Between North and South: Delaware, Desegregation, and the Myth of American Sectionalism (Politics and Culture in Modern America)
"In this provocative and richly detailed study of school desegregation in Delaware, Gadsden provides powerful insights about American history writ large by exposing the artificial binaries that shaped law and politics during the civil rights era: southern versus northern race relations, de jure versus de facto segregation, urban versus suburban boundaries, and even the conservative versus liberal roles in white backlash against court-ordered busing."—Matt Lassiter, University of Michigan"Brett Gadsden'sBetween North and Southtells the long history of school desegregation in Delaware—a state whose remarkable role inBrown v. Board of Educationis largely forgotten. Gadsden insightfully examines the spatial and political dynamics that shaped the campaign for educational equality during the 1960s and 1970s, an era of backlash against 'forced busing.' In 1974, when courts, legislatures, and citizens across the country turned against school desegregation, Delaware gave rise to the nation's first metropolitan school desegregation remedy. Gadsden makes sense of this anomaly, skillfully explaining what made Delaware different. The book is a must-read for students of race, education, and the law."—Tomiko Brown-Nagin, author of Bancroft-Prize WinningCourage to Dissent: Atlanta and the Long History of the Civil Rights Movement.