A review by derekmuskread
Separate No More: The Long Road to Brown V. Board of Education (Scholastic Focus) by Lawrence Goldstone

5.0

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.