From the moment the first captured African was brought to the
Americas, Blacks have been struggling for their freedoms and their civil rights. Although their situation today has greatly improved, there is still a legacy of frustration, struggle, disappointment and even some triumph. The improvements that have been made have been hard fought by the generations who came before us and continue today as we move toward a society that is more tolerant of people who are
a different.
When we look at the struggle for freedom of Blacks, many people consider the Emancipation Proclamation to be the event that guaranteed freedom for the Black slaves. However, considering the fact that
Lincoln was not the President of the Confederate States of
America and he had not freed the slaves in the
Border States, the Emancipation Proclamation was simply a foreshadowing of what would come when the war was over. The guarantee of freedom for all Black enslaved people came in 1865 with the passage of the 13th amendment which protects all people from forced servitude. (Stewart, 110) The 14th amendment was then passed in 1868 which guarantees equal rights for all American citizens. The 14th amendment is the basis of much of the Civil Rights movement. (Stewart, 111)
Clearly when the 14th amendment was passed, the country was still in turmoil after the Civil War, and many southerners were very angry that their lifestyle and livelihood had been completely overturned. The law now told them that they had to not only free their Black slaves, but also treat them equally, something many of the slave owners could not imagine. It is easy to pass the law, but to change the southerners’ hearts and minds would take much longer. After Reconstruction, when the south once again gained control over their governments, there was a backlash of attitudes, and the idea of white supremacy became the norm. The white population fought equality among the races in any way they could and began to find loopholes to limit the rights of Blacks. These laws were known as Jim Crow laws. Jim Crow laws began to create the separation of the white and black communities; limited the freedoms of the Freedmen; and attempted to keep them from exercising their right to vote. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 105-106)
One of the common Jim Crow laws in the south was that of segregation. In many public places, there were Colored Only (word use before the term Black) and white only sections, seating areas, or facilities that were only to be used by Blacks and other facilities for the white population. Typically the facilities reserved for the Blacks were inferior to those for the white customers. In 1896, the Plessy v.
Ferguson case made it to the Supreme Court. Homer Plessy was a Black who sat in a train car for whites only and was arrested. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 83) He fought his arrest, and his case made it all the way to the United States Supreme Court. In that case, it was ruled that the state may allow separate seating facilities for Blacks and whites as long as they were “equal”. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 83) Justice Brown stated that “Laws requiring the separation of the races simply reflected the culture of the people and as long as facilities were equal they were not prejudicial”. (Wolf) The reality of the situation is that they rarely were equal and always inferior for the Blacks.. Seven of the justices ruled against Plessy, but Justice Harlan dissented. In his statement he said that justice should be “color blind” and the idea of “separate but equal” was inherently taking away one's personal freedom because it forced separation. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 84-85) Unfortunately his beliefs were in the minority at that time.
In the early 1900’s, more and more Jim Crow laws were added to the books in most southern states, and it was common to see signs for “Whites only” or “Colored Only” in many public places. One of the areas where separation became common was in the public schools. In all southern states, there were schools for white children and schools for “colored” children, and there was almost always a noticeable difference between the conditions of the two schools. The schools for white children were often large enough so that they had adequate facilities to accommodate the students at the school; they had busses to pick the children up and take them to and from school; and they had the materials they needed to learn. The schools built for Black Children were a different story. They were often small and built of inferior materials; the students were usually expected to walk long distances since there was no bus service for the “colored” schools; teachers were highly trained and poorly paid; and the materials were usually old and ragged by the time they received them. Most improvements that were made to the Blacks
schools were accomplished by the hard work and determination of the black communities themselves. With limited resources, these communities could only make minor changes to improve conditions for their children. As time passed the inferior quality of public schools became too much for the Black community to bear, and they began to fight for their children’s rights to receive an equitable education.
In 1954, the most well known case challenging racial segregation in schools and other public places made it to the United States Supreme Court. It was called Oliver L. Brown et. Al. v. the Board of Education or
Topeka Kansas. It is more commonly called Brown v. Board, and although this case focused on the education of children, it also tried to show how racism and discrimination lead to social problems within society. This law suit was actually 5 law suits from many different states and
Washington, DC combined into one. The first case originated in
Virginia and involved a lawsuit that argued that the facilities at
Robert Moton High School were inadequate. The NAACP became involved with the law suit and would help with the other cases as well. In 1947 the fight came to
Clarendon County, South Carolina, and the case was Briggs v. Elliot. This case involved a group of parents who sued the county with the help of the NAACP due to the inadequate school buildings and funding for Black schools compared to white schools. They argued that in this case, separate was not equal as required in Plessy v.
Ferguson. (McWhorter, 29-32) In 1950, the namesake of the Supreme Court case, Brown v. Board of Education, originated when the NAACP assembled a group of 13 parents who filed suit against
Topeka Kansas when they attempted to enroll their children in segregated white schools and were denied entry. (Fireside and Fuller, 5-9) In the
Delaware case of Belton v. Gebhart, the case challenged the inferior conditions of two African American schools. Not only did the students have to ride a bus for hours to attend the Black school, but it was also poorly funded, had higher teacher-student ratios, inferior facilities and extracurricular activities. The final case was Bolling v. C. Melvin Sharpe which was brought against
Washington DC. Eleven Black students applied to attend the new
John Phillip Sousa School and were denied entry because they were African Americans. (Fireside and Fuller, 14-17)
Although Brown v. Board of Education was successful and school districts across the nation were ordered to desegregate the schools “with all deliberate speed”, the fight was not over. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 187) The ruling in Brown v. Board of Education is considered the moment the Civil Rights Movement began in earnest, but the Black communities did not see immediate results. The law had been changed, but the hearts and minds of the American people would take longer. Brown v. Board overturned Plessy v.
Ferguson and determined that separate but equal was often not equal and should not be allowed. (Aaseng, 40-45) However, as before, White society resisted these changes, and even as late as the 1960’s there were many areas that had seen almost no change in their legal policies in regards to Blacks and equality. (McWhorter, 33-35) The NAACP and other support groups tried to convince Black parents to enroll their children in the “white” schools, but many parents were afraid to do so because they were fearful of retaliation and harassment from groups of whites who were resistant to change.
These fears were played out in many towns and communities in the
United States. One of the most famous was the Little Rock Nine. Nine Black students enrolled in Central High in
Little Rock, Arkansas, and the resistance was so bad that the students had to be escorted into the school and the National Guard brought in to control the crowds of angry and racist white community members. (McKissack Patricia and Fredrick, 192-195) Although not as well known,
South Carolina also experienced violence during the segregation of schools. In March of 1970, quite a while after the initial ruling that schools be desegregated, violence broke out in
Lamar, SC. A group of angry and racist white community members in
Darlington County were protesting the attempted desegregation of schools in Lamar. Several bus loads of Black students were being brought into Lamar to attend a school that had been historically white. The white protestors turned violent and overturned two of those school busses. Although the school children were not on the bus at the time of the incident, it was still an act of intimidation by the white community to keep their schools segregated. Following the event, the National Guard and Patrolmen were brought in to ensure the safety of the school children. After the incident, the community was highlighted in the news, nationwide, and the protests continued. Some of the children, both white and black, chose not to return to school immediately, due to the protests and potential for violence. This event upset the community and the school system, but along with the violence came victory for the Civil Rights movement and Blacks
Although school segregation is still the norm in the United States and in some places race relations have improved a great deal, the integration of schools has yet to solve the legacy left by years of struggle and turmoil. Our local schools today continue to struggle with improved achievement for Black students, the busing of students from predominately segregated neighborhoods, and racism in general. Most Black people have a goal of working and living in communities where there is true equality and respect for all people. However, the attitude of some whites who are trying to hold on to the attitudes of racism and prejudice are keeping this struggle alive. As each generation passes, we will see increased understanding and tolerance of one another, and with that, hopefully, we will see many of society’s problems improve.
