Conclusion
The book concludes with a consideration of how northern Black debates over school integration versus separation transformed the Black civil rights movement. Black northerners who participated in acts of educational protest challenged institutionalized racism in American schools and enacted lasting, substantial improvements. They organized grassroots movements that demanded specific reforms in local public institutions, in the process mobilizing Black northerners to become involved in local, state, and national politics. The inherent tensions between school integrationists and separatists created a dynamic, evolving grassroots movement for Black educational reform that insists on racial justice in public education and moves Americans closer to the meaningful reforms that will create equitable and high-quality public schools for all.