I am reading this book for a fascinating class on the Civil Rights movement. As I am finishing I find a lot of my high hopes for the book unfulfilled. The book does provide interesting insights into the reactions of white southerners to Civil Rights, but it tries to do entirely TOO much. The reader would be better served with more depth into a particular issue: voting rights or desegregation. Instead, there are literally hundreds of citations to make the same point, and far too large a span of time is covered. The content is excellent , but lacks organization and focus, and would be a difficult read for anybody without a good historical background. While Sokol has some amazing content, the book is difficult to wade through to find it. I am disappointed since it is a subject so rarely addressed in history books, and is an essential component to understanding the Civil Rights movement ( )

4374. There Goes My Everything White Southerners in the Age of Civil Rights, 1945-1975, by Jason Sokol (read 26 Oct 2007) This 2007 book tries to look at the civil rights struggle from the standpoint of the white Southerner. It begins somewhat disorganizedly but then tells of some events and the narrative catches one up. Especially striking is the account of the school integration struggle in New Orleans, where the white people who wanted to do the right thing had a terrible time--even worse than the blacks who sought integrated schools. The effect of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 is studied in detail, and there is some study of the Voting Rights Act's effects. The author is not a lawyer and it would have been good if he had been and had given more account of the legal struggles of the time. The book shows there has been progress but that many in the South are in their hearts still racist. A book full of interesting material but not as well-organized as I had hoped. ( )