Kelli R. (kellilee) reviewed on 12/3/2014 + 66 more book reviews

As a Yankee transplant to the South who has lived in Birmingham, Alabama, for more than 15 years, I found this book fascinating. From the minute I arrived in Alabama, I was acutely aware of the race relations issues still lingering and I found myself studying the history of Alabama especially as it relates to the civil rights movement. One visit to the impressive Birmingham Civil Rights Institute, and its Jim Crow installation including a "White Only" water fountain leaves a lasting impression especially when you walk out the front door and find yourself standing in front of the 16th Street Baptist Church where 4 little girls were murdered in 1963 by a church bomb. Kudos to Ms. Wilkerson and her extensive research which is so eloquently set forth in this book. If I could make this book required reading in every American middle or high school, I would. We may have come a long way since Jim Crow but we still have so far to go and this is the kind of book that opens up the important dialogue necessary between the races to keep the improvement of race relations front and center.

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