The book that I chose to read for this assignment was In My Place, by Charlayne Hunter-Gault. This book was written by Charlayne herself and recounts her life year by year until the day she decided to change history. Charlayne went against the law and overcame violence from white supremacists to become the first black woman to attend the University of Georgia. Because of Charlayne the University of Georgia was desegregated and she paved the way for the civil rights movement in the world of education. Her act will always be remembered in history as a great act of courage and selflessness.
The book begins with Charlayne discussing her family background. Her ancestors were deeply rooted in the south and had even been slaves during the time of the Civil War. When slavery was abolished her ancestors stayed in the south and eventually some of them married into white families.
As the generations progressed the children of Charlayne's ancestors became lighter and lighter in color. Eventually Charlayne was born in Due South, South Carolina almost as lightly skinned as a Caucasian child. It is there in Due South that she first grew up, but living there did not last long. Charlayne's father was a chaplain in the U.S. Army and so Charlayne and her family had to constantly relocate themselves. When her father was sent to Korea, Charlayne and her mother
returned to one of the former towns in which they had lived, Covington, Georgia. There Charlayne began school at the age of five at the only black school in her town. When her father returned in 1951, her family again moved, this time to Atlanta. During the last year of her elementary education, the Brown vs. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas decision was passed and schools could no...