Leo T. reviewed A Mighty Long Way: My Journey to Justice at Little Rock Central High School on + 1775 more book reviews
I bought this book from a branch library sale because it was wished for a PBS comrade (who ignored the notification that it was made available and I was yet again left holding the bag). It is a very personal book by one of the students who were treated so badly at Little Rock Central High School in 1957. She is apparently the most articulate of that group and while I myself would prefer a more scholarly book, she was there and shares her experience.
My family has lived on the Coast for generations, elements arriving in 1847, 1851, 1867, 1887, 1888, and 1905. The latter are my dad's parents, his dad born in Indiana and his mom in Louisiana, married in Texarkana in 1895, and moving to Texas. While younger (a ten year old entering sixth grade) then Ms. Walls and saddened by what her cohort was enduring, I was thankful that they promptly departed from these hateful folks of the South.
This book leaves readers admiring the students that integrated Central, their parents, and their supporters. "When the segragationists failed to force the remaining eight of us out of Central with their telephone threats, sidewalk taunts, and courtroom battles, they began targeting our parents. And they hit where it hurt--our parents' pockets and pocketbooks."
There are some pictures, a few endnotes, and suggestions for classroom discussions, but no bibliography. I wish the author had made contact with the guys in the 101st. who served here. My friend was seventeen years old, having enlisted to get out of Silver City....
No index (and thus I deduct one star from my evaluation).
My family has lived on the Coast for generations, elements arriving in 1847, 1851, 1867, 1887, 1888, and 1905. The latter are my dad's parents, his dad born in Indiana and his mom in Louisiana, married in Texarkana in 1895, and moving to Texas. While younger (a ten year old entering sixth grade) then Ms. Walls and saddened by what her cohort was enduring, I was thankful that they promptly departed from these hateful folks of the South.
This book leaves readers admiring the students that integrated Central, their parents, and their supporters. "When the segragationists failed to force the remaining eight of us out of Central with their telephone threats, sidewalk taunts, and courtroom battles, they began targeting our parents. And they hit where it hurt--our parents' pockets and pocketbooks."
There are some pictures, a few endnotes, and suggestions for classroom discussions, but no bibliography. I wish the author had made contact with the guys in the 101st. who served here. My friend was seventeen years old, having enlisted to get out of Silver City....
No index (and thus I deduct one star from my evaluation).
