I grew up in the Southeast and attended school in the 80s. Desegregation was a big issue when it came to schools and bussing. I was raised on a diet of the Civil War (or just "the war") being called "the war of Northern aggression." When I would ask family about the Civil Rights movement, I would get told that they didn't pay attention or that they were just rabble rousing. I was only taught the highlights in school, emancipation, Emmett Till, Brown v. Board of Education, and MLK's I have a dream speech. It wasn't until 2010 that my area started talking about what happened during the civil rights movement. 50 years after Axe Handle Saturday and when bleach was poured into a hotel pool because black people were in it, they were finally creating a civil rights history trail. I've been making it a point to fill in the gaps and educate myself, because ignorance is not an excuse when there is so much information available. This book gave me a different side of American History. It was enlightening, sickening, and angering. So much of the US was forged on fear. Still is being forged on fear. Fear of the other. It's time for a change and to go forward past the fear.