A New Day in the Delta: Inventing School Desegregation As You Go
Beckwith, David W. A New Day in the Delta: Inventing School Desegregation As You Go.
Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 2009.
384 pp. $29.95 (hardcover)
In the summer of 1969, the author accepted a teaching position with the public school system in Leland, Mississippi. At the young age of twenty-two, he was a recent college graduate with no experience as a teacher and minimal interaction with the black community. He had one semester to adjust to working as one of three white faculty members in the all-black school, Lincoln Attendance Center, before forced integration mid-year would draw even sharper dividing lines in the already separated black and white communities in the small Delta town.
School desegregation is not a new story, though the author’s perspective on it is an interesting one. Beckwith did not take the job with any social cause or goals in mind, and through his retelling, the reader learns that many in the black community were as opposed to desegregation as were those in the white community. This is of particular interest as the mention of school desegregation often calls forth images of black students attending white schools. It can leave the impression that the black community wanted to be let into white schools. Beckwith does not try to editorialize the story as he relates it, and one does not get the sense that he has presented a revised history. This would be a good addition to any public or academic library collection.
Jennifer Hall
Head Librarian
Batesville Public Library
Entry Filed under: Book Reviews
Posted on: August 10th, 2010
