David Margolick

In September 1957, Central School in Little Rock, Arkansas, was court ordered to integrate. Nine black students were to attend. One of them, Elizabeth Eckford, walked alone and was turned away by National Guardsmen. During her walk, photographers captured her while white students behind. In particular focus was Hazel Massery. This is the story of that photograph and how these two women were forever impacted by that day.

David Margolick gives a much broader picture that the one photograph of show more that day, beginning with brief explanations of how Hazel and Elizabeth reached that point, and continuing with the story of what happened to the Little Rock Nine after they began at Central. While much of the Civil Rights era was before I was born and reads like history to me, both of these women experienced it and are still living, making the issues of race relations and prejudice all the more present and less historical in feel. It's a powerful story and one that leaves a lot to discuss: should a person be defined by one moment? how would you have reacted as a student, either black or white? can major breaches like these ever truly heal? show less

Remember that picture of the slight African American girl in white integrating the school in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957 with the white girl behind her screaming and blasting hate at her? Elizabeth is the African American girl, Hazel the white one. Using the picture as a base David Margolick discusses both the nature of friendship and the evolution of racism. Hazel is a fun loving, optimistic extrovert happily married for years to her high school sweetheart, a loving mother, grandmother show more and great grandmother. She seems intelligent enough but not intellectual, and her sincere efforts at self assessment seem to skim the surface. Elizabeth is shown to be the essential introvert, consistently pessimistic and intellectual, and sharing to some degree her family's history of emotional problems. Loving is very difficult for her though she does have two sons. You know the saying just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean they're not out to get you? Paranoia is another governing aspect of Elizabeth's life, and the abuse and harassment she suffered when she tried to integrate Central High School possibly sent her into Post Traumatic Stress Disorder that's expressed through that paranoia.

How could these two women be friends? For a while it looked as if it could happen, but there was a big sticking point. Have you read reports of a rapist or near rapist who insists that he was just "fooling around"? He didn't mean anything bad by what he did and was kind of surprised by how upset the woman became. So when he apologizes he means his apology, he's truly sorry the woman was upset but he doesn't really own up to the evil intent of his actions. That's pretty much what happened with Hazel. She looks back at that picture of herself spewing invectives and says she was just fooling around and trying to get attention, she didn't really hate Elizabeth or any other African American. She apologized to Elizabeth and meant it, but Elizabeth sees that Hazel can't own up to the hate expressed in her actions, and she can't overcome her resentment of that hatred.

Elizabeth's introversion and self reliance enabled her to walk through that screaming crowd, to attend a year of school in which she was harassed daily, but it holds her back from forgiveness. Hazel's extroversion and optimism help her forgive herself for her missteps but hold her back from the self analysis that could lead to true repentance. How can these women be friends? How can anyone overcome strong differences in order to maintain friendship. Can we really overcome the urge to dislike "the other?" Margolick's book raises the questions and is a great base for discussion, but we need to come up with our own answers, if there are any. show less

I found this book so massively compelling that I am breaking one of my rules; I am adding a book that I don't own. I picked this up on the way out of the library because I had heard the author speak on the radio. Now I can't put it down. The author describes the horrible time in 1957 that the Little Rock High School was integrated by nine black teenagers. Elizabeth was the most famous because she is in that iconic Pulitzer Prize winning photo being surrounded by screeching white students. show more Hazel is the student directly behind her in the photo, screaming at her.

This book will make you cry and make you angry but you can't stop reading. Elizabeth was emotionally damaged because of the experience, the least of which was the isolation from the other students, her family and anyone that could have helped her. Despite what you think of segregation and integration, this was a young person that suffered and shouldn't have. The author makes clear what happens after the photo, after the main event, after everyone walks away. It brings to mind the saying that "names will never hurt you". What a lie. That is the story of these young women's lives, a story we should never forget. show less

I would never have stumbled over Elizabeth and Hazel by David Margolick had another LTer not been reading it and mentioned it to me, although the book itself came up in conversation at a dinner I attended last week. (The person who recommended it enthusiastically described the narrative, but couldn't remember title or author. Grrr.) Serendipity...

It's the story of two women whose lives remain inextricably linked some 54 years after a moment in their shared history was captured on camera: the show more snapshot of a 15-year-old Hazel yelling racial epithets at 15-year-old Elizabeth, attempting to enroll as one of the first black students at Little Rock Central High School only to find herself caught and isolated in the midst of a howling mob. Is someone's life defined by one moment in time? Margolick's book explores that, even as he recounts the lives of both happy-go-lucky and careless Hazel, and quiet, studious Elizabeth; their experiences that first crucial year of integration (especially those of Elizabeth; while Hazel left the school, Elizabeth remained for a year during which she was harassed without letup.)

It's the latter third of the book that is most striking, as it deals with the brief friendship between the two; while Hazel had apologized to Elizabeth as early as 1963, in the 1990s the two women became friendly for a few years, an event that dewy-eyed sentimentalists chose to view as an example of how the United States could overcome its history of legalized discrimination and violence against its African-American citizens. Needless to say, nothing in life is ever that simple. The two women pulled apart, with Elizabeth disappointed and angry that (in her mind) Hazel showed no willingness to engage with the deeper-rooted racism Elizabeth was convinced still existed in her and her family; Hazel, for her part, being bemused by Elizabeth's growing anger and inability to look forward. "Whites weren't ready for desegregation in 1957, and blacks weren't ready for reconciliation now. Elizabeth didn't want reconciliation; she wanted revenge." Hazel grows to envy the openly racist students from Central, who gave Elizabeth far more grief and yet who never felt called on to apologize, and who lived quiet lives.

This is a fascinating book to read, because Margolick somehow manages (at least in my eyes) to do the impossible and walk the narrow line dividing the two women, understanding and communication the point of view of each while also understanding the flaws and foibles of both women. Moving to the US in my 30s, even as a US citizen, I had little understanding of how visceral these race issues were. In Canada, where I attended college and lived in my 20s and early 30s, while such things exist, they don't carry the same weight, given the minimal history of slavery and Jim Crow-style laws. (But then in Canada, "visible minorities" historically made up a smaller part of the population.) Arriving to live for the first time in the US as an adult, listening to both sides, I found both perspectives -- ably represented here -- distressing. Hazel was certainly a racist, or held racist views -- and became the face of bigotry in that infamous photo. Yet she had the courage -- long before it was fashionable -- to apologize and seek forgiveness. Yet for many of those in Little Rock, no apology would ever be sincere enough to matter. I can understand why a traumatized Elizabeth pulled back from the friendship; why a despondent and exhausted Hazel withdrew. And yet the fact that they did saddens me.

So this was a very emotional book to read, even without having been part of the history myself. Does this mean that a century from now, we will still be struggling with the legacy of racism in the south -- the lynchings, the denial of humanity? In a way, the issues that Margolick addresses in the later history of the two women are ones that seem to me to dominate the whole debate over race, making this an important book, even if both women are weary of being viewed as symbols. Perhaps they both still have something to teach us, if we can hear, listen and strive to understand. 4.5 stars show less