Before Busing: A History of Boston's Long Black Freedom Struggle

In many histories of Boston, African Americans have remained almost invisible. Partly as a result, when the 1972 crisis over school desegregation and busing erupted, many observers professed shock at the overt racism on display in the "cradle of liberty." Yet the city has long been divided over matters of race, and it was also home to a far older Black organizing tradition than many realize. A community of Black activists had fought segregated education since the origins of public schooling and racial inequality since the end of northern slavery.

Before Busing tells the story of the men and women who struggled and demonstrated to make school desegregation a reality in Boston. It reveals the legal efforts and battles over tactics that played out locally and influenced the national Black freedom struggle. And the book gives credit to the Black organizers, parents, and children who fought long and hard battles for justice that have been left out of the standard narratives of the civil rights movement. What emerges is a clear picture of the long and hard-fought campaigns to break the back of Jim Crow education in the North and make Boston into a better, more democratic city--a fight that continues to this day.

Author: Zebulon Vance Miletsky
Publisher: University of North Carolina Press
Published: 12/06/2022
Pages: 280
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.35lbs
Size: 9.21h x 6.14w x 0.75d
ISBN13: 9781469662763
ISBN10: 1469662760
BISAC Categories:
- History | African American & Black
- Social Science | Ethnic Studies | American | African American & Black Studies
- Political Science | Civil Rights