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Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown v. Board of Education
Critically acclaimed author Lawrence Goldstone offers an affecting portrait of the road to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which significantly shaped the United States and effectively ended segregation.
Since 1896, in the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" had been considered acceptable under the United States Constitution. African American and white populations were thus segregated, attending different schools, living in different neighborhoods, and even drinking from different water fountains. However, as African Americans found themselves lacking opportunity and living under the constant menace of mob violence, it was becoming increasingly apparent that segregation was not only unjust, but dangerous.Fighting to turn the tide against racial oppression, revolutionaries rose up all over America, from Booker T. Washington to W. E. B. Du Bois. They formed coalitions of some of the greatest legal minds and activists, who carefully strategized how to combat the racist judicial system. These efforts would be rewarded in the groundbreaking cases of 1952-1954 known collectively as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the US Supreme Court would decide, once and for all, the legality of segregation -- and on which side of history the United States would stand.In this thrilling examination of the path to Brown v. Board of Education, Constitutional law scholar Lawrence Goldstone highlights the key trials and players in the fight for integration. Written with a deft hand, this story of social justice will remind readers, young and old, of the momentousness of the segregation hearings.
Since 1896, in the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" had been considered acceptable under the United States Constitution. African American and white populations were thus segregated, attending different schools, living in different neighborhoods, and even drinking from different water fountains. However, as African Americans found themselves lacking opportunity and living under the constant menace of mob violence, it was becoming increasingly apparent that segregation was not only unjust, but dangerous.Fighting to turn the tide against racial oppression, revolutionaries rose up all over America, from Booker T. Washington to W. E. B. Du Bois. They formed coalitions of some of the greatest legal minds and activists, who carefully strategized how to combat the racist judicial system. These efforts would be rewarded in the groundbreaking cases of 1952-1954 known collectively as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the US Supreme Court would decide, once and for all, the legality of segregation -- and on which side of history the United States would stand.In this thrilling examination of the path to Brown v. Board of Education, Constitutional law scholar Lawrence Goldstone highlights the key trials and players in the fight for integration. Written with a deft hand, this story of social justice will remind readers, young and old, of the momentousness of the segregation hearings.
278 pages, Kindle Edition
Published January 5, 2021
9 people are currently reading
166 people want to read
About the author
Lawrence Goldstone
45 books199 followersLawrence Goldstone is the author of fourteen books of both fiction and non-fiction. Six of those books were co-authored with his wife, Nancy, but they now write separately to save what is left of their dishes.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
Goldstone's articles, reviews, and opinion pieces have appeared in, among other publications, the Boston Globe, Los Angeles Times, Chicago Tribune, Miami Herald, Hartford Courant, and Berkshire Eagle. He has also written for a number of magazines that have gone bust, although he denies any cause and effect.
His first novel, Rights, won a New American Writing Award but he now cringes at its awkward prose. (Anatomy of Deception and The Astronomer are much better.)
Despite a seemingly incurable tendency to say what's on his mind (thus mortifying Nancy), Goldstone has been widely interviewed on both radio and television, with appearances on, among others, "Fresh Air" (NPR), "To the Best of Our Knowledge" (NPR), "The Faith Middleton Show" (NPR), "Tavis Smiley" (PBS), and Leonard Lopate (WNYC). His work has also been profiled in The New York Times, The Toronto Star, numerous regional newspapers, Salon, and Slate.
Goldstone holds a PhD in American Constitutional Studies from the New School. His friends thus call him DrG, although he can barely touch the rim. (Sigh. Can't make a layup anymore either.) He and his beloved bride founded and ran an innovative series of parent-child book groups, which they documented in Deconstructing Penguins. He has also been a teacher, lecturer, senior member of a Wall Street trading firm, taxi driver, actor, quiz show contestant, and policy analyst at the Hudson Institute.
He is a unerring stock picker. Everything he buys instantly goes down.
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April 26, 2021
Richie’s Picks: SEPARATE NO MORE: THE LONG ROAD TO BROWN v. BOARD OF EDUCATION by Lawrence Goldstone, Scholastic Focus, January 2021, 288p., ISBN: 978-1-338-59283-2
“Up in the mornin’ and out to school
The teacher is teaching the Golden Rule
American history and practical math
You studyin’ hard and hopin’ to pass
Workin’ your fingers right down to the bone
The guy behind you won’t leave you alone”
-- Chuck Berry, “School Days” (1957)
Chuck Berry grew up attending segregated schools in St. Louis, MO.
“Following the Brown v, Board of Education decision in 1954, the authorization of federal desegregation enforcement in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Green v, County School Board of New Kent County that district-level integration plans must meaningfully decrease segregation levels, the United States experienced a sharp decline in black-white school segregation, especially in the South. As desegregation gradually continued through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, the pace progressively began to decelerate before slowing to a halt. Despite initial successes, the primary enforcers of desegregation--federal district courts and the federal Departments of Justice and Education--began to face headwinds in the form of changes in residential living patterns, school enrollments, Supreme Court precedents, and increasingly successful local efforts to resist integration.
The contemporary result of these trends is a highly segregated status quo.Yet scholars disagree over whether the broad trend in segregation has been stagnation or resegregation since the late 1980s.”
-- Will McGrew, “U.S School Segregation in the 21st Century: Causes, Consequences and Solutions” (2019)
“Brown v. Board of Education is perhaps the most widely recognized Supreme Court case in American history. But for all its renown, most Americans know little about the case itself or the great changes in American society that propelled the Supreme Court to rule as it did.
When Brown was argued, Plessy v. Ferguson was more than half a century old, and the crushing Jim Crow laws that the decision had enabled and affirmed had doomed black people throughout the South to a social, political, and economic environment that was simply slavery in a new form. African Americans were denied even the most fundamental rights of citizenship; were regularly jailed, brutalized, and murdered; and could not effectively access a legal system that bragged hollowly about guaranteeing equal rights to all. To make certain that black Americans would remain apart and inferior to whites, their children were forced into a two-tiered and wholly unequal system of education.”
-- from the Prologue
Did you know that Jackie Robinson’s number 42 is the only number retired by every Major League Baseball team?
If you want to learn the basic facts of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, you can check out the online Wikipedia article. But if you want to read a great story about the underpinnings of the modern Civil Rights Movement, a readily-accessible-yet-substantive examination of the people, organizations, events, laws, and court cases that culminated in the Brown rulings, you need to read Lawrence Goldstone’s SEPARATE NO MORE. It’s a book I highly recommend for middle and high school American history students, and for any teen or adult who is interested in the Civil Rights Movement.
The author begins the story in the late-19th century, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s despicable Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalized racial discrimination and led to the Jim Crow era. Booker T. Washington’s philosophy is examined against that of W.E.B. du Bois. We see the birth of the Niagara Movement and the founding and growth of the NAACP. We are introduced to Charles Hamilton Houston, who was the first Black student to edit the Harvard Law Review and who rose to become the Dean of Howard University School of Law. From there, he would eventually become the NAACP’s lead attorney.
The author surveys racist Supreme Court decisions, including Lum v. Rice (1927), which specifically focused on education. The Court’s decision in that case essentially permitted states to pass any laws they chose in order to “enforce a system that could not have been more obvious in its intent to discriminate.” The result?
“By the 1930s, Alabama was spending $37 to educate a white child, but only $7 per student for African Americans. The figures in Georgia were $32 versus $7; in Mississippi, $31 and $6; and in South Carolina, $53 and $5.”
What kind of schooling do you get for $5 per kid? To read the author’s descriptions of conditions in many schools for Black kids before the Brown decision, is to understand why so few Black kids--no matter their aspirations--were able to obtain the kind of education necessary to broaden their options beyond field hand or servant. Black kids were being deliberately provided an education that would keep them in their place.
Into this mix came Howard University School of Law superstar-student Thurgood Marshall. Under the tutelage of Charles Houston, Marshall first became an attorney who helped Black clients with little resources. He eventually succeeded his mentor as the lead attorney of the NAACP. From this point, the last third of the book covers the better-known details of the Brown litigation.
I’d previously read about many of the characters and events examined in SEPARATE NO MORE. But Lawrence Goldstone succeeds in presenting them in a manner that connects the dots and makes them far easier to understand.
SEPARATE NO MORE explains much about American history and how it relates to today’s racial injustices. It’s an excellent work of narrative nonfiction.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
“Up in the mornin’ and out to school
The teacher is teaching the Golden Rule
American history and practical math
You studyin’ hard and hopin’ to pass
Workin’ your fingers right down to the bone
The guy behind you won’t leave you alone”
-- Chuck Berry, “School Days” (1957)
Chuck Berry grew up attending segregated schools in St. Louis, MO.
“Following the Brown v, Board of Education decision in 1954, the authorization of federal desegregation enforcement in the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and the Supreme Court’s ruling in Green v, County School Board of New Kent County that district-level integration plans must meaningfully decrease segregation levels, the United States experienced a sharp decline in black-white school segregation, especially in the South. As desegregation gradually continued through the late 1980s and into the early 1990s, the pace progressively began to decelerate before slowing to a halt. Despite initial successes, the primary enforcers of desegregation--federal district courts and the federal Departments of Justice and Education--began to face headwinds in the form of changes in residential living patterns, school enrollments, Supreme Court precedents, and increasingly successful local efforts to resist integration.
The contemporary result of these trends is a highly segregated status quo.Yet scholars disagree over whether the broad trend in segregation has been stagnation or resegregation since the late 1980s.”
-- Will McGrew, “U.S School Segregation in the 21st Century: Causes, Consequences and Solutions” (2019)
“Brown v. Board of Education is perhaps the most widely recognized Supreme Court case in American history. But for all its renown, most Americans know little about the case itself or the great changes in American society that propelled the Supreme Court to rule as it did.
When Brown was argued, Plessy v. Ferguson was more than half a century old, and the crushing Jim Crow laws that the decision had enabled and affirmed had doomed black people throughout the South to a social, political, and economic environment that was simply slavery in a new form. African Americans were denied even the most fundamental rights of citizenship; were regularly jailed, brutalized, and murdered; and could not effectively access a legal system that bragged hollowly about guaranteeing equal rights to all. To make certain that black Americans would remain apart and inferior to whites, their children were forced into a two-tiered and wholly unequal system of education.”
-- from the Prologue
Did you know that Jackie Robinson’s number 42 is the only number retired by every Major League Baseball team?
If you want to learn the basic facts of the Brown v. Board of Education decision, you can check out the online Wikipedia article. But if you want to read a great story about the underpinnings of the modern Civil Rights Movement, a readily-accessible-yet-substantive examination of the people, organizations, events, laws, and court cases that culminated in the Brown rulings, you need to read Lawrence Goldstone’s SEPARATE NO MORE. It’s a book I highly recommend for middle and high school American history students, and for any teen or adult who is interested in the Civil Rights Movement.
The author begins the story in the late-19th century, when the U.S. Supreme Court’s despicable Plessy v. Ferguson decision legalized racial discrimination and led to the Jim Crow era. Booker T. Washington’s philosophy is examined against that of W.E.B. du Bois. We see the birth of the Niagara Movement and the founding and growth of the NAACP. We are introduced to Charles Hamilton Houston, who was the first Black student to edit the Harvard Law Review and who rose to become the Dean of Howard University School of Law. From there, he would eventually become the NAACP’s lead attorney.
The author surveys racist Supreme Court decisions, including Lum v. Rice (1927), which specifically focused on education. The Court’s decision in that case essentially permitted states to pass any laws they chose in order to “enforce a system that could not have been more obvious in its intent to discriminate.” The result?
“By the 1930s, Alabama was spending $37 to educate a white child, but only $7 per student for African Americans. The figures in Georgia were $32 versus $7; in Mississippi, $31 and $6; and in South Carolina, $53 and $5.”
What kind of schooling do you get for $5 per kid? To read the author’s descriptions of conditions in many schools for Black kids before the Brown decision, is to understand why so few Black kids--no matter their aspirations--were able to obtain the kind of education necessary to broaden their options beyond field hand or servant. Black kids were being deliberately provided an education that would keep them in their place.
Into this mix came Howard University School of Law superstar-student Thurgood Marshall. Under the tutelage of Charles Houston, Marshall first became an attorney who helped Black clients with little resources. He eventually succeeded his mentor as the lead attorney of the NAACP. From this point, the last third of the book covers the better-known details of the Brown litigation.
I’d previously read about many of the characters and events examined in SEPARATE NO MORE. But Lawrence Goldstone succeeds in presenting them in a manner that connects the dots and makes them far easier to understand.
SEPARATE NO MORE explains much about American history and how it relates to today’s racial injustices. It’s an excellent work of narrative nonfiction.
Richie Partington, MLIS
Richie's Picks http://richiespicks.pbworks.com
https://www.facebook.com/richiespicks/
https://twitter.com/richiespicks
richiepartington@gmail.com
February 9, 2021
The book kept me interested in learning throughout its entirety because the information that the author picks to write about allows us to reflect on the past and connect to the present, while also providing a thorough yet engaging history of the "separate but equal" precedent. It begins with the Plessy v. Ferguson landmark case in the late eighteen hundreds and takes us up to Brown v. Board of Education in the 1950s. After decades of work by black activists, leaders, and lawyers, separate was declared to be not equal, and it never had been. The long road to equality was brutal and full of inconveniences that set back progress. Prejudiced and racist white lawmakers upheld Jim Crow laws that segregated black and white communities in every part of America, which allowed racism to thrive and grow. While African Americans protested against discrimination and hate, they were faced with white supremacists who expressed so much anger that they destroyed black communities and took away too many black lives, in a nation that guaranteed prosperity, in a nation that promised liberty. Although the book brings up these atrocities to our attention, it focuses on the achievement and tireless efforts made by African Americans amidst social injustices and inequalities. These individuals fought continuously for the integration of black and whites in schools and other public institutions that had unfairly marginalized black people. When the Supreme Court went in favor of Brown in Brown v. Board of Education, it was finally declared that "separate could not be equal." This book was insightful and vivid, taking us into the workings of these landmark cases led by black lawyers and individuals in the fight for justice.
October 14, 2021
I appreciate all of the research that went into this, and it provides a lot of important historical context for Brown v. Board of Education. For me, the writing style wasn't particularly engaging and pieces of the overall narrative felt a bit rushed. And important book to have in libraries, though!
May 24, 2021
As he has done with his earlier books about social justice and voting rights, author Lawrence Goldstone effectively distills several of the important events culminating in the landmark Supreme Court decision Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Beginning with Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896 and ending in the Brown case, this book explores the meaning of the phrase "separate but equal," and how it was interpreted, often resulting in inferior living conditions as well as vastly inferior schools. Slowly, it became clear that segregation was not fair from a legal point of view but also damaging psychologically. It also limited the future ambitions of many African Americans since their schools were poorly funded and understaffed. The book includes descriptions of some of the schools as well as archival photographs. Along the way, the author highlights some of the movers and shakers in this movement for social justice while providing historical context that sets the scene for change. Some readers may be surprised to note the impact of the color barrier being broken in baseball by Jackie Robinson and the reaction of many Black soldiers who served during WWII and were treated quite differently in Europe than back home. The book also profiles some of the important figures during those times, including Booker T. Washington, W. E. B. Du Bois, Charles Houston, Thurgood Marshall, and some lesser known ones but nevertheless important ones such as Barbara Johns, who lead a school walkout in Virginia, Rev. J. A. De Laine who filed a suit to force a South Carolina school district to provide a bus for its Black students, and Harry Briggs, a Navy veteran who wanted fair pay for teachers. The author makes these moments and cases and the individuals behind them come alive in urgent fashion even while pointing out that change and the legal system take time and much patience is required. Since Brown has always been of interest to me, I read this book with great enthusiasm and would highly recommend it for adolescent readers. The only disappointment for me was the lack of inclusion of information on a couple of related school integration/segregation cases such as Mendez v. Westminster (California) in 1946 and Roberts v. City of Boston in 1847, the first case challenging the legal system in an attempt to eradicate segregated schools. Although it failed, it was a first step in the long road to change. The book stops after exploring briefly the aftermath of the Brown decision and the challenges faced in interpreting how fast these changes were expected to take. This isn't the first book by this author that I've read, and it won't be the last one since he includes essential details about historical periods but does so in accessible fashion, never getting so bogged down in minutia that readers become bored.
Want to read
November 2, 2021Publisher's Description: Critically acclaimed author Lawrence Goldstone offers an affecting portrait of the road to the landmark Brown v. Board of Education case, which significantly shaped the United States and effectively ended segregation.
Since 1896, in the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" had been considered acceptable under the United States Constitution. African American and white populations were thus segregated, attending different schools, living in different neighborhoods, and even drinking from different water fountains. However, as African Americans found themselves lacking opportunity and living under the constant menace of mob violence, it was becoming increasingly apparent that segregation was not only unjust, but dangerous.
Fighting to turn the tide against racial oppression, revolutionaries rose up all over America, from Booker T. Washington to W. E. B. Du Bois. They formed coalitions of some of the greatest legal minds and activists, who carefully strategized how to combat the racist judicial system. These efforts would be rewarded in the groundbreaking cases of 1952-1954 known collectively as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the US Supreme Court would decide, once and for all, the legality of segregation -- and on which side of history the United States would stand.
In this thrilling examination of the path to Brown v. Board of Education, Constitutional law scholar Lawrence Goldstone highlights the key trials and players in the fight for integration. Written with a deft hand, this story of social justice will remind readers, young and old, of the momentousness of the segregation hearings.
Since 1896, in the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson, the doctrine of "separate but equal" had been considered acceptable under the United States Constitution. African American and white populations were thus segregated, attending different schools, living in different neighborhoods, and even drinking from different water fountains. However, as African Americans found themselves lacking opportunity and living under the constant menace of mob violence, it was becoming increasingly apparent that segregation was not only unjust, but dangerous.
Fighting to turn the tide against racial oppression, revolutionaries rose up all over America, from Booker T. Washington to W. E. B. Du Bois. They formed coalitions of some of the greatest legal minds and activists, who carefully strategized how to combat the racist judicial system. These efforts would be rewarded in the groundbreaking cases of 1952-1954 known collectively as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, in which the US Supreme Court would decide, once and for all, the legality of segregation -- and on which side of history the United States would stand.
In this thrilling examination of the path to Brown v. Board of Education, Constitutional law scholar Lawrence Goldstone highlights the key trials and players in the fight for integration. Written with a deft hand, this story of social justice will remind readers, young and old, of the momentousness of the segregation hearings.
January 22, 2022
Published by Scholastic and intended for young readers, Lawrence Goldstone’s latest release, Separate No More is an important read. During this time of heightened racial reckoning, anyone who needs a refresher and a deeper dive into the 1954 landmark case Brown v. Board of Education would benefit from Goldstone’s exposition of key historical and sociocultural moments that reach back to the 1890s, which eventually led nine white men on the Warren court to rule on the inherent inequalities in separate school facilities for Blacks and Whites.
While Thurgood Marshall and Justice Earl Warren remain central figures of the Brown saga, the book also draws from the long history of intentional and methodical resistance among gifted and well-educated Black leaders and their allies in the courts, and in the court of public opinion. Early in the movement, differing approaches to sustaining Black progress caused tensions, with W.E.B. Dubois’s Black dignity-focused rhetoric winning over Blacks and White abolitionists. Accounts of the brutal lynching of Black men are a grave reminder of the generational violence endured by Black people at the hands of racist Whites.
Goldstone builds the case that the unanimous decision to dismantle the rule of prejudice and segregation was made possible by “changing hearts and minds,” evidenced by racial integration in other parts of society like sports, the arts, and military service. This book would make an excellent addition to any teacher’s reference list, as it bears significant lessons for all learners to understand the stories of sacrifice and risk-taking that were necessary to ultimately achieve equality.
This review was originally published in Manhattan Book Review.
While Thurgood Marshall and Justice Earl Warren remain central figures of the Brown saga, the book also draws from the long history of intentional and methodical resistance among gifted and well-educated Black leaders and their allies in the courts, and in the court of public opinion. Early in the movement, differing approaches to sustaining Black progress caused tensions, with W.E.B. Dubois’s Black dignity-focused rhetoric winning over Blacks and White abolitionists. Accounts of the brutal lynching of Black men are a grave reminder of the generational violence endured by Black people at the hands of racist Whites.
Goldstone builds the case that the unanimous decision to dismantle the rule of prejudice and segregation was made possible by “changing hearts and minds,” evidenced by racial integration in other parts of society like sports, the arts, and military service. This book would make an excellent addition to any teacher’s reference list, as it bears significant lessons for all learners to understand the stories of sacrifice and risk-taking that were necessary to ultimately achieve equality.
This review was originally published in Manhattan Book Review.
January 8, 2021
Why read another book about American History and how our political system affected African Americans? Because it's important to learn about the topic, the issue from a variety of perspectives. The variety and quantity of photographs add to the narrative.
"Separate No More" examines the history of law suits brought before the courts to eliminate the idea of 'separate but equal' as set out in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1898. The narrative ends with Brown v Board of Education of Topeka Kansas and its immediate aftermath. It's written clearly and concisely with plenty of background information to flesh out the history, with never a dull moment.
You'll learn more about the Fourteenth Amendment and about how court cases make their way from local to federal jurisdictions along with how lawyers and organizations might pick or put forth cases to be heard by the Supreme Court in Washington DC.
Major players in this short book included the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, and Chief Justice Earl Warren, to name a few. Along the way, I learned the history of not only the lawyers and individuals who sued in court, but also the justices and the court cases.
This history book, written for teens, is a perfect refresher and wonderful background for understanding more of how racism and the class system developed in the United States.
Thanks to the BookLoft of German Village (Columbus, OH) http://www.bookloft.com for an ARC to read and review.
"Separate No More" examines the history of law suits brought before the courts to eliminate the idea of 'separate but equal' as set out in Plessy v. Ferguson in 1898. The narrative ends with Brown v Board of Education of Topeka Kansas and its immediate aftermath. It's written clearly and concisely with plenty of background information to flesh out the history, with never a dull moment.
You'll learn more about the Fourteenth Amendment and about how court cases make their way from local to federal jurisdictions along with how lawyers and organizations might pick or put forth cases to be heard by the Supreme Court in Washington DC.
Major players in this short book included the NAACP, Thurgood Marshall, and Chief Justice Earl Warren, to name a few. Along the way, I learned the history of not only the lawyers and individuals who sued in court, but also the justices and the court cases.
This history book, written for teens, is a perfect refresher and wonderful background for understanding more of how racism and the class system developed in the United States.
Thanks to the BookLoft of German Village (Columbus, OH) http://www.bookloft.com for an ARC to read and review.
February 27, 2021
@Kidlitexchange
Thank you to @Scholasticinc for sharing an advance copy of Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown v. Board of Education by Lawrence Goldstone with the #kidlitexchange network. This YA nonfiction book is now available for purchase. All opinions are my own.
Many YA readers have probably heard of Brown v. Board of Education, but I'm sure that Separate No More offers a story that few of them have heard. In this book, Goldstone outlines the long and arduous road that led to that historic Supreme Court case. Goldstone outlines cases that laid ground work for Brown v. Board of Education as well as the stories behind the men and women who fought for equality and the end of segregation.
I found this book to be incredibly interesting. It offered a much deeper insight into a topic that I was only introduced to in school. It is very well researched, but is written in a way that is accessible to a YA audience. Goldstone explains the complexities of the situation and the various court cases and politics related to the topic in terms that any reader will be able to understand. This book allows the author to reflect on the progress made since the landmark case (even if it isn't as much progress as we'd hope to see) and think about how we can be part of a solution. It is bound to spark some great and important conversations.
Thank you to @Scholasticinc for sharing an advance copy of Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown v. Board of Education by Lawrence Goldstone with the #kidlitexchange network. This YA nonfiction book is now available for purchase. All opinions are my own.
Many YA readers have probably heard of Brown v. Board of Education, but I'm sure that Separate No More offers a story that few of them have heard. In this book, Goldstone outlines the long and arduous road that led to that historic Supreme Court case. Goldstone outlines cases that laid ground work for Brown v. Board of Education as well as the stories behind the men and women who fought for equality and the end of segregation.
I found this book to be incredibly interesting. It offered a much deeper insight into a topic that I was only introduced to in school. It is very well researched, but is written in a way that is accessible to a YA audience. Goldstone explains the complexities of the situation and the various court cases and politics related to the topic in terms that any reader will be able to understand. This book allows the author to reflect on the progress made since the landmark case (even if it isn't as much progress as we'd hope to see) and think about how we can be part of a solution. It is bound to spark some great and important conversations.
December 4, 2021
The subtitle isn't kidding about a long road: Goldstone starts with Plessy v. Ferguson in 1892 and follows the decades of activism and other cases as people work to bring down segregation and discrimination. Readers will learn about cases and people that aren't often covered, like Gong Lum v. Rice (segregation won; might be why it's often skipped) and Lloyd Gaines, who mysteriously disappeared before his case could go to the Supreme Court. There are plenty of well-chosen photos.
Goldstone has the habit of dropping in quotes with no context so the reader has to turn to the notes to learn that the excerpt is from a speech, or an encyclopedia article, or what have you. In his own words, he calls Howard University "the finest traditionally black college in the nation" (87) but a few pages later he quotes someone (this is not in the notes) calling Howard a "glorified high school" in 1926. (94) It left me wondering what that said about Tuskegee. A bit later he follows up a quote from an Army Air Corps film ("You don't judge a man by the shape of his nose or the color of his skin.") by telling us that the narrator was Ronald Reagan. (130) I really think that gives a false impression of Reagan's actual views given his later reliance on racist dog-whistles.
Still, there are few books that look at Brown this comprehensively for young adults.
Goldstone has the habit of dropping in quotes with no context so the reader has to turn to the notes to learn that the excerpt is from a speech, or an encyclopedia article, or what have you. In his own words, he calls Howard University "the finest traditionally black college in the nation" (87) but a few pages later he quotes someone (this is not in the notes) calling Howard a "glorified high school" in 1926. (94) It left me wondering what that said about Tuskegee. A bit later he follows up a quote from an Army Air Corps film ("You don't judge a man by the shape of his nose or the color of his skin.") by telling us that the narrator was Ronald Reagan. (130) I really think that gives a false impression of Reagan's actual views given his later reliance on racist dog-whistles.
Still, there are few books that look at Brown this comprehensively for young adults.
February 8, 2021
#kidlitexchange Partner: Separate No More by Lawrence Goldstone. Available now through @scholasticinc.
This Young Adult nonfiction is packed with information on the rise and fall of segregated schools, from all the way back to the Plessy case and ending with Brown v. Board of Education. In between were countless other trials and cases literally across the country. With full-page photographs and legal details, Separate No More illustrates perfectly how separate was never equal.
I learned so much from this book. For example, I didn’t even know that Brown in Brown v. Board of Education was a little girl. It’s not that a little girl started the case; it’s just that her name came first in the school alphabetically, so her name headlined the case.
I loved that I got to read this during Black History Month because it overlapped with a lot of what I’ve been covering with the kids I tutor. For example, psychologist Mamie Clark, whose doll experiments revealed the heartbreaking impact of segregation on kids. Mamie Clark was in this book and I’m also reading about her with the kids this week.
Separate No More is available NOW in time for Black History Month! Thank you @kidlitexchange for the review copy—all opinions are my own.
This Young Adult nonfiction is packed with information on the rise and fall of segregated schools, from all the way back to the Plessy case and ending with Brown v. Board of Education. In between were countless other trials and cases literally across the country. With full-page photographs and legal details, Separate No More illustrates perfectly how separate was never equal.
I learned so much from this book. For example, I didn’t even know that Brown in Brown v. Board of Education was a little girl. It’s not that a little girl started the case; it’s just that her name came first in the school alphabetically, so her name headlined the case.
I loved that I got to read this during Black History Month because it overlapped with a lot of what I’ve been covering with the kids I tutor. For example, psychologist Mamie Clark, whose doll experiments revealed the heartbreaking impact of segregation on kids. Mamie Clark was in this book and I’m also reading about her with the kids this week.
Separate No More is available NOW in time for Black History Month! Thank you @kidlitexchange for the review copy—all opinions are my own.
January 18, 2022
Goldstone's chronological survey of the history of legalized racial segregation begins with the landmark outcome of Plessy v. Ferguson (the concept of "separate but equal") and details the steps taken by many to reach "separate is not equal" in Brown v. Board of Education, the fallout and implications today.
Goldstone's casual tone makes this informational non-fiction title a joy to read. Readers will come away with a deepened understanding of the difficulties, the teamwork and maneuvering necessary to get this decision in the courts, and the importance and relevance to life in the U.S. today. Use of black & white photographs of the players, how children and schools were affected, and examples of segregation illustrate the book extend the text, providing primary sources for students to witness. Backmatter includes a bibliography of online resources, books and articles, source, notes, and index. A compelling read, I wanted to finish this in one sitting!
An outstanding contribution to library collections looking to add depth to their materials on Civil Rights.
Highly recommended for grades 6-12.
Goldstone's casual tone makes this informational non-fiction title a joy to read. Readers will come away with a deepened understanding of the difficulties, the teamwork and maneuvering necessary to get this decision in the courts, and the importance and relevance to life in the U.S. today. Use of black & white photographs of the players, how children and schools were affected, and examples of segregation illustrate the book extend the text, providing primary sources for students to witness. Backmatter includes a bibliography of online resources, books and articles, source, notes, and index. A compelling read, I wanted to finish this in one sitting!
An outstanding contribution to library collections looking to add depth to their materials on Civil Rights.
Highly recommended for grades 6-12.
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February 19, 2022The introduction states : "But after America emerged from WWII change began to press itself on American society.For the first time, many whites began to question why their black fellow citizens were treated as people to be shunned, debased, and denied the same opportunities to succeed as they freely enjoyed."
Thank God for those WHITE people!!!without whom nothing ever shifts!!
It goes on "...from the military barracks to the baseball field to the courtroom, AFRICAN AMERICANS
HAD BEGUN TO DEMONSTRATE THAT NOT ONLY COULD THEY MATCH THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF WHITES, BUT THEY COULD OFTEN EXCEED THEM"!!!
Later on the author makes this absurd assumption. "for reasons that were never made clear, Waties Waring underwent a radical change" But the truth, is that he experienced what happened to Issac Woodward. Look it up.
Talk about imbedded systematic racisim!
This is the tone of this whole book. This is a disgusting rendering of an impossibly important subject that is imperative that we stop getting wrong.
I could not read the whole book, but I did page through.
Lawrence Goldstone, if you see this, look into your own soul.
Thank God for those WHITE people!!!without whom nothing ever shifts!!
It goes on "...from the military barracks to the baseball field to the courtroom, AFRICAN AMERICANS
HAD BEGUN TO DEMONSTRATE THAT NOT ONLY COULD THEY MATCH THE ACHIEVEMENTS OF WHITES, BUT THEY COULD OFTEN EXCEED THEM"!!!
Later on the author makes this absurd assumption. "for reasons that were never made clear, Waties Waring underwent a radical change" But the truth, is that he experienced what happened to Issac Woodward. Look it up.
Talk about imbedded systematic racisim!
This is the tone of this whole book. This is a disgusting rendering of an impossibly important subject that is imperative that we stop getting wrong.
I could not read the whole book, but I did page through.
Lawrence Goldstone, if you see this, look into your own soul.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 21, 2021
Noyce book club. The chapters leading up to Brown v Board of Education felt somewhat disjointed, there wasn't an overarching argument, just a lot of scene setting. When we did get to Brown, there was much less description of the actual arguments and legal maneuvering than I expected. (e.g. Why was the doll study so critical? Why is it not considered good science now?) The conclusion had a long list of things that have not gone well in integrating education since Brown, but then concluded without a lot of explanation that Brown changed American education for the better.
January 6, 2025
“And so, the inevitable question: was is it all worth it? The answer is a resounding yes. Because for all the imperfections,for all the setbacks, and for all the racism that is still sadly a far to prominent presence in American life, Brown vs. Board of Education for the first time in the history of the United States stated without qualification, that separating people, diminishing people, and enslaving people, simply because the color of their skin was wrong.”
A hard read, but as a white heritage teacher it was a necessary one.
A hard read, but as a white heritage teacher it was a necessary one.
August 4, 2021
While I appreciate the historical summary of the many court cases leading to Brown v. Board. The quick evaluation of the effects of the court cases is incredibly rushed and sugarcoated with little acknowledgement of the present issues faced by the US educational system and the students and families it serves.
I love the distilled work on the court cases, especially for the intended audience, but I am not a fan of some of the quick generalizations about them when the author’s voice intrudes.
I love the distilled work on the court cases, especially for the intended audience, but I am not a fan of some of the quick generalizations about them when the author’s voice intrudes.
April 23, 2023
Beginning with the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson in which the Supreme Court of the United States upheld the constitutionality of racial segregation under the “separate but equal” doctrine, Lawrence Goldstone traces almost sixty years of state and local court cases leading up to the Supreme Court’s 1954 decision in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that ended school segregation. (Gr 6 Up)
November 27, 2021
A good overview of the way we got to Brown v. Board of Education. The only disappointment for me was that it didn't include Mendez v. Westminster, which didn't go to the Supreme Court, but was a case in California that the NAACP contributed a brief to and was about integrating elementary school education.
February 22, 2021
Makes legalese very accessible for a YA audience. Goldstone does a solid job of showing the road to this case and connecting all the dots. My concern is the book’s title and description is a bit misleading. I thought there would be more on the case but there isn’t. It was a bit rushed on that.
April 9, 2022
Definitely needed more editing, the first sentences of prologue were all run-ons. And much of it was probably too detailed and complicated for kidlit, though I did learn a lot.
May 5, 2022
Short and sweet but cover a lot of ground. Gives a much bigger background than you’d expect. I plan on picking up more books by this author.
May 26, 2023
It was written really clearly and probably for younger students, but still, I think informationally, this was a fantastic book that highlighted the volatile path towards 1954 from Plessy and it had just the right amount of drama that made me feel the intensity and pressure of the monumental Brown v. Board of Education.
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