Something Must Be Done About Prince Edward County: Chapter 1

After reading this through the first chapter the author Kristen Green already paints a clear picture of the kind of beliefs people in Farmville, Virginia share. In the first portion of the chapter she interviews Robert E. Taylor who helped found the Prince Edward Academy, which was an all white private school created to avoid integrating schools to accept black students. Taylor was much like most old time southerners that shared the belief that black people and white people don't belong together. Green realizes that his ideals are of an era that has long past and his time on this earth is coming to an end soon. It bothered her, the way he spoke of colored people especially since her husband was a multiracial man of American Indian descent. She wishes to learn more of the founding of this school and I believe learning about your past can help you grow as a person in the future.

She wants to learn about her grandfather who also played a part in the founding of the Academy. Green loved his grandfather but she also wished to know about his stance on the topic of black people and white people attending schools together. While reading the part of her past with her grandparents I realized they were people that cared for the well-being of their family. She went through a myriad of things she did with her grandparents, but I felt parts of the chapter were rushed and she dumped a lot of information on us in a fast period. Besides this I thought the was an excellent first chapter really giving us a feel for the story.