Hansen

=**Segregation and Integration of Schools**=

Segregation became a major issue once the Civil War ended. It wasn’t just in schools, either; African Americans also had separate bathrooms, restaurants, and drinking fountains. People were supposed to be following the “Separate but Equal” rule, but it was quite evident that they were not really equal. Blacks and whites would've been able to drink out of the same fountain if they were. It seems to me like everyone knew what was going on, but there were no whites who would fight for African Americans’ rights and nobody would take African Americans seriously when they tried to fight. Most people still believed that they were inferior to whites and didn’t deserve the same opportunities as them. The Supreme Court ruled segregation of public schools unconstitutional in 1954. I think they were probably trying to create a more united country by trying to make people more accepting of each other. Some people didn't seem to have a major problem with it, but the majority of the southern states decided to put up a fight. Although segregation isn’t that big of a deal anymore, it still exists and I think that something should be done about it. If we don't accept others for who they are, we're not really one nation like we claim to be. If we were, everybody would have equal opportunities in this country.

Not So Equal[[image:http://www.loc.gov/exhibits/brown/images/br0020_1s.jpg width="206" height="216" align="left" caption="Negro school in Massachusetts (Found on Library of Congress Database)"]]
In 1937, Thomas Lomax Hunter wrote an article for the //Sandusky Register// entitled "Say Negro Education in South Making Progress." It detailed the progress of African American education up until that point. According to Hunter, illiteracy of Negroes decreased from 81.4% in 1870 to 16.3% in 1930 (9). More and more Negroes were determined to get an education and prove that their race was capable of being educated. He then went on to describe the differences in black and white education. Negroes had shorter school terms than whites, most likely so that they could help their families earn a living. Also, white schools had more money to spend on supplies for children. About three times more per child, according to Hunter. As for higher education, there were only two centers in the south that offered professional training for Negroes by 1937. One was in Nashville and it offered education in medicine, dentistry, and pharmacy. The other one was in Washington, D.C. and it offered a law program. This was obviously a big step for African American education. There was a time when people thought there would never be higher education for blacks. Most people just thought that they would be working in agriculture for the rest of their lives. Despite segregation, Hunter claimed that southerners were finally okay with the idea of Negroes receiving education. They thought that they could help build the economy back up from what the Civil War left behind. All of these facts show that people were definitely not following the separate but equal policy. If they were, Negroes would've had the same quality education as whites and there would be more educational opportunities for them. This picture only proves that point further. There's no way that white parents would ever send their children to a school that looked like this. African American schools were frequently old barns that nobody used anymore at this time.

Gaining Some Support
In 1945, the //Edwardsville Intelligencer// reported on Principal C.C. Jones' speech on the history of Negro education. Jones said that more tax money had been going toward Negro education and that there had been major improvement of their school conditions. He also said there were more than 5,000 Negro schools in the south which were paid for by the Rosenwald, a fund that people could donate to ("Negro Education is Topic" 2). //The Troy Record// of New York also reported that a fund was being started in hopes of raising $1,500,000 to go toward Negro education ("Negro Education" 10). African Americans had never really known freedom while living in America and the fact that they didn't have any previous education basically set them up for failure. People need at least some kind of education in order to make a good life for themselves. If you go out into the world with just some common sense and your opinions, people aren't going to take you seriously. People want facts that back up your opinions and they won't accept them as valid if you don't have any. White people were the ones who could help Negroes receive the education they deserved, but it seemed like it was going to take some convincing before they actually fought for them. Northern newspapers were obviously trying to get the word out about how important Negro education was and it seems like some people were responding to it in a positive way. Despite the increased support, James Marlow reported that of the entire Negro population, 41.3% of them had less than five years of schooling. They still had a long way to go.

Segregation Ruled Unconstitutional
The Supreme Court ruled segregation of public schools unconstitutional on May 17, 1954. In their ruling, they declared that “the "separate but equal" doctrine adopted in Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537, has no place in the field of public education.” (“Brown v. Board” 1). They also say that “ segregation of children in public schools solely on the basis of race deprives children of the minority group of equal educational opportunities…” (“Brown v. Board” 2). The Supreme Court obviously saw the flaw in their first ruling and decided that it needed to be fixed. This was a major achievement for the African American race because they would have the opportunity to receive a good-quality education, which was something that everybody should get. However, you should notice that this ruling says that the “separate but equal” policy has no place in public education. It still kept races separate in basically every other way. Despite the hopes of many, people weren’t as accepting as they probably should’ve been. In one particular case, President Eisenhower had to send troops to Little Rock, Arkansas to protect nine Negro high school students from being attacked while attending their new school. Eisenhower gave a speech about the incident, saying “ The Federal law and orders of a United States District Court implementing that law cannot be flouted with impunity by any individual or any mob of extremists. I will use the full power of the United States including whatever force may be necessary to prevent any obstruction of the law and to carry out the orders of the Federal Court.” (“Statement By” 1). His speech definitely showed that he meant business and was not going to have this kind of chaos in his country. It was a good thing to have the U.S. president in favor of integration and that should’ve made people question their own attitudes about the subject. As you can see from the picture, most students were anything but accepting of their new classmates. Although it seems like the African American girl really couldn't care less about what others think.

Not Happy and Unreasonablemedia type="youtube" key="o54n7HXwOhc" height="219" width="294" align="right"
A lot of people still weren't happy about integration by 1960 and they decided to demonstrate their outrage. Apparently they just weren't going to let this go. The //Daily Journal// of Fergus Falls reported on several incidents that happened in New Orleans at the time of integration. For instance, there were over 1,000 teenagers and their mothers who protested outside of one of the newly integrated schools. They then made their way to the school board office and tried to get into the building. The police showed up and had to start swinging clubs at them in order to get them to move away from the building. They also brought in firemen and had them shoot their water hoses at them just to get them to calm down. Others protested in a less violent way by keeping their children home from school. Only two white children showed up at one of the New Orleans schools on its first day of being integrated. I understand that people were probably just trying to protect their kids, but it's not like Negroes were bringing weapons to the school. The people who let their children go to school were referred to as "nigger-lovers." ("Few White Children" 1). The //Bluefield Daily Telegraph// of West Virginia also reported that there was a chain of mothers standing outside a different school trying to block people from going inside. Two white mothers snuck their children into the school but were caught on the way out. One of the protesting mothers yelled out "They should beat her till she can't stand up!" ("N.O. Police" 1). Not only were most white people against blacks, this was also turning them against each other. Integration seemed to be doing the exact opposite of its intended purpose. I think this video pretty much speaks for itself. These protests that people organized showed just how much they hated the idea of integration. The person speaking in the video is JFK and he's basically saying that the children were the ones who were suffering for their parents' actions. If the parents hadn't made such a big deal, integration would've been much easier to achieve.

Losing Faith
It had been sixteen years since the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional and people still weren't very accepting of integration. According to the //Bakersfield Californian//, some Negroes were questioning whether integration was a good idea or not. Negro parents were tired of their children being harassed by whites and many Negro teachers expressed that they would rather have their own schools so that they could have some control. The //Playground Daily News// of Florida also reported that about 10,200 more white children would be switching over to private schools this year just in Alabama. John A. Morsell, the executive director of the NAACP, blamed the Nixon Administration for abandoning Negroes and not helping them in their quest to find equality. He said that Negroes had three enemies: "...the southern segregationist die-hards, the President of the United States, and the black advocates of racial separatism..." ("Nixon Administration" 1). With all of these people against them, he was afraid that Negroes wouldn't be able to make much more progress. However, there was at least some progress being made in southern states. For instance, 406,000 black children were currently attending formerly white schools in Georgia and almost all of the 265,751 black children of South Carolina would be attending integrated schools this year ("Private Schools" 2). Senator Walter F. Mondale tried to stay optimistic through these tough times, stating that he still believed that integration would bring many benefits to society. He was right, of course. Despite the ongoing protests, the fact stood that there were Negroes attending the same schools as whites and it wasn't completely horrible for them. I personally believe that it wasn't the students who really hated the idea. Childrens' opinions are highly influenced by their parents and it was probably them who were putting the idea in their heads.

==Another Effort to Desegregate== Several state courts were determined to completely desegregate their public schools in 1980. Most were following a bus policy in which students would use a bus as their transportation to certain integrated schools. Because only certain areas had integrated schools by this point, some students had to ride on the buses for over an hour in order to get to their new school. Cleveland, St. Louis, Los Angeles and Forest Hill were just some of the cities that were affected by this policy. The Cleveland students didn't seem to be very happy about this one. They protested in the streets, yelling "Hell no, we won't go!" and carrying signs which read "Teach us to read, not to ride" ("1000 Black" 2). Nobody expected violence from the St. Louis or Los Angeles students. In Forest Hill, Louisiana, one school was totally shut down so that the students could attend other schools. The school showed their disappointment by flying an American flag upside down on their flag pole ("Little Town" 20). Despite some peoples' anger, there may have been some positive aspects of this policy. Diana Pearce, director of research at Catholic University's Center for National Policy Review, did a study on this policy and it showed that it promoted integrated housing also. Because it forced children living in the suburbs to take a bus to farther schools, it encouraged families to move back to cities, which were more integrated than suburbs. It seems like this policy was secretly promoting a more accepting society. As you can see from this picture, it was totally possible for blacks and whites to attend school together without having any riots. They may not be smiling from ear-to-ear, but they don't really look like they mind being together either.

All for Nothing?
"Most white people have resigned themselves to the fact of integration..." (Reeves 27). While this quote sounds promising, there was still some controversy about integration in 1990. A case was brought to the Supreme Court asking that they allow the children of Oklahoma City return to their original neighborhood schools. Even though this sounds pretty harmless, lawyers representing black families were very much against it. They pointed out that blacks and whites still lived in different neighborhoods and it would basically resegregate schools if they were to return to neighborhood schools. Julius Chambers suggested that the policy stay in place until there was no more residential segregation. Many lawyers said that there was really nothing that they could do to prevent residential segregation. People got to choose where they wanted to live and nobody could change that fact. The Columbus Ohio Board of Education did permit children to go back to their original schools. I think that this totally defeated the purpose of all that went on in earlier years. What was the point of putting people through all that drama if they were just going to undo everything? It was pretty much inevitable that other schools would follow in their footsteps and that wasn't good news for African Americans. I mean it would really suck to have to go back to their original schools after making this much progress. In smaller news, the students of Bastrop High School in New York finally voted to have an integrated prom dance. They still had segregated dances after 21 years of being integrated, which is pretty ridiculous. Why couldn't they dance together if they went to school together? Still, they only won by 11 votes and the elderly people of the area saw a big problem with it. This shows that younger generations are definitely more accepting than the old people who were set in their ways. That means that America should become even more accepting as these generations teach their children their same views and values.

Socioeconomic Integration
Many states were ending their court-ordered integration efforts by 2000 which meant that students were going back to their original, segregated schools. People were coming up with some different ideas in hopes of keeping integration intact. One suggestion that many people believed would work was socioeconomic integration. According to Richard D. Kahlenburg, this approach would put most children in middle-class schools since most of the country was middle-class. Therefore, it would bring different races together in one school. He also said that African Americans weren't getting better education because they were going to school with whites; they were getting a better education because of the quality of the schools they were attending. This plan would keep African Americans in those schools and also keep different races together. I think that this plan sounds good on paper but the reality of the situation was much different. African Americans still didn't earn as much money as whites did and they may not have been able to afford to send their children to a fancy school. Another issue that came up was the "Digital Divide." With the rise of computers and the internet, there were concerns about whether all students were getting equal access to them. The government seemed to think that the issue was a gap between the races; others said that the issue was in income. President Clinton addressed this issue several times and the ultimate solution was that all schools have computers in them. However, not all schools had the funds to pay for computers, which of course went back to whether there were really equal schools or not. There's no doubt in my mind that the schools that couldn't afford computers were the ones that were attended by mostly African American students.

Up to School Boards
You hardly ever hear about integration protests in the news today. There aren't many politicians who address it anymore, and it's not like there are many cases about it that are taken to the Supreme Court. President Obama hasn't made it a major issue either, although I suppose we have some bigger problems that need to be focused on. //Educational Leadership// talked about how it's pretty much up to school boards and the people living in the area to decide whether integration will take place anymore. One of South Carolina's public school systems was voluntarily being integrated up until 2007 when the school board decided to change their bus policy. Over 1,000 people showed up to protest the decision and 19 of them were arrested. I personally don't see why the board would make that kind of change when people were perfectly happy with how things were going. Omaha, Nebraska also continues to integrate their schools. In their plan, public schools provide bus transportation to suburban schools for inner-city kids. They were hoping that this would encourage different races to attend predominantly white schools. Another plan that some school boards follow is zoning, which really has no preference as to whether schools will end up being integrated or not. You're just assigned to a school according to where you live. I think that this is just a safe decision that boards choose to avoid conflicts. They technically can't be blamed for anything this way since people are the ones who choose where to live. As for the cities who tried out the socioeconomic integration idea, they reported that it ultimately lead to segregation of schools. Overall, I think that Americans have gotten much more accepting of different races since the 1954 decision, but there are still some out there who are willing to fight for segregation. However, I believe that they can be converted also if enough people come together to persuade them about what is right.

Conclusion
I personally feel that integrated schools are a very good thing. I honestly don't understand why people are so against it. We're all just people who are trying to get through life and challenges it presents to us. It shouldn't matter what color your skin is because it doesn't make you any less of a person. I can see that Americans have gotten a lot more accepting through the years, especially the younger generations who have grown up in an integrated country. At least there aren't people out protesting in the streets and blocking school doors so that people can't enter them. However, if we really want to say that we are one nation, we shouldn't even have the issue of segregation anymore. We shouldn't need people to force us to have integrated schools. I think that the fact that integration turned people against each other is kind of ironic. Not only did it widen the gap between African Americans and whites, it also made whites fight with each other. The idea of integration was supposed to bring people together, not pull them apart. If African Americans wanted to go to school, nobody should've had a problem with that. Their education only made our country better. While this issue isn't as big as it used to be, I think it's definitely something that should be addressed. If we want to be known as a truly accepting country, we need to accept people for who they are and not just say that we do. As I said before, if we're truly one nation, everybody would have equal opportunities and people would get to live how they wanted without any protests from others. Everybody should be happy that we have the opportunity to learn from other cultures and be free to live our lives with so many different kinds of people.