Description: "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"--
Brief description: Zebulon Vance Miletsky is associate professor of Africana Studies at Stony Brook University.
Review Quotes:
"A book long in the making that has arrived right on time. . . . [T]his history will prove essential for scholars, journalists, educators, and all others seeking to understand the history of school desegregation, especially busing, in Boston. . . . Before Busing illuminates an organizing tradition that has confronted the contradictions and contortions of white supremacy in Boston for generations."--Journal of African American History