"Bell, always a self-consciously provocative writer, remains true to form in Silent Covenants. In his most creative chapter, Bell imagines an alternative Brown decision that would have upheld segregation but insisted on the equalization of resources between blacks and whites. Had that road been followed, he suggests, black children might have gotten the education they needed and deserved."
Boston Globe "Provocatively ... Read moresardonic.... His pervasive melancholy may surprise readers who expect movement veterans to celebrate victories rather than rue their missteps, but to Bell the very perception of Brown as a victory is a 'mirage' that must be vanquished."
Chicago Tribune "Mournful.... Captures the significance of Brown at the time of its pronouncement and of African Americans' then-unconquerable optimism about the country's ultimate goodness."
Debra J. Dickerson, Mother Jones "Bell's wide-ranging provocations effectively challenge those who still consider Brown the 'Holy Grail of racial justice.'"
Publishers Weekly "A bold and sobering counterproposal."
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