''Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families'' is a nonfiction book by
J. Anthony Lukas
Jay Anthony Lukas (April 25, 1933 – June 5, 1997) was an American journalist and author, best known for his 1985 book ''Common Ground (Lukas book), Common Ground: A Turbulent Decade in the Lives of Three American Families''. ''Common Ground'' i ...
, published by
Alfred A. Knopf
Alfred A. Knopf, Inc. () is an American publishing house that was founded by Blanche Knopf and Alfred A. Knopf Sr. in 1915. Blanche and Alfred traveled abroad regularly and were known for publishing European, Asian, and Latin American writers ...
in 1985, that examines
race relations
Race relations is a sociological concept that emerged in Chicago in connection with the work of sociologist Robert E. Park and the Chicago race riot of 1919. Race relations designates a paradigm or field in sociology and a legal concept in th ...
in
Boston
Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...
,
Massachusetts
Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...
, through the prism of
desegregation busing
Desegregation busing (also known as integrated busing, forced busing, or simply busing) was an attempt to diversify the racial make-up of schools in the United States by transporting students to more distant schools with less diverse student pop ...
. It received the
Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction
The Pulitzer Prize for General Nonfiction is one of the seven American Pulitzer Prizes that are awarded annually for the "Letters, Drama, and Music" category. The award is given to a nonfiction book written by an American author and published du ...
, the
National Book Award for Nonfiction
The National Book Award for Nonfiction is one of five US annual National Book Awards, which are given by the National Book Foundation to recognize outstanding literary work by US citizens. They are awards "by writers to writers". The panelists a ...
National Book Foundation
The National Book Foundation (NBF) is an American nonprofit organization established with the goal "to raise the cultural appreciation of great writing in America." Established in 1989 by National Book Awards, Inc.,Edwin McDowell. "Book Notes: ...
. Retrieved 2012-02-20.
and the
National Book Critics Circle Award
The National Book Critics Circle Awards are a set of annual American literary awards by the National Book Critics Circle (NBCC) to promote "the finest books and reviews published in English".
working-class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
African-American
African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...
Twymons, the
working-class
The working class is a subset of employees who are compensated with wage or salary-based contracts, whose exact membership varies from definition to definition. Members of the working class rely primarily upon earnings from wage labour. Most c ...
middle-class
The middle class refers to a class of people in the middle of a social hierarchy, often defined by occupation, income, education, or social status. The term has historically been associated with modernity, capitalism and political debate. Commo ...
Yankee
The term ''Yankee'' and its contracted form ''Yank'' have several interrelated meanings, all referring to people from the United States. Their various meanings depend on the context, and may refer to New Englanders, the Northeastern United Stat ...
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 1970s. Through their stories, ''Common Ground'' focuses on racial and class conflicts in two Boston neighborhoods: the working-class
Irish-American
Irish Americans () are Irish ethnics who live within in the United States, whether immigrants from Ireland or Americans with full or partial Irish ancestry.
Irish immigration to the United States
From the 17th century to the mid-19th c ...
enclave of Charlestown and the uneasily integratedSouth End.
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 families. The Twymons have long endured sub-standard education and are hoping that busing will finally change this. Colin Diver, a
Harvard Law School
Harvard Law School (HLS) is the law school of Harvard University, a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1817, Harvard Law School is the oldest law school in continuous operation in the United ...
gentrifying
Gentrification is the process whereby the character of a neighborhood changes through the influx of more affluent residents (the "gentry") and investment. There is no agreed-upon definition of gentrification. In public discourse, it has been us ...
South End, a block from one of the Twymon sisters, who lives with her children in the shoddily constructed Methunion Manor housing project. The Divers are in favor of busing, but the effects hit home when they learn that it may result in their own son being bused to a foreign neighborhood. After six years of combating racial and class tension and street violence, the Divers leave the city for suburban Newton.
Reception
Robert Dentler, a sociologist who helped Judge Garrity draft the busing plan, criticized ''Common Ground'' for "distorted, questionable legends" and a "docudramatic method of reporting" that "cloak dthe ignorance, fear, and hostility of the minority of citizens in the white enclaves of Boston who initiated racial violence in the robe of civic innocence."
However, in a retrospective appreciation, LynNell Hancock of the ''
Columbia Journalism Review
The ''Columbia Journalism Review'' (''CJR'') is a biannual magazine for professional journalists that has been published by the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism since 1961. Its original purpose was "to assess the performance ...
'' wrote, "Anthony Lukas was a perfectionist in a world that is far from perfect. ''Common Ground'' is probably as close to that ideal as journalism can get."
Contents by chapter
# Diver - Colin Diver, living in Cambridge, responds to the assassination of
Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American Baptist minister, civil and political rights, civil rights activist and political philosopher who was a leader of the civil rights move ...
# Twymon - Rachel Twymon and her family, living in Orchard Park, respond to King's assassination; King's and
Louis Farrakhan
Louis Farrakhan (; born Louis Eugene Walcott; May 11, 1933) is an American religious leader who heads the Nation of Islam (NOI), a Black nationalism, black nationalist organization. Farrakhan is notable for his leadership of the 1995 Million M ...
's ties to Boston
# McGoff - Alice McGoff, living in Charlestown, responds to King's assassination; the political rise of
John F. Kennedy
John Fitzgerald Kennedy (May 29, 1917 – November 22, 1963), also known as JFK, was the 35th president of the United States, serving from 1961 until his assassination in 1963. He was the first Roman Catholic and youngest person elected p ...
and
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
# Diver - Boston Mayor Kevin White and the city's elite respond to King's assassination; James Brown's concert in Boston calming racial tensions; Diver decides to work for White
# Twymon - Genealogical history of Rachel Twymon; history of slavery and abolitionism in Boston
# McGoff - Genealogical history of Alice McGoff; Irish immigration to Boston; history of Charlestown
# Diver - Genealogical history of Joan McKechnie and Colin Diver; James A. Parker's 1963 housing discrimination lawsuit in Lexington
# Twymon -
Jonathan Kozol
Jonathan Kozol (born September 5, 1936) is an American writer, progressivism in the United States, progressive activist, and educator, best known for his books on public education in the United States.
Education and experience
Born to Harry Ko ...
is fired from the Christopher Gibson School in Dorchester, where five of Rachel's children attend; the Coleman Report; Rachel's children attend parochial school, an East Boston junior high school, Boston English
# The Chairwoman - Boston School Committee Chairwoman Louise Day Hicks opposes school desegregation, establishes Restore Our Alienated Rights (ROAR)
# McGoff - Alice Kirk (McGoff)'s family; the rise of William J. Galvin to City Council president; racial conflict in Charlestown
# Diver - the Divers move to West Newton Street in the South End; gentrification in the neighborhood
# Twymon - Rachel Twymon battles lupus to run a failing shop in Roxbury; history of Union United Methodist Church in the South End; construction of Methunion Manor
# Diver - Colin handles urban renewal battles, including
Logan Airport
General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...
expansion; White's failed gubernatorial bid;
redlining
Redlining is a Discrimination, discriminatory practice in which financial services are withheld from neighborhoods that have significant numbers of Race (human categorization), racial and Ethnic group, ethnic minorities. Redlining has been mos ...
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
is pelted at City Hall by anti-busing protesters; Alice McGoff becomes an anti-busing activist in ROAR
# Twymon - Rachel Twymon's daughters Cassandra and Rachel are bused to Charlestown schools; anti-busing protests at
Charlestown High School
Charlestown High School is a public school located at 240 Medford Street in Charlestown, Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Charlestown High Charlestown School is the only high school in Charlestown. Charlestown is part of the Boston Publ ...
# McGoff - Alice McGoff's children at Charlestown High participate in anti-busing protest; they witness '' The Soiling of Old Glory'' incident
# Diver - busing plan threatens the experimental Bancroft School in the South End; Boston philanthropy; Joan rises to become director of the Hyams Foundation; anti-busing activists protest the United Way of Massachusetts
# McGoff - the McGoffs, the Catholic Church, and the busing crisis
# The Cardinal - Cardinal Humberto Sousa Medeiros; Cardinal
William Henry O'Connell
William Henry O'Connell (December 8, 1859 – April 22, 1944) was an American cardinal of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1907 until his death in 1944, and was made a cardinal in 1911.
Early life
William O'Connell ...
; Cardinal
Richard Cushing
Richard James Cushing (August 24, 1895 – November 2, 1970) was an American prelate of the Catholic Church. He served as Archbishop of Boston from 1944 to 1970 and was made a cardinal in 1958. Cushing's main role was as fundraiser and builder ...
# Twymon - fiscal problems of Union United Methodist and Methunion Manor; Rachel Twymon's disciplinary problems with her children; street crime
# Diver - gentrification conflicts in the South End; street crime directly affects the Divers
# McGoff - riot police enforce busing in Charlestown;
Tip O'Neill
Thomas Phillip "Tip" O'Neill Jr. (December 9, 1912 – January 5, 1994) was an American Democratic Party politician from Massachusetts who served as the 47th speaker of the United States House of Representatives from 1977 to 1987, the third-l ...
opposes anti-busing amendment; anti-busing protesters dwindle as splits emerge on class lines
# The Editor - ''Boston Globe'' Editor Tom Winship; the ''Globe'' responds to civil rights movement, changing demographics, busing crisis
# Twymon - Rachel Twymon's sister Alva Walker Debnam buys a home in Dorchester; family undergoes a racist siege of violence and intimidation;
United States Bicentennial
The United States Bicentennial was a series of celebrations and observances during the mid-1970s that paid tribute to historical events leading up to the creation of the United States as an independent republic. It was a central event in the memo ...
; race riot that day centered around Debnams leads to Tommy Walker seriously injuring three rioter WALKER, COMMONWEALTH vs., 379 Mass. 297 # McGoff - Lisa McGoff, Alice's daughter, becomes Charlestown High's senior class president
# Twymon - Rachel's son Freddie is convicted of rape; conflict between Rachel and her family; successes in the Twymon household
# The Mayor - Kevin White almost becomes
George McGovern
George Stanley McGovern (July 19, 1922 – October 21, 2012) was an American politician, diplomat, and historian who was a U.S. representative and three-term U.S. senator from South Dakota, and the Democratic Party (United States), Democ ...
's vice presidential candidate; White's rise to power; détente with Hicks; conflict with Garrity; "retreat from the tough issues"
# Diver - ongoing street violence and ineffective response; decline of the Bancroft; Divers move to Newton
Epilogue
Other characters
Other notable Boston figures who play roles in the book include
Barney Frank
Barnett Frank (born March 31, 1940) is a retired American politician. He served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Massachusetts from 1981 to 2013. A Democratic Party (United States), Democrat, Frank served as chairman of th ...
as an aide to Mayor Kevin White, young reporter
Mike Barnicle
Michael Barnicle (born October 13, 1943) is an American journalist and commentator who has worked in print, radio, and television. He is a senior contributor and the veteran columnist on MSNBC's ''Morning Joe''. He is also seen on NBC's ''Today ( ...
, White foil
Ted Kennedy
Edward Moore Kennedy (February 22, 1932 – August 25, 2009) was an American lawyer and politician from Massachusetts who served as a member of the United States Senate from 1962 to his death in 2009. A member of the Democratic Party and ...
It would be revealed in April, 2021, that the son that Rachel Twymon (daughter) put up for adoption was former Boston City Councilor and former Mayoral Candidate Tito Jackson (politician), who reconnected with her decades later.