rlk7m's review
2.0
2.5
There was probably a 90/10 split on "why America's colleges have always been unequal" and "how to set them right." I appreciated the history lesson, but reading this felt more like homework.
There was probably a 90/10 split on "why America's colleges have always been unequal" and "how to set them right." I appreciated the history lesson, but reading this felt more like homework.
bendubie's review
4.0
Very well written and researched. Several of these court cases should be much higher-profile in our discussion of education and it’s inequities.
alexis_rick's review
3.0
The content was great— important and eye opening. The structure & style is what got me.
leaton01's review
5.0
The depth to which white culture and citizens have gone to deny Black people equal opportunity has been well-documented in the realm of housing, criminal justice, primary education, and many other spaces. Intentional calculations about how to legally avoid, subvert, and manipulate policies are a hallmark of white supremacy in the United States--and, of course, when that doesn't work, mob violence in the form of lynching, riots, and even storming the Capitol are practices white people are willing to take to assert their supposed right to feel mightier than Black people. Harris's book brings another well-documented and critical look at how these practices and policies also played out in higher education over the history of the US. Harris balances a complicated argument quite effectively as he follows the legal policies that expanded colleges and universities across the US (from the Morrill Land Grant Acts to the G.I Bill and beyond) while also tracking the ways politicians and communities worked to take the money and land and prioritize white students and exclude black students--to the point of closing or moving schools. He also delves into the various legal cases that slowly attempted to chip away at the centuries-old racist assumptions and precedence that kept Black people out of white colleges and universities or continually underfunded and undersupported Historically Black Colleges & Universities (HBCUs). Meanwhile, he also traces the ways that HBCUs rose to the occasion advancing education, research, and community in powerful ways, despite always needing to fight for every resource and opportunity. The book is a powerful reminder of the lengths to which the US has been structured to disproportionately advance white privilege at the cost of Black opportunity and that even today, as Harris notes, these practices, the unequal funding and support for institutions with more BIPOC students still experience and creating unequal outcomes in education.
dcharchour's review
4.0
A lot of under-told history in these pages. Harris retells the great lengths in which states have gone to segregate higher ed, kill affirmative action and drain various funding streams to create a truly inequitable institution of education, not to mention inequitable American lives. Great storytelling. Definitely the most recent book that has made me angry.
maryreadstoomuch's review
4.0
Adam Harris takes the reader on a journey through the history of US higher education, paying special attention to the pervasive racism embedded in this system. You've likely heard of Plessy vs. Ferguson and Brown vs. Board of Education, but the lawsuits of various Black plaintiffs seeking higher education have mostly been lost to history. Harris shows the struggle of these men and women and how various states conspired to keep segregation alive despite court decisions telling them they couldn't do so. The land grant college system was unequal from the start, and the segregation it permitted only continues today. The beginning of the book discussing the founding of the system was a little dry, but the 2nd and 3rd parts of the book, covering the NAACP lawsuits and the state of the system today were very enlightening and readable. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in inequality and systemic racism, or the history of US universities.
Thank you to Ecco for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Thank you to Ecco for providing an ARC on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
katzmetz's review
informative
fast-paced
4.5
A rare thing: a concise, informative sociological book.
joannema7's review
challenging
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
5.0
I'm glad this book exists. It's a critical topic that must be highlighted.
Additionally, the narrator of the audiobook, Cary Hite, is excellent!
Additionally, the narrator of the audiobook, Cary Hite, is excellent!