The Pros And Cons Of The Desegregation Of Schools

Superior Essays
Jade Scheib
EDTHP: 115
Mr. Ulicny
October 22, 2014
Desegregation of Schools One of the biggest educational breakthroughs was the desegregation of public education. At one point schools were segregated. Which meant they “restricted people to certain circumscribed areas of residence or to separate institutions and facilities on the basis of race or alleged race” (encyclopedia.) Segregation of schools, and other places caused a lot of trouble. Like for instance, African American children were not allowed to attend the same schools as Caucasian children. In many cases, this is not right at all; everyone is to be equal right? If that’s the case why were children discriminated from not getting a good education based on their skin color? Questions
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It was based on a belief that the dominate group would keep control of the most successful schools and the only way to get full range of opportunities for a minority child was to get access to those schools” (Civil Rights 101). Desegregation means to end a policy that keeps different races apart (Webster). Desegregation of schools was started to give fair opportunity to African American children in schools. The movement of desegregating the schools erupted when the Brown family won their court case against the Board of Education and their daughter was allowed to attend a regular white school. On May 17, 1954, nine justices from the United States Supreme Court declared that the legal sanctioned racial segregation in public schools is a violation of the US Constitution. (SouthernSpaces). Segregation of schools was no longer legal, and the African American children had the right to go to any school that white children attended. In their minds this was wonderful but they didn’t think of all the trouble that it was going to …show more content…
This gave problems because since they were pulling their children out of the schools there weren’t any students left in the classes. A little girl by the name of Ruby Bridges Hall was the only student in her class at William Frantz Elementary School, because all of the white parents pulled their children out. In her book, History: My Story she explains how she was to take a test to see if she was smart enough to attend a whites only school. She received confirmation from the NAACP that she was one of the few black children to pass the board test. However, she did not start the school at William Frantz Elementary because the lawmakers figured out a way to slow down the integration of schools. This angered a lot of African American people and got the attention of the judge. He then made it legal that all African American children were allowed to attend the same schools as white children. She explains that she had marshal’s protecting her while they were going to school, when they were in school, and when they were coming home. Also the mobs of people going into school would shout mean things, and threw things at her. She was not allowed to eat in the cafeteria, she had to stay in the classroom. Near the end of the school year was when the white children began coming back into the classroom.

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