Going to School in Black and White

A dual memoir of segregation

The school careers of two teenage girls who lived across town from each other—one black, one white—were altered by a court ordered desegregation plan for Durham, NC in 1970. LaHoma and Cindy both found themselves at the same high school from different sides of a court-ordered racial “balancing act.” is plan thrust each of them involuntarily out of their comfort zones and into new racial landscapes. eir experiences, recounted in alternating first-person narratives, are the embodiment of desegregation policies, situated in a particular time and place. eir intertwining coming of age stories are part of a bigger story about America, education, and race—and about how the personal relates to the political.

is dual memoir covers the two women’s trajectories from early school days to future careers working in global public health and challenging gender biases, racial inequities, and health disparities. LaHoma and Cindy tell their stories aware of the country’s return to de facto school segregation, achieved through the long-term dismantling of policies that initially informed their school assignments. As adults, they consider the influence of school desegregation on their current lives and the value of bringing all of us into conversation about what is lost or gained when children go to school in black and white.