“I am an eighties baby who grew to hate school. I never fully understood why. Until now. Until Bettina Love unapologetically and painstakingly chronicled the last forty years of education ‘reform’ in this landmark book. I hated school because it warred on me. I hated school because I loved to dream.”
—Ibram X. Kendi, NYT bestselling author of How to be an Antiracist
“In Punished for Dreaming, Prof. Bettina Love powerfully documents how, since the mid-1950s, anti-Black policies, prettied up in the White rage language of “reform” and “school choice,” actually put Black children and their education on the auction block. The damage has been both unfathomable and calculable. This brilliant book examines not only the series of policies that proudly defied Brown, stealthily gutted public education,and quietly sustained and entrenched separate and unequal, but also explores how to undo the trauma so that Black children can heal, grow, and thrive.“
—Carol Anderson, author of White Rage, Charles Howard Candler Professor of African American Studies, Emory University
“In this deeply personal account of loss and structural harm, Love shows how the education crisis of the Reagan era was not only manufactured but actively destroyed the lives of millions of children all over the country. Punished for Dreaming is a story about reform gone wrong and an urgent call to action for educators and those committed to the well-being of Black people in public education and beyond.”
—Salamishah Tillet, winner of the Pulitzer Prize for Criticism, Contributing Critic-at-Large, New York Times
“Bettina Love blends brilliance, warmth, and a deep commitment to the pursuit of justice for all our nation’s children seamlessly. In every room she is in, she is the star.”
—Brittney Cooper, NYT bestselling author of Eloquent Rage
“Love is one of our fiercest advocates for the lives and education of Black children. Her insights into the way neoliberal education policies can harm Black promise and her efforts to humanize Black children are the intervention America needs.”
—Michael Eric Dyson, NYT bestselling author
