A review by sarabz
Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side by Eve L. Ewing

5.0

This book focuses on school closings in Bronzeville and the impacts on community members. I am so appreciative of this book that presents the value of these institutions to the people who use them and build community in them, centering the voices of students, parents, and teachers. An excellent counter to the narrative that uses test scores and student enrollment numbers to fabricate a legitimacy for the destructive school policies that devalue Black students, maintain segregation, and disrupt communities. I also appreciated Ewing's placement of herself in the narrative, explaining her relationship to the schools, the closings, and Chicago, and includes notes about her position and her relationships with the people she interviewed at the end of the book.