Sharing Common Ground: Promises Unfulfilled but Not Forgotten

by Billy Keyserling, Mike Greenly

Billy Keyserling - after serving as a congressional staffer, a member of the SC House of Representatives and for three highly acclaimed terms as mayor of Beaufort, SC - has decided not to run for office again. Instead, he'll do his utmost to make a positive difference for society in a new way ... via this book.

In a nation riled by deepening divides, racial tensions, the killings of Black citizens during law enforcement encounters and other examples of societal turmoil, Mayor Billy's book offers a new approach to helping citizens gain a shared understanding of our value to each other.

SHARING COMMON GROUND is leading the engagement of Middle School students (grades 6-8) in discovering some currently buried American history. These kids uncover, learn about and interactively share with each other (along with families, friends and communities) the untold and often mistold stories freed slaves and their suffering and achievements in the Reconstruction era after the American Civil War.

Current education largely ignores these impressive stories and what they can teach us about our fellow humans. Nor are most students today taught about the way that Black successes and rights were ultimately stripped away as new Jim Crow laws legalized segregation and unequal treatment.

164 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2020

Reviews

[Tomislav · Rating 4 out of 5]

I moved to Beaufort, South Carolina about 5 years ago, and immediately found myself immersed in the distinctive history of the town, and its unique place in the history of Reconstruction. It is a learning process which is ongoing for me, and the new Reconstruction Era National Historical Park is an invaluable resource. I’ve met Mayor Billy at several events described in this book, but was unaware of his personal involvement in the campaign for Monument establishment in the final days of the Obama presidency (Chapter 10). Most of the rest of the book is essentially political auto-biography, in which Keyserling describes his family background, and his personal moral compass, directing him to this effort while in office, and also now that he has retired. Going forward, I hope the community group “Reconstruction Beaufort” has success in its goals of promoting the true, but neglected history of the US’s post-Civil War era of Reconstruction.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

A thoughtful and timely review of reconstruction which is unfilled but revitalized by our division. As a transplant to the Low Country I feel the effects of Jim Crow and Black Laws everyday. The common ground that Mayor Billy fleshes out can help reset our cultural framework. A more reflective and participatory democracy can happen. Billy looks for a fourth civil rights movement. This book may be a start.

[Robert · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the inspiring story of the Keyserling family of Beaufort So Carolina by way of eastern Europe and New York City, and an excellent recounting of how the Reconstruction Era National Park at Beaufort and surrounding towns was established beginning at the end of the Obama administration. Billy Keyserling, the former mayor of Beaufort, is now carrying forward his passion about the history of the reconstruction era in an effort to see that, along with other aspects of American Black history, it becomes an integral part of mainline American history.

[Susan Heim · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of those 5 stars because it’s important to me books. Billy K has been a prominent figure in my town as long as I have lived here. Reading about his family’s history here was fascinating.