Blood Done Sign My Name by Timothy B Tyson
  Reviewed on 15 August 2010 by Janet Condon
"Many people nowadays think that after the US Congress passed the Civil Rights Act of 1964...(they) read the news in the morning paper and took down all those WHITE ONLY and COLORED signs by lunchtime. But this historic legislation did not make a dent in Oxford." Oxford is a small town in North Carolina and Tim Tyson lived there when he was 10 years old. In the summer of 1970, a black man was shot and killed. It was the final straw in a long-simmering situation and it was followed by riots, burnings and boycotts. Tim was the son of the Methodist preacher and is now an historian and writer. In this book he explores the history of race relations in this area and the events of that tumultuous time. His contention is that we must understand and confront the past in order to move on to the future. This story is not simple, short or pretty. But it is something America needs to deal with.

Q1: Where did the title of this book come from?

Q2: What was Tim's grandmother's (Jessie Buie's) attitude toward African Americans?

Q3: What incidents occurred in Oxford? In what order? What was the effect?

Q4: What was the role of white liberals at this time?

Q5: How did the black people's self-esteem figure into the situation?

Q6: How would you describe Robert Teel?

Q7: What happened at the trial?

Q8: Why were the students so upset at Destrehan Plantation?

Q9: What do you think about the situation today?