Accounts of Jewish immigrants usually describe the role of education in helping youngsters earn a higher social position than their parents. Melissa F. Weiner argues that New York City schools did not serve as pathways to mobility for Jewish or African American students. Instead, at different points in the city's history, politicians and administrators erected similar racial barriers to social advancement by marginalizing and denying resources that other students enjoyed. "Power, Protest, and the Public Schools" explores how activists, particularly parents and children, responded to inequality; the short-term effects of their involvement; and the long-term benefits that would spearhead future activism. Weiner concludes by considering how today's Hispanic and Arab children face similar inequalities within public schools.

"The power of parent organizing as a means to reform schools and to make them more responsive to the communities they serve has been underappreciated largely because the history of past efforts has not been well documented. With this detailed account of the experience of Black and Jewish parents in New York City, Weiner has provided new and profound insights into how and why parents can be a tremendous resource for educational change." -Pedro A. Noguera, author of The Trouble with Black Boys: . . . and Other Reflections on Race, Equity, and the Future of Public Education "Just when you thought there was nothing left to say about race and American education, Melissa F. Weiner comes along to prove you wrong. By comparing Black and Jewish protesters in New York City, Weiner sheds new light upon both groups and, best of all, upon the shadowy racial politics of twentieth-century schools." -Jonathan Zimmerman, author of Whose America? Culture Wars in the Public Schools "Weiner's book documents an important and heartbreaking history and offers some hard lessons for activists today. Highly recommended." -Choice MELISSA F. WEINER is an assistant professor in the Department of Sociology and Anthropology at the College of the Holy Cross.