White Girl: A Story of School Desegregation

Contents

vii Contents Acknowledgments ix Prologue. Bedtime Stories 1 A School Bus, a Mother’s Tears 3 Joined Hands 5 My Father’s Last Moments 8 Ann and Lee, Mom and Dad 12 Packing It In 14 You Talk like a Yankee 16 Tomboys 19 Freedom of Choice—Yes! Busing—Never! 24 “Model” Schools 27 Interim Integration 29 Busing Hits Home 32 Manners 37 Jim Crow’s Legacy 42 Liberal Teacher, Southern Lady 48 The Buses Roll 52 No One Wants You Here 55 Black Is Beautiful 57 Self-Segregation 61 Separate Soundtracks 64 In the Classrooms 67 My Flag, My Shame 70 Girl Talk 72 viii Ebony and Ivory 74 The White Boys 80 Filmstrip in the Dark 82 The Fox-Trot, the Cha-Cha 85 Invisible 87 Voice of Loneliness 93 The Liberals 95 Legacy of Defeat 98 No Yearbooks, No Good-Byes 103 Singing “Dixie” 105 The Open High School 110 I Surrender! 115 Belonging and Not Belonging 118 Driving Lessons 120 Preppie Envy 123 A Shell Tossed into the Ocean 125 The Education Mom 127 Racial Differences Still Evident 130 Was This a Good School? 134 My Father’s Words 137 I Am Lee’s Daughter 141 Splinters of Glass 144 Epilogue. Binford Middle School, 25 Years Later 148 ...