If White Kids Die: Memories of a Civil Rights Movement Volunteer [Hardcover]

Dick J. Reavis (Author)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

Over the past several years, interest in the civil rights movement's foot soldiers has burgeoned. Reavis qualifies: he was a middle-class white college student from Texas in 1965 when he volunteered for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference's Summer Community Organizing and Political Education (SCOPE) program and was assigned to Demopolis, Alabama. Reavis, a senior reporter for the San Antonio-Express News, offers a sadder-but-wiser tale that vividly recounts the harassment and arrests he and the other volunteers experienced, but also regrets the movement's infighting that often prevented it from living up to its ideals. Citing the war on drugs and worsening income inequality, Reavis is convinced the civil rights movement failed in its effort to challenge "the System"; he hopes a new generation will be inspired to begin that struggle anew. Mary Carroll
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 128 pages
• Publisher: University of North Texas Press; 1 edition (March 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1574411292
• ISBN-13: 978-1574411294
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,111,503 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Moment in Time, July 7, 2001

By 

"ermajane" (Lancaster, CA United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: If White Kids Die: Memories of a Civil Rights Movement Volunteer (Hardcover)

This book was recommended by a friend who is mentioned in the book. Otherwise I probably would not have bought it. However I found it easy to read and very enlightening. I graduated from high school in 1962 from a small town in the South. Although my path took me a different direction; I was fascinated by Dick Reavis' accounts of his experiences at voter registration in a small Southern town. He is certainly very honest in his portrayal of his contributions to the movement. Learning more about the struggles of the college students and the people in the city where they worked helped me have a better understanding of the issues they were trying to help change. I was very naive back then and quite frankly unaware of some of the restrictions that were imposed on African Americans at that time. Thanks for enlightening me. I intend to do more reading on this important chapter in American history.

5.0 out of 5 stars Facinating look at the civil rights movement, January 23, 2010

By 

Lillian E. Webb Schoenhals "Lily" (Salt Lake City, Utah United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: If White Kids Die: Memories of a Civil Rights Movement Volunteer (Hardcover)

What an amazing account of the civil rights movement from the point of view of a white civil rights worker. The buddy-view narration of one who was right there and knew all of the amazing leaders of the movement is easy to read and incredibly entertaining and informative. I am a very of Charlie Saulsburry, who is mentioned in this book, and the author, all these years later, absolutely pegged him. Great job!