GHOSTS IN THE
SCHOOLYARD by Eve L. Ewing is
a non-fiction work about the 2013 decision -- and subsequent public reaction – regarding
the closing of roughly 50 public schools in Chicago, most of which were in
predominantly African American neighborhoods. Ewing, assistant professor
at the University of Chicago School of Social Service Administration, asks “Why do people care so much about
failing schools?” She begins by defining
racism and argues that as a sociologist, racism is not so much what individuals
think and see as the “set of structures organizing the way society works… systems
… bound up in in the perpetuation of
historical policies rooted in more explicit racism.” Ewing uses her first chapter of four chapters
to profile Walter H. Dyett High School and the month long hunger strike that community
members held to keep it open. Still focusing on the Bronzeville neighborhood of
Chicago, she next reviews the history of segregation and public housing; our
students, too, learn about red-lining in Chicago. In a third chapter, she
shares transcripts of public hearings so that the community activists,
teachers, and students can be heard. In her final chapter, Ewing describes
institutional mourning – “the idea that we can mourn lost institutions just as
we mourn lost people.” It is a fascinating study touching on the turnover and corruption
in CPS, as well as a lack of transparency and seeming inability to recognize
the needs and wants of local communities.
I have been
suggesting GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD
to student researchers due to their interest in K-12 education and the
relatively local connection since many volunteer or interact with CPS students and/or learn about Chicago neighborhoods.
Ewing writes in a very accessible way
and this is the type of text which could become required summer reading for a
course like American Studies, or Social Justice. The text includes about 30
pages of biographical references, plus a useful index, as well as definitions and background on a set of terms and people. GHOSTS IN THE SCHOOLYARD received
starred reviews from Booklist and Library Journal.
