An Integrated Boyhood: Coming of Age in White Cleveland by Phillip M. Richards (review)

Phillip M. Richards’s An Integrated Boyhood is an intimate autobiographical chronicle of his early life. A professor of English at Colgate University, Richards uses his obvious talent as a writer to tell his story, providing the reader with a compassionate memoir of growing up black in Cleveland, Ohio. The adversities in his life story are compelling. He grew up during the turbulent 1960s, when America was engaged in the Vietnam War, and struggled with race relations and integration issues, even in the North. Despite the struggle, in 1967, Cleveland became the first major city to elect an African American mayor, Carl Stokes. Richards details how Cleveland became a destination city for African Americans who were attracted by workforce opportunities. Richards’s family was among those arriving in the city with a bright vision for the future. Along with his parents, Richards migrated from the jim crow South to Mt. Pleasant, a black middle-class community in Cleveland.

Perhaps the most important aspect of Richards’s book is his ability to elaborate on the issue of race relations, class struggle, and education. He explains that although his parents taught him principles that would prepare him for success, their middle-class values at times made Richards feel like an outsider in the wider world of black Cleveland. He recalls being confused about where he fit into society, and that the complexity of black life in the era, and especially racism in the white community, left him confused.

Richards detailed the perplexity of black life in Cleveland, outlining the nervous behavior of whites and his attempt to find his place in society. His young life provides a parable to examine the city’s attempts at integration. He bravely reveals his adversities in life. An Integrated Boyhood begins as a memoir, but it goes beyond autobiography to reveal a social history of urban Cleveland in the era. In doing so he touches on both his personal and family values, and the diversity of culture in Cleveland. Starting with his migration to the North, Richards considers his coming of age at Alexander Hamilton Jr. High School, and the lessons learned from the upper- and middle-class blacks at Antioch Baptist Church. He also escaped the confines of the city to spend time at Circle Pines, Michigan’s left-wing camp for gifted students, although he found the camp to be more therapeutic than political in its influence. The autobiographical account finishes with his college days and his return to his parents’ new home in the Cleveland suburb of Forest Hill.

Richards describes the mistakes he made in his young life, but he takes responsibly for his own actions and honorably does not blame his parents for his struggle to fit into society. His book offers a blueprint for young people to navigate the difficulties one may endure on the road to success. This delicate approach to his story makes the book powerful. The manner in which he handled the adversity of growing up in integrated Cleveland is motivational. The book allows the reader to gain a sense of the social makeup of Cleveland, and even those well versed on Cleveland’s segregated past will appreciate Richards’s memoir.

Overall, Richards’s An Integrated Boyhood: Coming of Age in White Cleveland offers a unique perspective on Cleveland’s social history in the late 1960s. His portrayal of the dichotomy of life for Cleveland’s African Americans is exceptional. There are multiple life lessons to be gleaned from Richards’s life, from his family, and from the professionals and educators he encountered. His is a clear and precise story about his life and the history of assimilation. The integration era in Cleveland stands as an important aspect of the city’s history, which makes Richards’s book vital reading for scholars and general readers interested in the city.