similar book about the desegregation efforts in my hometown of DeLand and Volusia County because my paternal grandfather would have been in the middle of it as a public educator.

The best takeaway that I got from this book is that it shows a lot of similarities between the educational environment of the late-1960s and today as well as posing a lot of questions for us to still grapple with in 2020.

[Carleen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Inspiring piece of History

We all remember or have learned of Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I had a dream,” speech. This book tells of how one community in Florida had difficulties practicing what was preached. Even though segregation had come to an end, there was major difficulties in getting the community to comply. This book goes into detail the struggles that were faced in order to desegregate the schools. The author has a unique perspective as he is a lawyer. He is able to clarify aspects that aren’t quite clear to the average reader. I found his writing to be very informative and detailed. I would highly recommend this book to any history buffs. This is definitely a piece of history that we should not forget.

[Shani · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personally, I can remember my mom talking about segregation when I was younger. It was something that she fought about even within her own family. It was such a hard time in history, one that shaped the way we act as a society. I found the way the author shared this story. It wasn't just what someone would see from the outside, but rather behind the scenes and the legalities that went along with it. It wasn't an easy choice to be made and appreciated the insight. Its something that we still deal with today and I think that this should be a book that more people pick up and share their thoughts. It's very well written and enlighting.

[Marina · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book from a Goodreads giveaway. I thought the topic was very interesting and the book itself was very well-researched.

[Tim Martin · Rating 5 out of 5]

Deeply researched and well cited. Author covers legal, cultural, social elements of this difficult time with sensitivity and apparent objectivity.

[Patty]

The author spent a good deal of time researching and it shows in this wonderful book. So many of the time desegregation focuses on the impact on larger cities, but this one is about the small county of Alchua County, FL. He discusses his own experiences as well as sharing interviews by others impacting by desegregation in the area. This book was really well written and easy to follow along with.