Color in the Classroom: How American Schools Taught Race, 1900-1954
"What makes this study valuable is its application of that [whiteness studies] literature to the history of progressive education, to the largely neglected history of the intercultural education movement, and, to the extent possible given the sources available, to how evolving academic ideas find their ways into actual public school classrooms.  This is a solid intellectual history that should attract readers well beyond historians of education." --American Historical Review"[T]he book effectively demarcates different phases in the effort to promote tolerance and combat bigotry." --The Journal of American History"Places a spotlight on the profound paradigm shift in understanding 'race' that occurred during and after WWII, especially in how race was taught in public schools."--CHOICE"This book is the finest study of intercultural education to date.  Burkholder does a masterful job tracing the history of this reform effort, which during the World War II years, sought to teach American students about the evils of racism and the virtue of tolerance.  She focuses on three great anthropologists and educational activists, Franz Boas, Ruth Benedict, and Margaret Mead, who successfully challenged ideas of racial superiority and inferiority and vigorously argued that respect for diversity was a core democratic value.   Engagingly written and wonderfully researched,Color in theClassroomis a must read for anyone interested in how schools have been used to strengthen American democracy."-Jeffrey Mirel, author ofPatriotic Pluralism:  Americanization Education and European Immigrants"Anthropology's attempt to disseminate a progressive critique of structural inequalities based on race and class has always been less palatable to the public than the discipline's celebration of multicultural diversity. In this book, Zoe Burkholder tellingly depicts the dilemma activist anthropology has faced in American society.   She shows how the celebratory stance has been politically ineffective, since it offers psychological solutions--in the form of advocacy for 'colorblind' tolerance--to structural problems."-Richard Handler, University of Virginia"Color in the Classroomexamines American teachers' changing lessons about race during the first half of the twentieth century. Burkholder sheds new light on how anthropologists worked directly with educators during World War II to encourage an anthropological understanding of cultural differences. The mixed results of this effort yield insights for all who face the ongoing challenge of explaining the impact of race in a society where the ideal of colorblindness exists alongside continuing racial inequalities."-Jennifer Ritterhouse, author ofGrowing Up Jim Crow: How Black and White SouthernChildren Learned Race"Elegantly conceptualized and executed."Jim Cullen,History News Network