Ghosts in the Schoolyard: Racism and School Closings on Chicago's South Side
by Eve L. Ewing
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History. Sociology. Nonfiction. Eve L. Ewing knows Chicago Public Schools from the inside: as a student, then a teacher, and now a scholar who studies them. And that perspective has shown her that public schools are not buildings full of failures-they're an integral part of their neighborhoods, at the heart of their communities, storehouses of history and memory that bring people together. Never was that role more apparent than in 2013 when Mayor Rahm Emanuel announced an unprecedented wave show more of school closings. Pitched simultaneously as a solution to a budget problem, a response to declining enrollments, and a chance to purge bad schools that were dragging down the whole system, the plan was met with a roar of protest from parents, students, and teachers. But if these schools were so bad, why did people care so much about keeping them open? Ewing's answer begins with a story of systemic racism, inequality, bad faith, and distrust that stretches deep into Chicago history. Black communities see the closing of their schools-schools that are certainly less than perfect but that are theirs-as one more in a long line of racist policies. The fight to keep them open is yet another front in the ongoing struggle of black people in America to build successful lives and achieve true self-determination. show lessTags
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Really good sociological examination of the Chicago Public School system and the historical factors that lead to the specific circumstances of schools that were slated to be closed in 2013. Ewing wanted to look into the phenomenon she saw where schools were determined to be "failing" and yet the families who used those schools would fight against those closures. As I said, I had read what is basically chapter two for a sociology class but everything else was new to me. I am a sociology major and I'm very interested in educational sociology so this book was right up my alley. If you're at all invested in the current state of public schools, I would recommend this book.
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75+ Works 1,697 Members
Eve L. Ewing is assistant professor at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration. She is the author of 1919 and Electric Arches, and her work has appeared in the New York Times, New Yorker, Atlantic, Washington Post, and many other venues. She was born in Chicago, where she still lives.
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Common Knowledge
- Canonical DDC/MDS
- 370.890977311
- Canonical LCC
- LC2803.C4
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- 226
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- Reviews
- 1
- Rating
- (4.35)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 5
- ASINs
- 2
