Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) unleashed a decades long process of public school desegregation that reveals the long and arduous journey of social change in America. Two North Carolina counties that embody complex race relations, Guilford County and Robeson County, are the geographic areas that this paper is situated in. The public school system of interest in Guilford County is the Greensboro City Schools, while the Robeson County School System is the primary focus in Robeson County. In addition to dealing with complex racial politics, these two school systems also faced their greatest obstacles during different stages of desegregation, divided by federal certification of their respective desegregation plans (Robeson County was
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Robeson County was a majority-minority county in 1970 (43% white, 31% Indian, and 26% black). The reactions to desegregation by many people in the county contradict the assumption of minorities uniformly wanting public school desegregation. Analysis of important events and court cases reveals the power and nuances of racial politics in impeding desegregation. Two court cases act in relation to the Brown decision as landmarks in each of these school systems. Specifically, a 1971 public school desegregation lawsuit against Greensboro City Schools and an attempt by the state to enforce desegregation in State v. Chavis (1979) represent how entrenched segregation was at an institutional and individual level. Ultimately, the 1964 Civil Rights Act empowered the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to use the power of federal funding to force school districts to desegregate. Although Brown is considered a watershed moment in American civil rights history, its efficacy was determined by the ability of the government to counteract complex challenges at a local …show more content…
Before the city’s inception, the region attracted people of various Christian dominions, including Quakers, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. These communities of faith played a prominent role in developing Greensboro’s character (e.g. Bennett College and Greensboro College are United Methodist and Guilford College is Quaker). The county stayed mostly undeveloped until the railroads came in the 1850s, bringing commerce and vitality. This development explained how the county could maintain High Point and Greensboro, two of North Carolina’s major cities (High Point was built around the intersection of the railroads, and Greensboro developed as the legal and financial center of the county). The Civil War hit the region hard, but the continued development of the railroad laid the groundwork for rapid urbanization and an industrial boom around the turn of the 20th century. The city’s population grew explosively from 1880 to 1930, increasing from 2,000 to 53,000 residents. The of major companies like Cone Mills, Burlington Industries, Jefferson Standard, and Pilot Life during this time period exemplified the city’s newfound economic
Robeson County was a majority-minority county in 1970 (43% white, 31% Indian, and 26% black). The reactions to desegregation by many people in the county contradict the assumption of minorities uniformly wanting public school desegregation. Analysis of important events and court cases reveals the power and nuances of racial politics in impeding desegregation. Two court cases act in relation to the Brown decision as landmarks in each of these school systems. Specifically, a 1971 public school desegregation lawsuit against Greensboro City Schools and an attempt by the state to enforce desegregation in State v. Chavis (1979) represent how entrenched segregation was at an institutional and individual level. Ultimately, the 1964 Civil Rights Act empowered the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) to use the power of federal funding to force school districts to desegregate. Although Brown is considered a watershed moment in American civil rights history, its efficacy was determined by the ability of the government to counteract complex challenges at a local …show more content…
Before the city’s inception, the region attracted people of various Christian dominions, including Quakers, Methodists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. These communities of faith played a prominent role in developing Greensboro’s character (e.g. Bennett College and Greensboro College are United Methodist and Guilford College is Quaker). The county stayed mostly undeveloped until the railroads came in the 1850s, bringing commerce and vitality. This development explained how the county could maintain High Point and Greensboro, two of North Carolina’s major cities (High Point was built around the intersection of the railroads, and Greensboro developed as the legal and financial center of the county). The Civil War hit the region hard, but the continued development of the railroad laid the groundwork for rapid urbanization and an industrial boom around the turn of the 20th century. The city’s population grew explosively from 1880 to 1930, increasing from 2,000 to 53,000 residents. The of major companies like Cone Mills, Burlington Industries, Jefferson Standard, and Pilot Life during this time period exemplified the city’s newfound economic