Rights, Communities, and Tradition

Abstract

'If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence. As it is, the quickest of us walk about well wadded with stupidity.' Robert Coles tells the story of a boy he met while working in the American South with black and white children involved in the conflicts over the integration of white schools. 1 The boy was just fourteen years old - a white from a 'redneck' background, a tough athlete, and a poor student. He was initially against any blacks coming to his school. However, one day he had an odd experience.