Robert L. Crain documents the way in which eight non-southern, big-city school systems met community demands to reduce segregation. Reactions varied from immediate compliance to months and years of stubborn resistance, some cities maintaining good relations with civil rights leaders and others becoming battlegrounds. Differences in these reactions are explained and focus is brought to desegregation in these reactions are explained and focus is brought to desegregation in the South---New Orleans in particular. The situation there is contrasted with six peacefully desegregated southern cities as well as the attitude of its powerful economic elite. The concluding part of the book is a general consideration of the civil rights movement in the cities studied, and the author considers the implications of his findings, both for the future of school desegregation and for studies of community politics. --
This important book takes the discussion of racial inequality in America beyond simplistic arguments of white racism and black victimization to a more complex conversation about the separate but unequal situation in many schools today. Amy Stuart Wells and Robert Crain investigate the St. Louis, Missouri, school desegregation plan, a unique agreement that since 1983 has given black inner-city students the right to choose to attend predominantly white suburban schools. After five years of research and hundreds of interviews with policymakers, administrators, teachers, students, and parents, Wells and Crain conclude that when school desegregation is examined from these many perspectives, more strengths than weaknesses emerge. They call for a reexamination of now-popular school choice policies across the country so that these policies may help to bring about more racial and social-class integration. Stepping over the Color Line intertwines data on student achievement and racial isolation with stories of the people who participated in the St. Louis program. The authors set these individuals within a broad historical and social context and demonstrate how important linkages between the past and present help explain why efforts to overcome racial inequality--in St. Louis and in the larger society--are so difficult. "The authors do a superb job of explaining how this innovative program came about, placing it in a broad context that takes it beyond its immediate and local implications. The book is at times heartbreaking and at times uplifting."--Richard Zweigenhaft, co-author of Blacks in the White Establishment? A Study of Race and Class in America
As a youth, the author obtained a scratchy old 78rpm record of “The Prisoner’s Song” sung by Vernon Dalhart. He also sang and played American Folk songs on an old acoustic guitar with a harmonica rest strapped around his neck. It was at that time that he wondered, who were these early recording artists? What was their background? How old really, were these Folk and Country songs; How and where did they originate? Fragments of Yesteryear is intended to give some answers to these questions, in the hope it may enthuse others to enjoy this hobby, but moreover, to enjoy this rustic music. The author is a specialist in early American rural recordings. Fragments of Yesteryear represents many years of first-hand research based on field trips to Appalachia and other rural areas in order to understand the the origin of rural musicians, and of their music. From his substantial private collection of obscure early country recordings, he is pleased to be able to share the information herein and to dedicate this book to the memory of a fellow collector, the late much loved Albert Shewmaker of Kentucky (formerly Indiana) who spent his entire life researching these musicians.
Measuring populations in person and on the telephone; Sample designs for personal and telephone interview surveys; Administration of the surveys; Response differences between the two modes of data collection; Method effects associated with specific types of measures; Measurable sources of error in the survey data; Sampling and data collection costs for the surveys; Summary and speculation.
This book discusses desegregation as a community decision, focusing on case studies from the 1960s. Crain uses comparative techniques based on fifteen northern and southern cities. The author seeks a "total" explanation for the decision to desegregate by determining its proximate causes and locating the roots of the decision in the economic, social, and political structure of the community. This work represents the first attempt to conduct a genuinely scientific analysis of the political process by which school systems were desegregated in this period.Robert L. Crain documents the way in which eight non-southern, big-city school systems met community demands to reduce segregation. Reactions varied from immediate compliance to months and years of stubborn resistance, some cities maintaining good relations with civil rights leaders and others becoming battlegrounds. Differences in these reactions are explained and focus is brought to desegregation in the South New Orleans in particular. The situation there is contrasted with six peacefully desegregated southern cities as well as the attitude of its powerful economic elite. The concluding part of the book is a general consideration of the civil rights movement in the cities studied, and the author considers the implications of his findings, both for the future of school desegregation and for studies of community politics.Employing comparative techniques and concentrating upon the outputs of political systems, this is a highly innovative contribution to the study of community power structures and their relationship to educational systems. It remains an effective supplement to courses in sociology, political science, and education, as well as an important source of data for everyone concerned with the history of efforts for national integration.
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