⇒ Read Gratis Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family a Virginia Town a Civil Rights Battle Kristen Green 9780062268679 Books

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family a Virginia Town a Civil Rights Battle Kristen Green 9780062268679 Books

Download As PDF : Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family a Virginia Town a Civil Rights Battle Kristen Green 9780062268679 Books

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family a Virginia Town a Civil Rights Battle Kristen Green 9780062268679 Books

I have mixed feelings on this one. While I'm giving it 4 stars, this is namely due to the fact that the story of Prince Edward County is riveting. It's absolutely a piece of history I'm glad to have learned about. The characters felt very real... And for the most part, the author captures them & the own itself in such a way that as a reader, I can visualize the whole thing.

What ultimately detracted from the historical aspect was the author herself. For someone who learned quite late in life about how large a world there is outside her small town, I found her self-reflection & judgment on her family, former friends, neighbors, etc. to seem incredibly pompous. Perhaps it's just me, but when she interviews a teacher who discusses the struggles of teaching in buildings never intended for school & doing so with with meger resources, the author is quick to brush her off narrating that the 'real' suffering was the 6 year old who didn't get to go to school. In hearing the story, I personally want to hear from all involved. For better or worse, it's history. While there was certainly a great injustice to the black residents of Farmville, it became difficult to listen to the author's so-called 'white guilt' & her own steady stream of judgments as she continues on about how different & enlightened she is.

As she states, 'nice doesn't mean good.' I would argue that given the culture in the south at that time, there are people with good intentions who do things that ultimately cost us dearly. I don't see these people as evil—I see them as tragically uneducated & in some cases, simply a reflection of the era in which they grew up & a culture they never left.

I highly recommend this book as a whole. The author & her narrative were too much for mr by the time I was 1/2 way through, but as I said above, this is a piece of history that should have its voice heard.


Tags : Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle [Kristen Green] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. <em>NEW YORK TIMES</em> BESTSELLER Combining hard-hitting investigative journalism and a sweeping family narrative,Kristen Green,Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: A Family, a Virginia Town, a Civil Rights Battle,Harper,0062268678,Discrimination & Race Relations,United States - State & Local - South (Al, Ar, Fl, Ga, Ky, La, Ms, Nc, Sc, Tn, Va, Wv),African American students - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Civil rights movements - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Educational equalization - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Green, Kristen,Prince Edward County (Va.) - Race relations,Public schools - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Public schools;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,School closings - Social aspects - United States,School closings - Virginia - Prince Edward County,School integration - Virginia - Prince Edward County,School integration;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,Segregation in education - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Segregation in education;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,Students - Virginia - Prince Edward County,(Journalist),African American,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,EducationHistory,GENERAL,General Adult,HISTORY United States 20th Century,HISTORY United States State & Local South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV),HISTORY OF EDUCATION,History,History - U.S.,History of the Americas,HistoryAfrican American,HistoryAmerican,HistoryUnited States - 20th Century,History: American,Non-Fiction,Prince Edward County (Va.),Prince Edward County (Va.) - Race relations,Public schools - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Public schools;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,RACE AND ETHNIC RELATIONS,Race relations,SOCIAL SCIENCE Discrimination & Race Relations,School closings - Social aspects - United States,School closings - Virginia - Prince Edward County,School integration - Virginia - Prince Edward County,School integration;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,Segregation in education - Virginia - Prince Edward County,Segregation in education;Virginia;Prince Edward County.,Social ScienceDiscrimination & Racism,Students - Virginia - Prince Edward County,United States,United States - 20th Century,United States - State & Local - South,United States - State & Local - South (Al, Ar, Fl, Ga, Ky, La, Ms, Nc, Sc, Tn, Va, Wv),VIRGINIA - LOCAL HISTORY,Virginia,BIOGRAPHY & AUTOBIOGRAPHY Personal Memoirs,EducationHistory,HISTORY United States 20th Century,HISTORY United States State & Local South (AL, AR, FL, GA, KY, LA, MS, NC, SC, TN, VA, WV),History,HistoryAfrican American,HistoryUnited States - 20th Century,SOCIAL SCIENCE Discrimination & Race Relations,Social ScienceDiscrimination & Racism,United States - 20th Century,United States - State & Local - South,History - U.S.,(Journalist),Prince Edward County (Va.),Race relations,Race And Ethnic Relations,Virginia - Local History,History: American,History of the Americas

Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County A Family a Virginia Town a Civil Rights Battle Kristen Green 9780062268679 Books Reviews

Wonderfully reported story of racial damage that rings on through to the present. The pervasiveness of racism only 50 y previously and the continuing legacy of its persistence (viz the Republicanization of the South) give the lie to the idea that it we are post-racist and just need to move on. The author was uniquely positioned to obtain and describe personal experiences of folks directly involved in and damaged by the closing of the schools in Prince Edward County. As a member of the privileged white society that drove this destructive maladaptation, the author was able to elicit candid comments from white participants in the school closing, rather than getting the "non Racist" racist code. I've visited the South a number of times and always thought, what's with all these academies? The author's term for them, Segregation Academies, is the most accurate description I've seen. It is striking how long such a culturally violent episode damages the most vulnerable people. Less remarkable, but still giving one pause, is how white folks in the community have either mythologized the reason for the closing or realize it was a big mistake, but, undamaged as they are, are "just sick of hearing about it." So our friends in the Republican party would have us believe as they try to reshape the electorate through voter restriction. There is no institutional racism. There is no lingering damage that can't be straightened out by just getting a job. Mrs. Green has done us all a great service by revealing that this is, quite simply, untrue, by sharing this history on the ground with us. These wounds were recently inflicted and will not heal because some privileged white says so.
I couldn't approach this book without some preconceived notions as I was born and raised in the town of Farmville, and I could put a face to almost every name in this book. I graduated from Prince Edward Academy 42 years ago, and I never really lived in that town again. My experience was different from the authors because I was taught from a young age that what had occurred in the county was terribly wrong, and I did not have deep family ties to the area. In fact, I was more than ready to flee the hypocrisy that I felt was all around me at age 18. I felt the author has done an excellent job in portraying what happened and in facing the truth that sometimes individuals could be both lovely,nice people and terrible human beings at the very same time. As I was reading the book this weekend, I found an interesting parallel as people are upset that that noble character Atticus Finch could also be portrayed as a racist by Harper Lee in the book coming out this week. There are a lot of people who would like to smooth over the past and put it behind them, but the truth is the past has to be faced if any real progress is going to be realized. This is an important part of history, and this book puts a very human face on it. People who find this interesting might also want to check out the novel "Prince Edward" by Dennis McFarland which covers some of the same territory.
I have mixed feelings on this one. While I'm giving it 4 stars, this is namely due to the fact that the story of Prince Edward County is riveting. It's absolutely a piece of history I'm glad to have learned about. The characters felt very real... And for the most part, the author captures them & the own itself in such a way that as a reader, I can visualize the whole thing.

What ultimately detracted from the historical aspect was the author herself. For someone who learned quite late in life about how large a world there is outside her small town, I found her self-reflection & judgment on her family, former friends, neighbors, etc. to seem incredibly pompous. Perhaps it's just me, but when she interviews a teacher who discusses the struggles of teaching in buildings never intended for school & doing so with with meger resources, the author is quick to brush her off narrating that the 'real' suffering was the 6 year old who didn't get to go to school. In hearing the story, I personally want to hear from all involved. For better or worse, it's history. While there was certainly a great injustice to the black residents of Farmville, it became difficult to listen to the author's so-called 'white guilt' & her own steady stream of judgments as she continues on about how different & enlightened she is.

As she states, 'nice doesn't mean good.' I would argue that given the culture in the south at that time, there are people with good intentions who do things that ultimately cost us dearly. I don't see these people as evil—I see them as tragically uneducated & in some cases, simply a reflection of the era in which they grew up & a culture they never left.

I highly recommend this book as a whole. The author & her narrative were too much for mr by the time I was 1/2 way through, but as I said above, this is a piece of history that should have its voice heard.