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Back to Subjects - Political Science

One Justice For All

One Justice For All “Our progress as a nation can be no swifter than our progress in education.” It is the fall of 1950. Harry S. Truman is the President of the United States of America. The “I Love Lucy Show,” starring Lucille Ball, enters its first television season. As the world revolves around them, two young girls are winding down from summer vacation and preparing for the arrival of school. Tina and Lynn have lived in the same neighborhood all of their lives. They both love to roller-skate down the street, shrieking with laughter. They like to collect shiny marbles and trade secrets while they play jacks. Tina and Lynn are the best of friends, oblivious to the fact that each is of a different skin color. As the morning approaches, the girls giggle together while skipping down the street for the path that leads to school. At the stop sign, Tina and Lynn wave good-bye as they head in opposite directions. In the yes of society, it is permissible for Tina and Lynn to be friends in the streets, but not in the classroom. Education is not only the process of acquiring knowledge, skills, and habits, it enables one to form values, opinions, and attitudes. What is learned in the home and reinforced in the school, is what becomes the product of society. Every human being is created in God’s image and, therefore, should be equal. Man has a differing viewpoint. Man discriminates against his brother for religion, sex, weight, and economic status, but most notably for race. There have been many important Supreme Court decisions made, but one that changed the course of history forever was Brown vs. the Board of Education in 1954. This ended segregation in all public schools. Not only was this a triumph for the Black race, but in During the Civil War, the basis was created in cities around the country for a public school system that would benefit both blacks and whites. A school for slave refugees was founded during the war in Washington, D.C. W.E.B. DuBois, the famed Black historian, wrote, “There is no doubt that the thirst of the Black man for knowledge- A thirst which has been too persistent and durable to be mere curiosity or whim – gave birth to the public free school system of the South” (Ratvich 13). In the post slavery period, no goal, other than survival, was more important to the former slaves than that of The most critical court case affecting blacks at the end of the 19th century was Plessy vs. Ferguson. In 1890, the state of Louisiana passed a law “requiring railway companies carrying passengers in their coaches, to provide equal, but separate accommodations for the white and colored races” (Ratvich 16). Plessy, who was 1/8 black, refused to sit in the back section of a railroad car and was convicted of violating the law. He appealed the case to the Supreme Court, which issued its ruling in 1896. In an 8-1 decision, the court ruled that “legal segregation, as expressed in the doctrine of ‘separate but equal,’ could be legally practiced” (18). This decision, which was reached by the majority of justices, was partially based on an earlier case that had involved public school segregation. In 1850, in the case of Roberts vs. City of Boston, the Supreme Court Judicial Court of Massachusetts ruled that the Boston school committee could prohibit black children from attending white schools by establishing separate, though not necessarily equal schools for blacks (23). In the 1920s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), developed a strategy to end school segregation. Their “dream team consisted of Thurgood Marshall (who was later to become the first black Supreme Court Justice), Charles Houston, William Hastie, James Nabrit, and Leon Ramson. They first sought out to challenge segregation in higher education, creating the legal precedents that would later be used to fight the struggle for desegregation in public primary and secondary In 1950, the Reverend Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas wanted to enroll his daughter in the school nearest his home. The choices before him were the all-white four blocks away or the black school tow miles away. Backed by the NAACP, he filed a suit against the Topeka School Board. In the Supreme Court ruling of Brown vs. the Board of Education, Topeka, Kansas, on May 17, 1954, the unanimous decision declared: To separate…[children] from others of similar age and qualification solely because of their race generates a feeling of inferiority as to their status in the community that may affect their heart and minds in a way unlikely ever to be undone... Whatever may have been the extent of psychological knowledge at the time of Plessy vs. Ferguson, this finding is amply supported by modern authority. Any language in Plessy vs. Ferguson contrary to this finding is rejected. We conclude that in field of public education the doctrine of ‘separate but equal’ has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal. (Kluger 544-551) In order to maintain segregated schools in practice, southern officials, most visibly, adopted numerous tactics to avoid implementing school integration plans. Nearly every governor in the region went on the public record as being vehemently against desegregation in all forms, but particularly in the public schools. It was seen as “race mixing” and a communist plot. Many cities took different approaches to desegregating In the late 1940s, Mansfield, Texas’ black residents lived under a tightly structured caste system. The races were segregated in the churches, school system, and all social activities within the town. The racial code that existed in Mansfield allowed black and white children to play together under certain restrictions, but as the children grew into adults, the color line became more visible. In 1950, the Mansfield Colored School consisted of two long, shabby barracks- style buildings, with no electricity, running water, or plumbing. Only one teacher was hired for grades one through eight. There was very little equipment, no flagpole, no fence around the playground, and no school bus. Black children in the ninth through twelfth grades had no school in Mansfield. They traveled by bus to downtown Fort Worth to attend the only two black secondary schools in the area. Even though school dismissal was at 3:30 p.m., the bus did not leave the station until 5:30 p.m. Students that engaged in extra-curricular activities did not arrive home until after 9:00 p.m. (Ladino 6- After the Brown Supreme Court decision was passed down, the black subtrustees presented a petition to the school board requesting immediate integration of the Mansfield public schools. The school board responded in a letter to the president of the The problem of desegregation does not rest within the jurisdiction of our local school board. Our school system is statewide and as a board we are obligated to perform the duties so given us by law; and as of this date the law and out construction regarding same given to us from the state officials, is to continue with out dual school system just as we have in the On October 7, 1955, a class action suit was filed in the United States Federal District Court in Fort Worth. Three students were “requesting the integration of and admittance into Mansfield High School for themselves and also for all eligible black students in Mansfield” (79). The case was titled Nathaniel Jackson, a minor vs. O. C. Rawdon (the Mansfield school board president). The plaintiffs lost the case, but made an appeal in the spring of 1956. The United States Fifth Circuit Court of Appeals issued a decree ordering the desegregation of Mansfield High school. This was the first decree in Texas history to order a local school board and school district to integrate a secondary school in accordance with the Supreme Court mandates of Brown I and Brown II (82). Before the 1956-1957 school year was to begin, an effigy was hung from the school’s flag pole. It was dressed in men’s work clothes, and stuffed with straws, the hands and head were painted black and the body was covered with splotches of red paint. A sign hung from the effigy threatened,”THIS WOULD BE A TERRIBLE WAY TO DIE,” and “THIS NEGRO TRIED TO ENTER A WHITE SCHOOL.” When the students attempted to enter the school the next day, they were met with and angry mob chanting vicious epithets and threatening violence. Governor Allan Shivers brought in the Texas Rangers to keep the peace, but not importantly to ensure that segregation was Mansfield schools were not integrated until 1965, due to the federal government threatening to end federal funds for the school district. Thirty black students were enrolled during the first year of integration and there were no reported racially motivated incidents inside or outside the school. Desegregation did not come at an easy price. Mansfield High School was a precursor of what was to unfold at Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas is the site of one of the most significant battles for desegregation. In September 1957, Little Rock Central High School became the focal point of clashes between segregationists and civil rights activists. After the new school districts were drawn up to comply with the Supreme Court’s order to desegregate the city’s schools, nine black students, Minnie Jean Brown, Elizabeth Eckford, Ernest Green, Thelma Mothershed, Melba Patillo, Gloria Ray, Terrance Roberts, Jefferson Thomas, and Carlotta Walls, affectionately known as the Little Rock Nine, were assigned to the previously all-white Central High School. Melba Patillo Beals, says 41 years later, “I think it made me a stronger person, really; it made me realize people are all the same, that you should judge people by what’s in their hearts, not by the color of their skin” (Beals Governor Orville Faubus posted the National Guard at the entrance of the school to prevent the Little Rock Nine from entering the school on September 2, 1957. On September 23, an uncontrollable riot had broken out and President Eisenhower was forced to respond. He called in the 101st Airborne to restore order and to protect the Black students. For the entire school year, the federal troops escorted the students to class. In 1958, Governor Faubus shut down the entire public school system rather than comply with the court’s orders. Another lawsuit was filed and the Supreme Court ruled that the state of Arkansas must reopen its schools and become integrated (Harris 54-56). It was one thing to demand an end to segregation, but it was another thing to achieve it. Initially, school districts that were ordered to eliminate the dual school systems were allowed to submit their own desegregation plans to the District Court. There were numerous proposals, including freedom-of-choice options, majority-to- minority transfers, the creation of magnet schools, and busing. The basis of the freedom-of-choice plans was that students could voluntarily integrate. This was also known as enrollment plans, theoretically allowing black students to attend white schools on the other side of town. Minority-to-majority is similar to freedom-of-choice. Students who were part of the majority race. These two plans suffered from a lack of participation. The magnet schools on the other hand, had a more successful result. The magnet schools offered advanced programs and enhanced curriculums that were designed to attract the most intelligent of all races. Because the academic requirements were high; there was a quota for the number of students admitted, and added financial costs, voluntary participation was limited (Blausterin 122-129). In December 1977, the Seattle, Washington school board voted to approve a Comprehensive citywide student assignment plan, “designed to desegregate the city’s 112 schools over a two-year period called the Seattle Plan. Seattle set a national record. No other major American city has voluntarily adopted a comprehensive mandatory program of school desegregation. The Seattle school board took this unprecedented action to avoid a threatened lawsuit and years of court (Futtrell 53). During 1963, mostly black students chose to transfer to white schools under the freedom-of-choice plan. In September 1972, middle schools were desegregated using busing as a means of desegregation. The Seattle school board provided that the desegregation plan should: *place no greater burden on minority than majority students *provide for desegregation within schools as well as between *preserve and enhance schools already integrated Because the voluntary plans were not working, mandatory plans were enacted. The most controversial of these was busing. In 1971, the Supreme Court decision of Swann vs. Charlotte- Mecklenburg Board of Education, it was determined that busing could be used to help desegregate schools. The Charlotte-Meckelnburg County in North Carolina became the first school district in the nation to undertake a court ordered plan involving systemwide busing as a tool to help achieve racial desegregation (19). In 1960, the Charlotte City Public Schools merged with the Mecklenburg County Public Schools, creating a metropolitan school district that could be operated more economically, more efficiently and with a greater educational benefit to all the students. In 1964, six-year-old James Swann was denied admission to a predominantly white school near his home on the campus of Johnson C. Smith University, where his father was a theology professor. This case also was filed on the behalf of ten black families and their 25 children and any other black children similarly affected (26-29). The outcome of the Swann trial did not result in victory for the plaintiffs. The federal district court ruled that the school board had “no affirmative obligation to desegregate the schools” (32). In April 1969, a motion for further relief re-opened the Swann case. This time the case came before a new federal judge, James McMillan, who ruled promptly. His order required that all 105 Charlotte-Mecklenburg schools be desegregated, that transportation be used, if necessary, to accomplish this purpose, and that the desegregation plans begin in the fall of 1969, with completion by the fall of 1970 In the early days of desegregation in Charlotte-Mecklenburg, the administration operated a rumor control center to respond to questions of citizens regarding bomb threats, student disruptions, and rumored disruptions at the various schools. Eventually, All of the chaos settled down, after Project Aries was created by the students, both black and white, to”respect and appreciate each others’ cultural differences, to develop skills that would enable them to contribute as leaders in class, and to help all others involved to deal more sensitively and effectively with the complexities of a racially integrated There is no greater challenge that is as daring as the preparation of the next generation. Great progressions have been made since the first slaves attempted to learn to read and write. The descendants of these slaves are doctors, lawyers, and teachers, never once thought possible for the Black race. In the eyes of the Supreme Court and the Constitution, the law of the land, no one can be denied as education on the basis of race, religion, and nationality. In the end, segregated education and lack of the opportunity for an equal education harm the nation as a whole. It is the best interest of the United States to end discrimination and to unite all of its citizens, as it is the “melting pot” of the world. Black nationalist Malcolm X spoke not only black Americans when he said: “Education is our passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to the people who prepare for it today,” Bane, Mary Jo and Donald M. Levine. The “Inequality” Controversy: Schooling and Distributive Justice. New York: Basic Books, 1975. Beals, Melba Patillo. Warriors Don’t Cry. New York: Pocket Books, 1995. Blaustein, Albert P. and Clarence Clyde Ferguson, Jr. Desegregation and the Law: The Meaning and Effect of the School Segregation Cases. New Brunswick: Rutgers Futtrell, Mary Hatwood. Three Cities That Are Making Desegregation Work. Washington D.C.: National Education Association, 1984. Harris, Norene, Nathaniel Jackson, and Carl E. Rydingsword. The Integration of American Schools: Problems, Experiences, Solutions. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Kluger, Richard. Simple Justice. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. Ladino, Robyn Duff. Desegregating Texas Schools. Austin: University of Texas Press, Ratvich, Diane. The Schools We Deserve. New York: basic Books, Inc., 1985. Bibliography: Works Cited Bane, Mary Jo and Donald M. Levine. The “Inequality” Controversy: Schooling and Distributive Justice. New York: Basic Books, 1975. Beals, Melba Patillo. Warriors Don’t Cry. New York: Pocket Books, 1995. Blaustein, Albert P. and Clarence Clyde Ferguson, Jr. Desegregation and the Law: The Meaning and Effect of the School Segregation Cases. New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 1957. Futtrell, Mary Hatwood. Three Cities That Are Making Desegregation Work. Washington D.C.: National Education Association, 1984. Harris, Norene, Nathaniel Jackson, and Carl E. Rydingsword. The Integration of American Schools: Problems, Experiences, Solutions. Boston: Allyn and Bacon, Inc., 1975. Kluger, Richard. Simple Justice. New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 1980. Ladino, Robyn Duff. Desegregating Texas Schools. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1996. Ratvich, Diane. The Schools We Deserve. New York: basic Books, Inc., 1985.

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