Dream Town by Laura Meckler

DREAM TOWN by Laura Meckler has much to say about the local values and efforts to foster and maintain an integrated community in a Cleveland suburb throughout the twentieth century and more recently. Meckler, a writer for the Washington Post, recounts the “Quest for Racial Equity” by sharing stories and exploring the idea of “belonging.” She identifies essential questions like “How can and do people of different races live together? And what does it take to make diverse communities succeed?” In her conclusion, she writes, “Seven decades of experience show us that creating shared community is hard and takes constant commitment, constant work. The forces of systemic racism and white privilege, the tendency of the Black community to disengage, mistakes made by flawed human beings -- they are all real.” Honestly, the beginning of Meckler’s text is probably too focused on the local characters and history of Shaker Heights, Ohio, to hold the interest of our students, but there are numerous parallels to their experience on the North Shore near Chicago. Both students and faculty would likely relate to those she interviews, particularly student-teacher-administrative interactions like those described in the chapter on Olivia McDowell and Jody Podl. Excerpts from Meckler’s text would certainly prompt important discussions. Meckler, who spent five years interviewing more than two hundred and fifty people, includes a Note on Sources, a Selected Bibliography, an Index, and copious Notes (at least fifteen percent of the book). DREAM TOWN received a starred review from Booklist.