The Best of That World

This book chronicles the history, the closing, and what some see as the restoration of historically black high schools from the voices of civil rights activists, community leaders, alumni, teachers, and other involved and affected by the desegregation process. A major theme is the power White privilege has in shaping policies purportedly designed to extend educational opportunities of African-American children. Drawing on Critical Race Theory, the book exposes how desegregation policy discriminated against African Americans and how they pursued desegregation, as one of many strategies, including institution building in the community, to obtain equal educational opportunities.