wall charts
from southern wrongs to civil rights the memoir of a white civil rights activist
foreword by david j. garrow p this first hand account tells the story of turbulent civil rights era atlanta through the eyes of a white upper class woman who became an outspoken advocate for integration and racial equality . br p as a privileged white woman who grew up in segregated atlanta sara mitchell parsons was an unlikely candidate to become a civil rights agitator . after all her only contacts with blacks were with those who helped raise her and those who later helped raise her children . as a young woman she followed the conventional path expected of her becoming the dutiful wife of a conservative husband going to the country club and playing bridge . but unlike many of her peers parsons harbored an increasing uneasiness about racial segregation . p in a memoir that includes candid diary excerpts parsons chronicles her moral awakening . with little support from her husband she runs for the atlanta board of education on a quietly integrationist platform and once elected becomes increasingly outspoken about inequitable school conditions and the slow pace of integration . her activities bring her into contact with such civil rights leaders as martin luther king jr. and his wife coretta scott king . for a time she leads a dual existence sometimes traveling the great psychic distance from an naacp meeting on auburn avenue to an all white party in upscale buckhead . she eventually drops her ladies clubs and her deepening involvement in the civil rights movement costs parsons many friends as well as her first marriage . p spanning sixty years this compelling memoir describes one womans journey to self discovery against the backdrop of a tumultuous time in our countrys history . p sara mitchell parsons lives in atlanta . she has received numerous honors for her community activism including being named 1994 role model of the year by the older womens league in atlanta . david j. garrow presidential distinguished professor at emory university school of law is the author of bearing the cross a pulitzer prize winning biography of martin luther king jr. and liberty and sexuality the right to privacy and the making of roe vs. wade . br sara parsonss efforts to integrate and improve schools and her attack on complacent white churches made her a pariah and resulted in the break up of her marriage ... . she was one of the souths first white elected officials who openly advocated racial equality . atlanta journal constitution br sara parsons in the 1960s was the lone white member of the atlanta school board to support integration ... . jimmy carter may not have had the courage then to meet with martin luther king . but ms. parsons did . she met dr. king on several occasions even though each time it seemed to cost her another white friend . new york times