Unequal: A Story of America

by Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Favreau

Overview

Finalist for the YALSA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adults Award 

New York Times bestselling author Michael Eric Dyson and critically acclaimed author Marc Favreau show how racial inequality permeates every facet of American society, through the lens of those pushing for meaningful change
 
The true story of racial inequality—and resistance to it—is the prologue to our present. You can see it in where we live, where we go to school, where we work, in our laws, and in our leadership. Unequal presents a gripping account of the struggles that shaped America and the insidiousness of racism, and demonstrates how inequality persists. As readers meet some of the many African American people who dared to fight for a more equal future, they will also discover a framework for addressing racial injustice in their own lives. 

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780759557024
Publisher:	Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Publication date:	05/03/2022
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	583,280
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.
Age Range:	12 - 18 Years

About the Author

Dr. Michael Eric Dyson is an award-winning and New York Times bestselling author of over twenty books, a widely celebrated professor, a prominent public intellectual, an ordained Baptist minister, and a noted political analyst. He is a two-time NAACP Image Award winner, and the winner of the American Book Award for Come Hell or High Water: Hurricane Katrina and the Color of Disaster. His book The Black Presidency: Barack Obama and the Politics of Race in America was a Kirkus Prize finalist. He is also a highly sought after public speaker who is known to excite both secular and sacred audiences. A native of Detroit, Michigan, he currently lives in Nashville, Tennessee. This is his first book for teens. Follow him on Twitter @michaeledyson and on his official Facebook page (facebook.com/michaelericdyson).

Marc Favreau is the acclaimed author of Crash: The Great Depression and the Fall and Rise of America and Spies: The Secret Showdown Between America and Russia, and co-editor (with Ira Berlin and Steven F. Miller) of Remembering Slavery: African Americans Talk About Their Personal Experiences of Slavery and Emancipation. Favreau is also the director of editorial projects at The New Press. He lives with his family in New York City and Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts.

Table of Contents

Prologue: A Note to Readers xi

1 Mary Church Terrell Fights Back Against Segregation 1

2 Ida B. Wells Exposes America's Lynching Epidemic 19

3 Buck Franklin Bears Witness to the Destruction of Black Wall Street 33

4 Ned Cobb Confronts Racial Inequality at Work 47

5 Dr. Ossian Sweet Breaks Through the Color Line to Find a Home in Detroit 61

6 Pauli Murray Discovers the Key to Ending Segregation in Schools 77

7 Daisy Myers Integrates the White Suburbs 91

8 Malcolm X Launches a Struggle Against Police Brutality 105

9 Fannie Lou Hamer Takes Back the Right to Vote 119

10 James Meredith Integrates the University of Mississippi 135

11 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and Memphis's Sanitation Workers Protest for Equal Pay 151

12 John Carlos and Tommie Smith Raise a Fist for Black Pride 167

13 Ruth Batson Uncovers Segregation in Boston 181

14 Michelle Alexander Confronts the New Jim Crow 199

15 Catherine Flowers, Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, and Barack Obama Expose America's Crisis of Environmental Racism 213

16 Yusef Salaam Battles Racial Profiling 229

17 Stacey Abrams Leads the Fight Against Voter Suppression 245

18 Dr. Susan Moore Calls Out America's Unequal Health Care 259

19 The Black Lives Matter Movement Opens the Latest Battle for Racial Equality 273

20 Nikole Hannah-Jones Taps into the Power of History 285

Afterword: The Story of Inequality in America 295

Acknowledgments 303

Source Notes 305

Index 335

Editorial Reviews

★ 04/18/2022

Dyson and Favreau examine significant moments of injustice and inequality throughout U.S. history in this crucial nonfiction volume, which posits that “the first step to changing the world... is to understand what has come before.” Blending stories of historic Black activists with those of today’s prominent movers and shakers, the creators shed light on the changemakers of America’s history and explore how inequality affects every aspect of society, from housing laws to healthcare. The authors “have a hard time imagining that anyone would want to make history illegal in the United States of America,” and use each chapter to highlight a historical event not often taught in classrooms, such as Ossian Sweet breaking the housing color line in 1925 Detroit, and James Meredith integrating the University of Mississippi in 1960. The creators also tie each historic moment to a contemporary counterpart, including Stacey Abrams fighting voter disenfranchisement, as well as legislation seeking to replace real-life history with “more patriotic views” in America’s curriculum. This searing look at attempts to block students “from learning the truth of inequality in the United States” encourages readers to acknowledge the deep-seated presence of structural racism in America. A must-read and a must-teach. Ages 12–up. Agent: Tanya McKinnon, McKinnon Literary. (May)■

Publishers Weekly

A YALSA-ALA Excellence in Nonfiction for Young Adult Award Finalist
A School Library Journal Best Book of the Year
A New York Public Library Best Book of 2022 
A Cooperative Children’s Book Center Children’s Choices list pick 
A Bank Street Best Book of the Year
A Children's Book Council Teacher Favorite

"Michael Eric Dyson is one the greatest intellectuals and thought provokers of our time. In this book he and Marc Favreau realize we are the fruit of generations of giants who labored for and demanded a more equal America. Read Unequal to learn their stories—and our own."—Common, Grammy Award-winning artist, author, actor, and activist

"With clarity and insight, Unequal illuminates how racial inequality is built into every aspect of American society. In gripping prose, Michael Eric Dyson and Marc Favreau draw clear lines between past and present struggles for racial equality to reveal what is required of us if we truly want to live in a society without racism."—Robin DiAngelo, #1 bestselling author of White Fragility: Why It’s So Hard for White People to Talk About Racism

"Michael Eric Dyson has long offered a vital perspective on race in America. Unequal is a stunning accomplishment, where Dr. Dyson and Marc Favreau transport readers across the country and across time to show the devastation and insidiousness of racial inequality, while also offering hope and inspiration to those fighting for equality."—Joy-Ann Reid, bestselling author and host of The ReidOut on MSNBC

* "Empowering, profound, and necessary, purchase for all collections serving young adults."—SLJ, starred review

* "Crucial…This searing look at attempts to block students 'from learning the truth of inequality in the United States' encourages readers to acknowledge the deep-seated presence of structural racism in America. A must-read and a must-teach."—Publishers Weekly, starred review

* "This accessible, riveting collection will inspire readers to claim responsibility for helping to ensure that the U.S. one day lives up to its most ethical professed ideals. Grounded in evidence and optimistic: uplifts the social power of studying Black American freedom fighters."—Kirkus Reviews, starred review

* “This is a necessary resource and will inspire students to promote social justice.” —SLC, starred review

From the Publisher

★ 05/01/2022

Gr 7 Up—An incisive look at how race has been woven into the fabric of our country since its inception. Spanning from 1865 to 2021, this work profiles 20 Black Americans, including Ida B. Wells and Nikole Hannah-Jones. Other subjects who are not as widely known include 16-year-old Mary Church, who desegregated a train car in Bowling Green, KY, and went on to be one of the first Black women to graduate college, and Michelle Alexander, a lawyer who fought against "the New Jim Crow," the over-policing of Black people during the "War on Drugs" in the 1990s. The authors' goal is to feature the freedom fighters from all walks of life who have been at the center of U.S.'s 150-year struggle for equality and to emphasize that "ordinary" people have pushed back against white supremacy. They make the case that this history cannot be disentangled from the broader American story. Teens can digest the substantial narrative profile by profile, but the work is best read as a whole. This is an excellent, accessible selection for history and political science classes. Thoroughly sourced and richly researched, it can be shelved alongside Stamped and Tracey Baptiste's African Icons. VERDICT Empowering, profound, and necessary, purchase for all collections serving young adults.—Shelley M. Diaz

School Library Journal

★ 2022-02-09
Weaving contemporary actors with heralded legacies, this volume profiles Black Americans who represent the unfinished struggle to envision and realize freedom and equality for all.

“The history we learn about in school is a battleground,” offer Dyson and Favreau, responding to the contemporary climate of legislation attempting to reshape how U.S. history is taught. This collection represents the work of two notable experts who pull no punches in expressing that these current challenges entail a Whitewashing of history by people who “believe that some knowledge is so dangerous that it should be kept from you at all costs.” They present snapshots of post-Reconstruction history cemented by strong, transparent source notes. This reader includes chapters on, among other topics, struggles for housing, education, and economic empowerment and against environmental racism. Patterns emerge that weave together notable forerunners and themes from the past with contemporary campaigns and newsmakers: John Carlos and Tommie Smith with Colin Kaepernick, Fannie Lou Hamer with Stacey Abrams, Malcolm X with Michelle Alexander, and Ida B. Wells with Nikole Hannah Jones. The authors invite youth to see themselves in the unfinished business of making “genuine equality a reality for all Americans.” This accessible, riveting collection will inspire readers to claim responsibility for helping to ensure that the U.S. one day lives up to its most ethical professed ideals.

Grounded in evidence and optimistic: uplifts the social power of studying Black American freedom fighters. (index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)

Kirkus Reviews