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- May 3, 2016
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The book Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, by (the late) J. Anthony Lukas is my all time favorite book, and I've read it many more times than once. I first got it in the now out-of-print Hardcover book when it was first published, back in 1985, and, later, bought a paperback version book of that same title. (Since I worked at a publishing company for a number of years, I'm aware of the fact that when there's enough demand for a certain book, the hardcover version of that particular book is taken out of circulation and the book is printed only in paperback, because paperbacks are much cheaper to print.)
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, in my opinion, is an excellent, well-written book about Boston's school busing crisis, what led up to it, events that occurred throughout the city during that time, and the roles that various prominent politicians at that time, including Louise Day Hicks, the late Boston School Committee/Boston City Councilwoman and then-Mayor Kevin Hagan White, as well as the Church, the police and the Media, and Federal District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity, who'd moved from Worcester to Wellesley (who implemented the rather divisive Federal Court-mandated busing edict.) after marrying, played in that crisis.
Equally, if not more importantly, however, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families tells how three Boston families-- The Twymons, a low-income African-American family residing in Boston lower Roxbury/South End, the McGoffs, a lower-income white Irish-Catholic family from Charlestown, and the Divers, a Yankee gentry family who'd moved from Lexington, then Brighton, to the South End, in order to help improve the lives of the (mostly non-white) poorer people, coped with Boston's school crisis and how they responded to it.
The Twymon and the McGoff families, both of whom were families with a bunch of kids and were headed by single mothers, and who were low-income, coped with Boston's school busing crisis very differently. Rachel Twymon, who (rather reluctantly) had her two daughters bused, under armed guard, into the all-white, predominantly Irish-Catholic enclave of Charlestown, where they were in constant fear of their lives. Their kids reacted in different ways. Some of the Twymon boys went to prep school, or to different Boston schools, entirely, thereby escaping Charlestown entirely. Some of the boys also got into trouble with the law, and one of them stood trial for, was convicted of, and served in the Concord, MA Institute of Correction for rape.
The McGoff family coped in a different way. Although Billy and Lisa McGoff (two of the older kids) were assigned to their neighborhood school under Federal District Court Judge Garrity's mandatory school busing program, Billy was interested in sports, and was more laid back about the busing. Lisa and her mother, the late Alice McGoff, joined an anti-busing group in Charlestown called Powder Keg, an off-shoot of the organization R. O. A. R. (Restore Our Alienated Rights), that had been formed by Boston School Committee woman, Louise Day Hicks the year before Charlestown was included in the mandatory school busing program. Some of the boys, however, also got into much trouble with the law, doing frequent battle with the Tactical Patrol Force, that had been brought into Charlestown (and other sections of the city, as well) to keep and maintain order during busing, which didn't always work, however.
The racial tension was constant, there were incidents in and around certain schools in the city, and a young African-American lawyer was physically attacked on his way to a meeting at Boston City Hall, by white toughs from Southie (South Boston) and Charlestown who were protesting busing. The leader of that particular protest, a seventeen year old high school drop-out from Southie, named Joseph Rakes, swung a long pole with an American flag at Ted Landsmark, the African-American attorney whom they'd met up with, but Landsmark leaned away from the flagpole just in time, and two other white toughs punched him, broke his nose and glasses, and then kicked him. Ted Landsmark had to be rushed to the hospital.
Mr. Power, then the principal of Charlestown High School, also suffered much abuse and became the target of much hostility on the part of many white Charlestown Townie parents and students alike, once his sympathy with the blacks and other minority students (who banded together to form a Minority Students Council for protection.) who were bused into the high school really became known. The abuse eventually took its toll on Power, and, due to extremely poor health that was made worse by the constant, extreme stress that was put on him that year, was forced to resign his post as the principal of Charlestown High School, at mid-year during that year.
The Divers, who really and truly advocated an integrated neighborhood and integrated schools, had purchased a condo in the South End, renovated it, and sent their kids to a newly-created, special and racially integrated school called The Bancroft. Unfortunately, however, the Divers moved themselves and their kids to suburban Newton so the kids could get a better education, due to the amount of racial tension and the sharp spike of crime that took place in Boston's South End, at that time.
All told, the three families had this in common: All three families were in the same substandard school system, caught up in the middle of the busing crisis, and coping with it in different ways. The Twymons reluctantly supported busing, because they felt that their kids could only get a better education through more racially integrated schools. The McGoffs, at large, opposed it, and a number of their kids, as well as their mom, were caught up in the resistance to it. The Divers, on the other hand, while they wanted integrated city schools, and really worked hard to make that happen, felt compelled to move out of the city, when the sharp spike in crime and racial tensions took its toll on them.
Unlike the Divers, many of the McGoff's kids and the Twymon kids (the boys) frequently got into crime, and in conflict with the law.
Although the first few chapters are devoted to the backgrounds of the three families that're portrayed in the book, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, gets more interesting as it goes along. It also shows how tensions between blacks and whites erupts throughout the city, especially during the heyday of mandatory school busing, and helped, along with a super-resistant school committee, badly thought-out urban renewal policies, and airport/highway expansion, which sliced through and encroached upon the city, all of which occurred prior to the Court-ordered busing, to send already-existing racial tensions and hostilities in Boston soaring so far up above the boiling point, that, sadly, four decades out, Boston has not yet recovered, despite parts of it becoming more gentrified as of now.
Overall, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families is an excellent book, which is highly recommended for reading, and it points out that race and socioeconomic class both played a role in Boston's school crisis. The beginning chapters can get a little bit monotonous at times, and the description of the attack on Ted Landsmark (horrific as that was), was not quite accurate described in this book, as I pointed out earlier.
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, in my opinion, is an excellent, well-written book about Boston's school busing crisis, what led up to it, events that occurred throughout the city during that time, and the roles that various prominent politicians at that time, including Louise Day Hicks, the late Boston School Committee/Boston City Councilwoman and then-Mayor Kevin Hagan White, as well as the Church, the police and the Media, and Federal District Court Judge W. Arthur Garrity, who'd moved from Worcester to Wellesley (who implemented the rather divisive Federal Court-mandated busing edict.) after marrying, played in that crisis.
Equally, if not more importantly, however, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families tells how three Boston families-- The Twymons, a low-income African-American family residing in Boston lower Roxbury/South End, the McGoffs, a lower-income white Irish-Catholic family from Charlestown, and the Divers, a Yankee gentry family who'd moved from Lexington, then Brighton, to the South End, in order to help improve the lives of the (mostly non-white) poorer people, coped with Boston's school crisis and how they responded to it.
The Twymon and the McGoff families, both of whom were families with a bunch of kids and were headed by single mothers, and who were low-income, coped with Boston's school busing crisis very differently. Rachel Twymon, who (rather reluctantly) had her two daughters bused, under armed guard, into the all-white, predominantly Irish-Catholic enclave of Charlestown, where they were in constant fear of their lives. Their kids reacted in different ways. Some of the Twymon boys went to prep school, or to different Boston schools, entirely, thereby escaping Charlestown entirely. Some of the boys also got into trouble with the law, and one of them stood trial for, was convicted of, and served in the Concord, MA Institute of Correction for rape.
The McGoff family coped in a different way. Although Billy and Lisa McGoff (two of the older kids) were assigned to their neighborhood school under Federal District Court Judge Garrity's mandatory school busing program, Billy was interested in sports, and was more laid back about the busing. Lisa and her mother, the late Alice McGoff, joined an anti-busing group in Charlestown called Powder Keg, an off-shoot of the organization R. O. A. R. (Restore Our Alienated Rights), that had been formed by Boston School Committee woman, Louise Day Hicks the year before Charlestown was included in the mandatory school busing program. Some of the boys, however, also got into much trouble with the law, doing frequent battle with the Tactical Patrol Force, that had been brought into Charlestown (and other sections of the city, as well) to keep and maintain order during busing, which didn't always work, however.
The racial tension was constant, there were incidents in and around certain schools in the city, and a young African-American lawyer was physically attacked on his way to a meeting at Boston City Hall, by white toughs from Southie (South Boston) and Charlestown who were protesting busing. The leader of that particular protest, a seventeen year old high school drop-out from Southie, named Joseph Rakes, swung a long pole with an American flag at Ted Landsmark, the African-American attorney whom they'd met up with, but Landsmark leaned away from the flagpole just in time, and two other white toughs punched him, broke his nose and glasses, and then kicked him. Ted Landsmark had to be rushed to the hospital.
Mr. Power, then the principal of Charlestown High School, also suffered much abuse and became the target of much hostility on the part of many white Charlestown Townie parents and students alike, once his sympathy with the blacks and other minority students (who banded together to form a Minority Students Council for protection.) who were bused into the high school really became known. The abuse eventually took its toll on Power, and, due to extremely poor health that was made worse by the constant, extreme stress that was put on him that year, was forced to resign his post as the principal of Charlestown High School, at mid-year during that year.
The Divers, who really and truly advocated an integrated neighborhood and integrated schools, had purchased a condo in the South End, renovated it, and sent their kids to a newly-created, special and racially integrated school called The Bancroft. Unfortunately, however, the Divers moved themselves and their kids to suburban Newton so the kids could get a better education, due to the amount of racial tension and the sharp spike of crime that took place in Boston's South End, at that time.
All told, the three families had this in common: All three families were in the same substandard school system, caught up in the middle of the busing crisis, and coping with it in different ways. The Twymons reluctantly supported busing, because they felt that their kids could only get a better education through more racially integrated schools. The McGoffs, at large, opposed it, and a number of their kids, as well as their mom, were caught up in the resistance to it. The Divers, on the other hand, while they wanted integrated city schools, and really worked hard to make that happen, felt compelled to move out of the city, when the sharp spike in crime and racial tensions took its toll on them.
Unlike the Divers, many of the McGoff's kids and the Twymon kids (the boys) frequently got into crime, and in conflict with the law.
Although the first few chapters are devoted to the backgrounds of the three families that're portrayed in the book, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families, gets more interesting as it goes along. It also shows how tensions between blacks and whites erupts throughout the city, especially during the heyday of mandatory school busing, and helped, along with a super-resistant school committee, badly thought-out urban renewal policies, and airport/highway expansion, which sliced through and encroached upon the city, all of which occurred prior to the Court-ordered busing, to send already-existing racial tensions and hostilities in Boston soaring so far up above the boiling point, that, sadly, four decades out, Boston has not yet recovered, despite parts of it becoming more gentrified as of now.
Overall, Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Life of Three American Families is an excellent book, which is highly recommended for reading, and it points out that race and socioeconomic class both played a role in Boston's school crisis. The beginning chapters can get a little bit monotonous at times, and the description of the attack on Ted Landsmark (horrific as that was), was not quite accurate described in this book, as I pointed out earlier.
