The Other Side of the River

*** By Alex Kotlowitz. This is the follow-up to the afore-reviewed and highly recommended There Are No Children Here.

St. Joseph and Benton Harbor lie near the Lake Michigan coast with only a river separating them. Well, a river and the fact that St. Joseph is wealthy and 90%+ white while Benton Harbor is poor and 90%+ black, a problem that has steadily grown to its present size over the past half-century.

The author investigates the St. Joseph drowning of a black teenager from Benton Harbor, trying to find out how he died and who might have caused his death. Instead he ends up opening many more cans of worms than he began with.

Benton Harbor citizens deeply distrust those from St. Joseph, from the U.S.'s history of racial discrimination and the migration of whites and resources across the river. Many St. Joseph citizens don't see what the problem is, and accuse blacks of turning every situation into one of racial prejudice. St. Joseph's blindness and Benton Harbor's paranoia combine to make black-white relations an absolute disaster.

Kotlowitz details the investigation of this boy's death and several other contemporary events in an attempt to unravel the mess that reaches both sides of the river. Unfortunately, it's a mess that won't be cleaned up in reality for decades on decades or more.

This is a revealing book about racial attitudes of whites and blacks alike, and a must-read if you live in this country.

Posted by Lisa on May 9, 2003 05:38 PM