Why did desegregation of schools become a major problem in the USA in the 1950s?
Coursework 1
Why did desegregation of schools become a major problem in the USA in the 1950s?
In the 1950s, the Supreme Court ruled that the segregation of schools in America was to become illegal because of the inequality of the facilities. Desegregation had to take place immediately, which meant that the white and black children had equal and fair rights in education. The process of desegregation failed and caused major problems throughout the 1950s.
One of the Long-term reasons for the problems was the American Civil War from 1860-65. Black children in Southern states had previously not attended school because they were slaves and did not own the rights to an education. President Lincoln was all for destroying slavery and for a time; southern blacks enjoyed their equality. They could do this because at the time the north ruled the southern states, but that soon changed. After 1865 however, power was back into the hands of the whites and they felt that he blacks freedom was a threat to whites. This led the white Americans in the southern states to introduce a chain of unfair laws called the "'Jim Crow Laws'. These laws brought back segregation and racism, which derived from slavery. In 1896, a law was passed which made the return of segregation legal as long as the education of blacks and whites was kept equal by having the same opportunities and working facilities. This however did not happen, but for the next 50 years, schools still remained in segregation. Blacks were at the bottom of the pile, being educated by untrained teachers and the quality of their lifestyle was nothing compared to that of the whites. The black people of America had to sadly accept this, so desegregation did not become a major problem for many years to come.
A short-term reason for the major problems was the Second World War. Many blacks attitudes changed after this event. The army contained a substantial amount of black people who got told they were fighting their opposition for democracy, in order to bring about freedom. This was a false hope. When the soldiers returned from the war they enjoyed few rights, which went against what they had been originally been told. This caused frustration amongst blacks and they were unwilling to put up with it.
In 1909, an organisation called the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement ...
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A short-term reason for the major problems was the Second World War. Many blacks attitudes changed after this event. The army contained a substantial amount of black people who got told they were fighting their opposition for democracy, in order to bring about freedom. This was a false hope. When the soldiers returned from the war they enjoyed few rights, which went against what they had been originally been told. This caused frustration amongst blacks and they were unwilling to put up with it.
In 1909, an organisation called the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Coloured People) had been set up. It set its sights on abolishing segregation and gaining various rights for the blacks. In 1950, the leader, a man called Thurgood Marshall challenged the Legality of the segregated schools. He could only do this with the help of brave and determined blacks because any attempts to challenge segregation would lead to a hostile reaction by whites.
However, in 1954 one brave black man, decided to do something about the separate schools as his eight year old daughter had to travel 21blocks to her school when there was a school for 'whites', just seven blocks away. This man, Reverend Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas, was then supported by the NAACP and brought a case against the board of education of Topeka, on the basis that the school attended by his daughter was very far from equal to the white school seven blocks away. The Supreme Court heard this case and chief Justice Earl Warren gave his verdict on the Brown Vs Topeka case; He said, "Separate education facilities are essentially unequal". This then led to segregated schools being illegal.
In 1955, the Supreme Court turned its attention to putting a rule onto the segregation of schools. The decision was that schools must be desegregated and quickly! This decision may not have came about if Chief Justice Earl Warren had not of been appointed. This is the most important reason why desegregation became such a problem because many people did not like the idea and decided to take their own actions.
It caused outrage, as southern politicians were not happy, they said that the rights for the states to govern their own affairs was being violated. Some states were very eager to get their own way and resorted to closing and reopening schools as 'Private' to accommodate for whites and even sackings were being dealt out to staff that attempted to promote desegregation.
The Supreme Court decisions started off a chain of violence in the southern parts of America. The Ku Klux Klan, an organisation that targeted blacks using forceful violence and murderous techniques, greatly increased its members. The Klan did such things to scare blacks and to get them to continue sending their children to separate schools. Still unhappy about desegregation, a large group of whites caused trouble, which led to black children not being able to attend school without the help of state troopers. The federal government did nothing about these matters because they were internal matters that had to be solved locally, until events in 1957 forced them to do so.
These events took place in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their governor did not ad would not accept desegregation and prevented the blacks there from going to school. He did this by sending 270 National Guardsmen in, supposedly to keep the peace. All of this stemmed from the Supreme Courts settling choice in 1955, to desegregate.
The events were caught on television and shocked the American nation because they were so horrific and this put pressure onto the President to make the governor accept desegregation. However, President Eisenhower originated from the southern states and did not want to get into a conflict with the southerners. The law needed to be respected and failure to do so would be seen as a weakness on his account, but this was not Eisenhower's only issue. He had to worry about the image that was being conveyed to other countries, as he did not want America to look bad. The USA criticised communist countries for their abuse of human rights yet this was hypocritical considering the abuse of black civil rights that arose in America.
The President eventually came to a point where something had to be done. Eisenhower had to talk with Little Rocks governor Faubus, hoping to reach a decision about the black children and their rights education. This did not happen and the National Guardsmen who Faubus sent to the school were made to leave by the Federal Court.
Black Children saw this an opportunity to go back to school, but instead of schooling they suffered abuse by a large group of whites. The police did nothing to protect the innocent black students and defied the Federal Laws. So Eisenhower sent an amazing 1100 paratroopers to the school for the protection of the blacks.
This might sounds victorious for the people who believe in desegregation, but the pace of desegregation continued to go slowly. This was to due to the fact that people thought it was easier to escape than to confront desegregation. Also "pupil placement" laws made it possible to reject blacks from schools on grounds other than race, so this slowed the process down. Whites still would not accept this and went to extremes by transferring their children to different schools or not at all.
In conclusion to this, there were many long-term and short-term reasons why desegregation became a major problem in the 1950s. For a long time, whites were so determined to keep blacks separate and they stuck to this making it become a long-term problem throughout the fight to segregation. It is fair to say that segregation may not of taken place if people like Earl Warren and the NACP had not been acting to battle against it. The important decisions which were made by the Supreme Court, also helped a lot towards gaining desegregation and partial freedom for blacks. Without all of these, desegregation would not of been possible as every long-term and short-term reason counts.
Gemma Whitehead 11HE