Hey, White Girl
I was the white girl. There had always been Black children in my class, but only a few, and we played together without me thinking much about it. Until sixth grade. I was bused to a school I’d never heard of, that was in a neighborhood I’d never been to. On the first day of school the principal gathered the white students who’d shown up into the hall. He redivided us into classes so that there’d be at least two white children in each class. I don't think I was scared. I think I was lonely.
For two and a half years the four children in my family were sent to schools not of our choosing. Our lives changed drastically: socially, academically, culturally. My parents vacillated between their duty as parents and their duty as citizens. In the end, they sold their home and moved us out of the city.
I graduated from my nearly all white high school, and from my nearly all white college. The busing experience was a blip in my past until I returned to Richmond as a teacher thirty years later. The demographics of the city had become even more lopsided. The condition of the city schools had families flocking to the Title 1 private school where I taught. This is where my reflection began. How could this part of our society not have progressed in the time I’d been gone? How could the schools that had bused to integrate be even more segregated? The flawed education cycle for the children I taught had very narrow escape routes.
What began as a personal reflection became a deep dive into Richmond history. What started as a way to understand the issues my students were facing became a revealing of my own privilege. My growing awareness of racism embedded in systems and policy turned into a developing consciousness of what it means to be white.
Hey, White Girl is a work of fiction. It’s a reimagining. It’s a personal journey. It’s a compilation of stories and memories and dreams.
I hope it is the beginning of a reckoning.
A very sensitive, well-written treatment of a trying time and those who lived it. ~Kirkus starred review
https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/judith-bice/hey-white-girl/
When you're used to reading stories about race where the author tries so hard to tie everything up in a pretty ribbon, it was refreshing to read a narrative where the author was comfortable leaving issues unsolved. Nell’s story is timeless, but particularly important now. When so many of us are busy trying to prove that we are not the type of white person who is ignorant of their privilege, Nell is communicating with us how we can move forward earnestly toward progression.
~Madeline Barbush, Independent Book Review
https://independentbookreview.com/2022/03/28/book-review-hey-white-girl/
This compelling coming of age novel is well structured and conveys an impassioned story that explores social issues in emotionally resonant ways that feel utterly authentic. The setting and descriptions cleverly encourage the reader to think about issues such as fairness, equality and equity.
~ Literary Titan
https://literarytitan.com/2021/11/18/hey-white-girl/
[Hey, White Girl] is an astute reflection of the country and the times, and will prove involving and revealing to both those who have lived them and new generations coming up. Collections strong in civil rights fiction and social issues in 1960s America will find Hey, White Girl a powerful examination and a compelling work of fiction.
~ D. Donovan, Midwest Book Review
http://donovansliteraryservices.com/december-2021-issue.html#hwg
✰✰✰✰✰ from Readers’ Favorite Book Review
Winner of the December 2021 Gold Award ( Literary Titan )
2023 Finalist for Young Adult Virginia Author Award
Proposed title: Less Than
1946-present historical fiction of a queer Jewish mother
Spanning decades of systemic erasure, it is the devastating story of a mother who faced losing everything in order to live authentically in an era designed to keep her hidden.
