Rating: 
Summary: Rivetting historical writing
Review: "Bring Me Home" is electrifying and reads like a murder mystery, which in fact it is. All of the elements are present: villains, murderers, thieves, and victims. And in many respects the story has been a mystery, with some of the perpetrators only recently brought to justice -- 23 years after the 12th Street Baptist Church bombing-murder, with numerous related crimes still unresolved. The author herself, for whom this is in part a memoir, was unable to get a definitive answer from her own father, whose involvement in the era's events or lack thereof remain somewhat murky.This is a serious historical work, and reading it requires commitment and energy. However, McWhorther is an excellent writer which makes the effort extremely pleasurable -- with her lightening the drama of the horrific events with frequent dry sarcastic and ironic observations on the era's events, and the culture of the Southeast. The author logically and factually substantiates how racism was employed by local capitalist hegemony to control working class whites, as well as to maintain black oppression by manipulation of the Klu Klux Klan and other extremist racists. While I have been a student of this era I was fascinated by McWhorter's depiction of the Klu Klux Klan's origins as a populist white movement. Additionally, McWhorter gives long overdue recognition to the pivotal role played by Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth whose substantial achievements based in unrelenting activitism were eclipsed by the politics in the civil rights movement, resulting in Martin Luther King's being thrust into the limelight and receiving disproportionate credit. The poignancy of this book is also largely a function of the writer's background as a member of one of Birmingham's upper crust families, with the irony of her father electing a working class white lifestyle. McWhorter owns up to her culpability in the disenfranchisement and oppression of blacks as a member of this society, and this book is in part an effort at compensation. It is truly an excellent work.
Rating: 
Summary: A Clunky Read
Review: As someone who has read exhaustively about the Civil Rights Movement, I find this book a frustrating read. I refuse to give up because Ms. McWhorter certainly has a lot to offer, but she has some very annoying habits as a writer. For example, she often alludes to someone who has not yet been mentioned in the book. This causes the reader to reread the preceding paragraphs or pages to figure out who she is talking about. The reader then "gives up" and proceeds to the next paragraph, where the identity of the person is revealed. Ms. McWhorter may think she is setting the reader up for the introduction, but the device does not work, at least not for me. In general, the book is a choppy read.
I think Ms. McWhorter should find a new editor for her next book.
Rating: 
Summary: A comprehensive history
Review: Diane McWhorter grew up as the daughter of a prominent Birmingham family. Growing up in the 1960's she was somewhat insulated from the turmoil of the civil rights struggle right in her own city. Carry Me Home is a comprehensive history of the racial,social and economic factors that made Birminghgam the city of Vulcan, and an inevitable site for some of the most violent and public struggles for racial equal rights. In the beginning of the book, McWhorter writes of not knowing what was happening downtown even though her father played an increasingly active role in opposing Martin Luther King. She speaks of the photograph "of a colored boy who had stepped into the jaws of one of the German shepherd dogs", and that the people of her set knew the dog wasn't really attacking, but being restrained on its leash. Huh? And it is not until she is through school and in the professional world that she realizes that Birmingham played such a crucial role in the struggle. In an effort to learn and understand the story, she undertakes the study, and uncovers a family legacy intertwined with the struggle. This is a clear headed view of the whats, whos and whys of Birmingham. I wanted more of a story of McWhorter, herself. As she became aware and how she felt knowing her family's place in infamy and her own feelings. I think that the exclusion of these factors is somewhat telling; of her place in society, being a female, and a teenager, and white. A very well researched look into one side of the civil rights struggle.
Rating:
Summary: Worthy of a Pulitzer
Review: I can't give this book enough praise. I live in Montgomery and work in Birmingham, and am an AL transplant, something the cast of characters in this book might have called "an outside agitator" had I been born earlier. As it is, I was born in 1966 and only hear stories of Jim Crow from my parents and people I meet here who are willing to talk about that time. And not many, white or black, are often very willing. It is a painful part of our history which is still healing. Diane McWhorter's own history brings a factuality, a living history of what the time and place were like, and her personal entry in the work enhances, rather than diminishes its validity. Who was Fred Shuttlesworth? I'd never heard of him until I read this book. The contrast of Shuttleworth and King is startling, but their complementarity shines forth as a blessing from God, though I'm quite sure neither of them felt that at times. McWhorter's book serves as a recollection, a celebration really, of the freedoms that so many of us take for granted. As we heal as a nation, I hope that one day, more of us will come to see Birmingham as "hallowed ground". Like King, I see glimpses of the Promised Land, ever closer, but still tantilzingly far away. As a nation, until we discover that Black history is our history, too, we will continue to suffer through walking in circles in the desert. This book is not for the faint of heart, nor for the reader who wants an "easy" read of the Civil Rights movement. It took me weeks to read, but it was well worth the time, effort and incessant stopping for footnotes (which are in themselves almost a separate book). I'm not sure I've ever felt more moments of shame, pride and yet sheer elation in one literary experience. "Carry Me Home" could almost make a history buff out of me. I would give it 6 stars.
Rating:
Summary: A brilliant exploration
Review: I expected this book to be about the infamous Birmingham church bombing, the subject of the intriguing Spike Lee documentary. In fact, this book is a remarkable expose of the "pre-Civil Rights era" on through to a defining moment in US history (the bombing) and how divided and scarred America remained after the Civil War. She explores the issues of race, power, and hate with restrained passion for her subject, making the tale even more compelling. The author weaves a great history of a dark time, paints compelling portraits, and adds emotional depth I think few but a native of Birmingham could have touched. A remarkable work.
Rating:
Summary: Masterful Account of the Final Struggle In Birmingham!
Review: In the last ten years there have been a number of truly excellent first hand accounts of the events that transformed America in the 1950s and 1960s through the actions of the civil rights movement. Yet none of these masterful accounts is better than this first hand account by one of the principals in the final such confrontation in Birmingham, Alabama in 1963. Diane McWhorter, a journalist and also a native Alabamian, carefully essays the complex welter of conflicting forces animating the growing battle between the conservative forces of the white establishment on the one hand, and the coalition of different black and other liberal groups on the other, determined to finally break down the color barriers in Birmingham once and for all. In language that often seems more powerfully written in the prose of fiction than in the antiseptic words of journalism, the author ignites the pages with a firestorm of powerfully etched incidents and images, describing the seemingly indescribable historic events that frame the story of the epic struggle that was Birmingham. Early in the spring of 1963, civil rights protestors, including black school children, were met with senseless systematic ferocity by armed thugs and attack dogs. A few short weeks later, the KKK cowardly bombed the 16th Street Baptist Church, murdering four pre-adolescent black girls in one of the most horrific and despicable acts of the entire civil rights era. Thus in a few short months, Birmingham became the most violent epicenter for the most bloody final episode of the entire burgeoning civil rights struggle. The scenes recounted are gripping and dramatic, ranging from those of ordinary black folks facing down brutality and violence with quiet resolve, never resorting to all too understandable revenge or payback. Each scene is backed up by a extremely well-documented series of vignettes and facts, supporting all of the historical accounts with a riveting web of first person knowledge and a sense for the central crucial elements of the story as it memorably unfolds with all of its native drama and innate excitement. From the opening events of terror-filled reprisals against "nonconforming" 'colored' individuals to the increasingly well organized and masterfully orchestrated campaigns conducted by savvy and experienced civil rights activists, as the smoke clears it is the forces for change that emerge victorious, despite all of the resources and powers of the established order being marshaled against them. This is an extremely well written and eminently readable book that masterfully summarizes a plethora of related incidents and historical events into an entertaining and educational work that will certainly stand the test of time and will likely become a standard reference for students wishing to understand one of the most fateful of the battles eventuating in the success of the civil rights movement. This is a book I can highly recommend for all readers. Enjoy!
Rating:
Summary: Bold Move
Review: The book "Carry Me Home," chock full of fascinating anecdotes and factual information, reveals the guilt of a Southern, white girl...who feels a deep force inside of her to expose her ancestors' shortcomings concerning their premise for white supremacy. Torn between her family and the truth, this book is a tell-all that reveals the McWhorters' role in the opposition to the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s that altered Alabama's perception of the world drastically.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding history combined wiht personal memoir
Review: This is an exhaustive history [at 600 pages it is 1/3 of original length per author's notes] of the Birmingham Civil Rights campaign. It focuses on how Birmigmham's business elite was involved in stifling progress and also aiding through inaction if not more overt moral support the outrages, inhumanity and violence of the Klan and the Nazi Party. The book explores the roles of well known leaders such as Martin Luther King and Bayard Rustin and reveals the key, if not dominant role, played by Reverend Fred Shuttlesworth in driving the Movement onward. The factual detail is amazing in terms of Ms. McWhorter's ability to pick out seemingly unrelated details and provide context and explanation. I did have two related criticisms --Ms. McWhorter is a daughter of Birmingham with deep familial roots --I thought her personal insights were fascinating and wished they had been more plentiful. One of the underlying themes of the book is the role her father played in potentially supporting the worst elements of Civil Rights violence and obstruction. While Ms. McWhorter chooses to raise this as an issue, she leaves the reader in a fog as to what her findings were regarding her father's role. It is understandable why she would want to keep this obscure and avoid speculation. However, it is in a sense unfair --she raises the issue as part of the dramatic tension and then thoroughly analyzes the alibis and activities of small and large players alike. I concluded that had she wanted to do more detective work regarding her father she easily could have and either did so or chose not to report it for personal reasons. I thought her handling of this issue was the only serious weakness of the story. All in all,it is a fantastic piece of work.
Rating:
Summary: Slow Read but a Good Read
Review: This is not a quick read on this terrible subject. She mentions names, places, dates and time. There were times that I put the book down due to its slow pace but I kept coming back. I was intrigued with the scope of the subject and how our government operated. Besides coming away with a greater sense of empathy and knowledge of that era, it has helped to untangle who is who and why they do what they do in the present Afro-American movements of today.
Rating:
Summary: Thought-provoking, sobering
Review: Usually when I review a book on Amazon.com I do it before I read the other reviews. But since I wasn't sure I had anything to add to the 21 existing reviews, I read them before deciding to do one myself. I certainly did not find this book as unputdownable as I did David Garrow's Carrying the Cross (read by me 16 Jan 1989)or Taylor Branch's Parting the Waters (read 15 Dec 1994) and Pillar of Fire (read 31 Jan 1999). And Ms. McWhorter does have a tortuous style, well illustrated by the sentence quoted by one of the reviewers. The page notes in the back of the book, 70 pages of them!) are in such small print that without a magnifying glass it is a real strain to read them. I can see why Birmingham folk will be particularly interested in the book, but many of the numerous names are meaningless to others, and do not make the reading of this book easier. There is much appalling recorded in the book, and much thought-provoking. One cannot help but wonder what would I have done living in the climate of Birmingham in 1963? Would I have had the backbone, the willingness to be ostracized and possibly injured in property if not in person, and done the right thing? It is very easy for us in the North to cluck and condemn the attitudes of whites in Birmingham of that day, but I wonder what we would have done in that time calling for heroic behavior if one was to stand for justice and right? How public would we have been against the evil then permeating white Birmingham?
|
