Scan barcode
Reviews
A Most Tolerant Little Town: The Explosive Beginning of School Desegregation by Rachel Louise Martin
kleonard's review
5.0
Everyone should read this book. Especially every educator, every school administrator. Martin does an outstanding job of chronicling the high school desegregation effort in Clinton, Tennessee in a thoughtful and provocative way that is going to make this a best-seller and a book club star. Although her research began as an academic project, her writing here is intended to reach a large and wide audience, and it is compelling and eloquent. Many Americans know the story of the Little Rock 9, but few know of the Clinton 12, but we should--and we should know the entire story, including the lives of those involved following the desegregation efforts. Martin provides a summary of just where the US is today in terms of school integration, and it is sobering and requiring of action on the parts of anyone interested in the future of education and the future of the United States.
justinlife's review
challenging
dark
informative
inspiring
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
This is one of those books that’s uncomfortable to read but worth reading. In this book, we read about the desegregation of Clinton High, years before Little Rock occurred. Martin brings this history to life with brilliant prose and really shows off her skill as a historian and author. She recreates the scenes so viscerally that it feels like we’re there, watching these events unfold. It’s well paced and well researched. This is the best of the narrative non fiction.
While it’s uncomfortable to face our past, it’s important to read, to recognize, and to remember. We’ve come a long way and ay times we haven’t. Public schools have always been area where a lot of attention is paid when change occurs.
This is an important book that you should pick up and read. I highly recommend it.
While it’s uncomfortable to face our past, it’s important to read, to recognize, and to remember. We’ve come a long way and ay times we haven’t. Public schools have always been area where a lot of attention is paid when change occurs.
This is an important book that you should pick up and read. I highly recommend it.
bookreviewswithkb's review
informative
slow-paced
3.0
thank you to @simonbooks for the review copy!
Martin gives us a well-researched account of the first high school in the south to undergo court-mandated desegregation, a history of Clinton High School in Clinton, Tennessee, that has widely been unknown due to the symptoms of post-traumatic stress disorder that resulted in many of the 12 Black students who walked through the doors of Clinton high to remain silent throughout the years since, because white people are always trying to erase history that tells of our racism. the author lays bare the truth of these desegregation efforts
the education system in the united states remains segregated today. Martin points out that “school segregation more than doubled between 2001 and 2016” and readingpartners.org reports that “over 30% of students attend schools where 75% or more of the student body was the same race or ethnicity.”
although i have some critiques of the book, what’s important is that we learn this history and continue to advocate for an anti-racist education system