Tracing the history of black schooling in North America, this book emphasizes factors in society at large--and sometimes within black communities--which led to black children being separate from the white majority. This separation was continued and reinforced as efforts by European immigrants to provide separate Catholic, Lutheran, and Calvinist…

The author documents pervasive racial disparities in the health of American children and analyzes how and how much those disparities contribute to racial gaps in school readiness. She explores a broad sample of health problems common to U.S. children, such as attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, asthma, and lead poisoning, as well as maternal…