Awards

• Long-listed for PEN/John Kenneth Galbraith Award for Nonfiction 2026

Overview

A NEW YORK PUBLIC LIBRARY BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A powerful, incisive reckoning with the impacts of school desegregation that traces four generations of the author’s family to show how the implementation of integration decimated Black school systems and did much of the Black community a disservice ""Rooks deftly sketches this lamentable, sobering history.""—The Atlantic On May 17, 1954, Brown v. Board of Education determined that racial segregation in schools was unconstitutional. Heralded as a massive victory for civil rights, the decision’s goal was to give Black children equitable access to educational opportunities and clear a path to a better future. Yet in the years following the ruling, schools in predominantly Black neighborhoods were shuttered or saw their funding dwindle; Black educators were fired en masse; and Black children faced discrimination and violence from white peers and educators as they joined resource-rich schools that were reticent to accept the new students.  Award-winning scholar Noliwe Rooks weaves together sociological data, cultural history, and personal records to challenge the idea that integration was a boon for Black children. At once assiduously researched and deeply engaging, Integrated tells the story of how education has remained both a tool for community progress and a seemingly inscrutable cultural puzzle. Rooks’s deft hand turns the story of integration’s past and future on its head and shows how we may better understand and support generations of students to come.

Full Product Details

9780593470756

Table of Contents

Reviews

""Integrated is a powerful, heartbreaking ode to the sustained determination of Black parents and their children to access quality education only to have that quest thwarted at every turn by governors, white parents, and judges. The personal and societal consequences are devastating. . . . Through memoir, data, studies, and histories, Rooks lays the responsibility where it rightfully belongs and demonstrates that systemic educational inequality is not sustainable for a viable democracy."" —Carol Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of White Rage: The Unspoken Truth of our Racial Divide ""An indispensable and brilliantly crafted examination of the impact of integration on Black children and the broader trajectory of America’s democracy. Rooks is one of the most admired scholars in education today, and her writing style is nothing short of magical. . . . With so much uncertainty facing education today, Integrated is a book that must find its way into the hands of every teacher, parent, and high school student, as it reminds us that the failures of the past do not have to become the permanent reality of our future."" —Bettina Love, New York Times bestselling author of Punished for Dreaming ""Rooks deftly sketches this lamentable, sobering history."" —The Atlantic ""This illuminating study . . . is a paradigm-shifting reassessment of a milestone of the civil rights movement."" —Publishers Weekly (starred) ""Education can be a great societal equalizer, but as Noliwe Rooks deftly shows in Integrated, the pathway to education’s promise is too often impeded by the ghosts of racial, ethnic, economic and geographic segregation haunting public schools in the United States. Viewed through the prism of Noliwe’s family story, this book is a powerful reminder of the children too often left out of our national discussions about the promise of public education."" —Soledad O’Brien, award-winning host of Matter of Fact with Soledad O’Brien ""As the son of two educators, I grew up knowing about the importance and value of education. I also saw firsthand the fight to bend the arc of educational justice so that all might benefit from the promise of public education. That battle is ongoing. A masterfully told story, Integrated is also a clarion call to action. It asks readers to confront the present reality of present-day ethnic, economic, language and race-based segregation."" —Van Jones, CNN host & New York Times bestselling author of Beyond the Messy Truth ""A vivid account of the emotional and economic damage done to generations of children of color. . . . A powerful and uncompromising indictment of the public school system."" —Kirkus Reviews ""This indictment of the American educational system and how it has routinely failed children of color and those from lower social and economic classes offers fresh insights and alternative interpretations of long-held assumptions….[Rooks’s] readable and well-reasoned account makes an eloquent plea for new solutions."" —Booklist

Author Information

Noliwe Rooks is the L. Herbert Ballou University Professor of Africana Studies, and the chair of Africana Studies at Brown University. Her work explores how race and gender both impact and are impacted by popular culture, social history, and political life in the United States. She is the author of five books and is a regular contributor to outlets including The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Time, and NPR.

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