Common Ground (book)
Encyclopedia
Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families is a book by J. Anthony Lukas
examining race relations in Boston, Massachusetts through the prism of desegregation busing
. It received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
, the National Book Award
, and the National Book Critics Circle Award
.
The book traces the history of three families: the African-American Twymons, the Irish
McGoffs and the Yankee
Divers. It gives brief genealogical histories of each families, focusing on how the events they went through illuminated Boston history, before narrowing its focus to the racial tension of the 1960s and the 70s.
Each family is directly involved in the busing crisis. The McGoffs are proud residents of Charlestown
who see an attempt to change the dynamics of their school as an assault on their culture. The Twymons have long endured sub-standard education and are hoping that busing will finally change this. Colin Diver
is a Harvard Law School
graduate and assistant to Mayor Kevin White. He is in favor of busing, but the effects hit home when he learns that it may result in his own son being bused to a foreign neighborhood.
In addition to the family stories, Common Ground examines many of the issues related to busing, including the protest movements, the disaffection between the "two-toilet" Irish middle-class and their working-class brethren, the impact of busing on national politics, and the evolution of the city's newsmedia.
J. Anthony Lukas
Jay Anthony Lukas, aka J. Anthony Lucas , was a Pulitzer Prize-winning American journalist and author, probably best known for his 1985 book Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families, a classic study of race relations and school busing in Boston, Massachusetts, as...
examining race relations in Boston, Massachusetts through the prism of desegregation busing
Desegregation busing
Desegregation busing in the United States is the practice of assigning and transporting students to schools in such a manner as to redress prior racial segregation of schools, or to overcome the effects of residential segregation on local school demographics.In 1954, the U.S...
. It received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction has been awarded since 1962 for a distinguished book of non-fiction by an American author that is not eligible for consideration in another category.-1960s:...
, the National Book Award
National Book Award
The National Book Awards are a set of American literary awards. Started in 1950, the Awards are presented annually to American authors for literature published in the current year. In 1989 the National Book Foundation, a nonprofit organization which now oversees and manages the National Book...
, and the National Book Critics Circle Award
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Award is an annual award given by the National Book Critics Circle to promote the finest books and reviews published in English....
.
The book traces the history of three families: the African-American Twymons, the Irish
Irish people
The Irish people are an ethnic group who originate in Ireland, an island in northwestern Europe. Ireland has been populated for around 9,000 years , with the Irish people's earliest ancestors recorded having legends of being descended from groups such as the Nemedians, Fomorians, Fir Bolg, Tuatha...
McGoffs and the Yankee
Yankee
The term Yankee has several interrelated and often pejorative meanings, usually referring to people originating in the northeastern United States, or still more narrowly New England, where application of the term is largely restricted to descendants of the English settlers of the region.The...
Divers. It gives brief genealogical histories of each families, focusing on how the events they went through illuminated Boston history, before narrowing its focus to the racial tension of the 1960s and the 70s.
Each family is directly involved in the busing crisis. The McGoffs are proud residents of Charlestown
Charlestown, Massachusetts
Charlestown is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States, and is located on a peninsula north of downtown Boston. Charlestown was originally a separate town and the first capital of the Massachusetts Bay Colony; it became a city in 1847 and was annexed by Boston on January 5, 1874...
who see an attempt to change the dynamics of their school as an assault on their culture. The Twymons have long endured sub-standard education and are hoping that busing will finally change this. Colin Diver
Colin Diver
Colin Diver is the president of Reed College in Portland, Oregon He was named the college's 14th president on October 5, 2002, replacing acting president Peter Steinberger, dean of Faculty, and succeeding Steven Koblik, who departed Reed College to run the Huntington Library in San Marino,...
is a Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School is one of the professional graduate schools of Harvard University. Located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, it is the oldest continually-operating law school in the United States and is home to the largest academic law library in the world. The school is routinely ranked by the U.S...
graduate and assistant to Mayor Kevin White. He is in favor of busing, but the effects hit home when he learns that it may result in his own son being bused to a foreign neighborhood.
In addition to the family stories, Common Ground examines many of the issues related to busing, including the protest movements, the disaffection between the "two-toilet" Irish middle-class and their working-class brethren, the impact of busing on national politics, and the evolution of the city's newsmedia.