这一承诺的改变:一个女孩的故事在学校争取平等

这一承诺的变化在1955年秋天开始,Jo Ann艾伦是参加高中20英里从她的家乡克林顿,田纳西州。克林顿的高中是白人,当地居民没有打算改变这一政策。但是,最高法院的裁决布朗诉教育委员会案使得单独的黑人和白人学生违宪的学校,和一个法官命令,克林顿高中成为集成在学年开始于1956年。Jo Ann, 12个非洲裔美国青少年将会参加学校的,是充满希望的。“黑人和白人在克林顿大多相处很好,我认为。我们是文明的。它不像比洛克西,在密西西比州,我们听说黑人白人时必须走下人行道走过。想象。”That hope seems well placed as school begins in August 1956, and Jo Ann is elected vice president of her homeroom. But by the third day, taunting protesters appear outside the school, and the crowds grow larger as the days go by. Mobs are gathering in the town square, and in early September, the National Guard is called in to restore order. When the Guard leaves, Jo Ann wonders, "Will our neighbor's hearts be revealed?" Then the Klan arrives with a burning cross and a bomb that terrorizes Jo Ann's neighborhood. Jo Ann finds herself "surrounded by a hard shell of silence" in school and is often shoved and tripped as she makes her way to class. But amid all the hate, there are rays of hope for Jo Ann: a white classmate who befriends her, a kind teacher, a white pastor who walks with the students to school, and a local election that sees all the white supremacists on the ballot defeated. But Clinton has become a fearful place for Jo Ann and her family, particularly as Jo Ann has become a spokesperson for the group, even being interviewed by famous journalist Edward R. Murrow on national television. Will the family stick it out or move to a more integrated city?