Inequality in the Promised Land

"In this important new book, Lewis-McCoy reminds us that as America's suburbs have become increasingly diverse, the challenge of providing all children with access to a high quality education has not gone away. Through his nuanced analysis of one community and its schools he shows us why even in these affluent enclaves race and class disparities in academic outcomes persist, and resentments over frustrated hopes and dreams fester. For those who seek to understand why suburbia has not fulfilled the promises that so many have hoped would be possible, Inequality in the Promised Land will be an invaluable resource." - Pedro Noguera, New York University "Inequality in the Promised Land meticulously reveals hidden dimensions of unequal power and influence among black and white parents as they attempt to advocate for their children's educational welfare in a presumptively evenhanded suburban school. Lewis-McCoy's rich ethnographic data highlights an entirely new style of 'concerted-cultivation' as he shows that white parents are uniquely able to 'cultivate' school administrators who are desperate to preserve the racial balance (read: majority white status) of their schools, while black parents are deflected as the 'fortunate beneficiaries' of public largesse. An original, powerful, and troubling indictment of suburban school patterns that are too often downplayed and rarely, if ever, confronted directly." - Deirdre A. Royster, New York University.