Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation by Matthew F. Delmont

Why Busing Failed: Race, Media, and the National Resistance to School Desegregation Reviews

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  Rebecca

  An excellent book that tells the story of the role "busing" played as a framework in politics and media to thwart school desegregation, with a special focus on Northern cities and suburbs, starting ten years earlier than Boston's infamous anti-busing protests. While it may be about one specific issue, it shows the importance of "busing" and the framing of de facto vs. de jure segregation as concepts that undermined desegregation efforts, including in the 1964 Civil Rights Act itself. Very worth reading, and also seems very teachable. I'm trying to figure out a new upper-level undergrad course that would include it.
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  Kimberly Kennedy

  I read this book wanting to learn more about the history of the busing controversies, and I did learn a lot from this book, but the focus was more how busing was portrayed in the media, particularly TV news. Much of his critique applies to TV news today- the collapsing of complex issues into immediate crises, the lack of historical context and nuance. I enjoyed this book, but was left wanting more detail about the specifics of the desegregation plans.
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  Brittany Collins

  A great history of how “busing” became the enemy for school desegregation that holds White people in the North accountable for their hypocrisy. It reads very academically at times and has some confusing typos, but it is an important history of an often misunderstood or ignored subject. The book may have benefited from some more thorough explanation of “busing” rather than jumping into what happened in various cities — it has certainly left me with a curiosity to continue diving deeply into this subject.
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  Lindsay Vlasak

  This was really informative and eye opening. I learned so much about a subject and history I did not previously know enough about. Great read if you care about educational equality.
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  Cayla Wolf

  Very informative but so repetitive.
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  Emily

  This book is a well researched review of the historical context leading up to and surrounding the nationally publicized "busing" protests in US cities in the 60s and 70s, with a specific focus on Boston, where busing received more media attention than anywhere else.
  
  The book helps the reader understand the parts of the issue that were not well publicized, including the specific policy decisions as well as the role of network media in shaping the public's response to various desegregation orders.
  
  I found Delmont's writing style to be at times unclear or repetitive. However, I found the content to be interesting enough such that I was able to overlook some things that the copy editor apparently overlooked as well.
  
  This book is really relevant in the current social and political climate, especially with regards to the way that "dog whistle" racism continues to find new coded language in how white people resist justice for black folks and people of color out of fear of inconvenience to themselves.
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  Andrew Figueiredo

  Relatively good analysis of the "busing" issue and its failure in the US. However, it just felt like a chronicling of experiences in different cities at times.
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  Jon

  At times, the writing is quite dense, but this is a much-needed book that rewards careful reading. Delmont has produced an excellent contribution to our understanding of the school desegregation struggles that continue to affect children and families all over the United States.