The U.S. Supreme Court decision reached in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1954) unleashed a process of public school desegregation that attempted to end the “separate but equal” doctrine of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896). However, large-scale desegregation did not occur before the mid-1960s, and some resistant school systems did not start implementing credible desegregation plans until the early-1970s. In North Carolina, Robeson County School System and Greensboro City School System received certification for their school plans by the United States Department of Health, Education, and Welfare (HEW) in 1970 and 1971, respectively. Not only do these two school systems offer unique trends because of their late HEW approvals, but they also
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The first three sections of the paper, titled federal indecisiveness, federal assertiveness, and federal retreat, correspond to the three time periods. These three sections also deal with the ramifications of the federal government’s approach, with the first section take note of North Carolina schooling legislation in the 1950s. The final section is a case study of the Robeson County and city of Greensboro school systems in relation to federal desegregation policies. The following three paragraphs provide factual structures to the for the federal government …show more content…
In 1954, after the Brown decision, the federal government refused to offer instructions for public school desegregation, allowing pro-segregation forces to coalesce. Even when the Court followed up on the decision in 1955 in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1955), also known as Brown II, the result was a transfer of responsibility to the local school authorities. The vague evaluation of these authorities by the phrase, “with all deliberate speed,” ensured a messy and contentious desegregation process. Segregationists took advantage of this uncertainty by hardening their resolve through public pronouncements and formulating state laws that would inhibit desegregation. In North Carolina, the state’s legislature passed the Pupil Assignment Act (1955) and the Pearsall Plan (1956), which both transferred political power to the local levels of government. Although Southern schools started to “desegregate” in response to legal challenges, this desegregation was only symbolic. From 1954 to 1964, the percentage of black students attending majority white schools increased from zero percent to 2.3 percent, a negligible
The first three sections of the paper, titled federal indecisiveness, federal assertiveness, and federal retreat, correspond to the three time periods. These three sections also deal with the ramifications of the federal government’s approach, with the first section take note of North Carolina schooling legislation in the 1950s. The final section is a case study of the Robeson County and city of Greensboro school systems in relation to federal desegregation policies. The following three paragraphs provide factual structures to the for the federal government …show more content…
In 1954, after the Brown decision, the federal government refused to offer instructions for public school desegregation, allowing pro-segregation forces to coalesce. Even when the Court followed up on the decision in 1955 in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka (1955), also known as Brown II, the result was a transfer of responsibility to the local school authorities. The vague evaluation of these authorities by the phrase, “with all deliberate speed,” ensured a messy and contentious desegregation process. Segregationists took advantage of this uncertainty by hardening their resolve through public pronouncements and formulating state laws that would inhibit desegregation. In North Carolina, the state’s legislature passed the Pupil Assignment Act (1955) and the Pearsall Plan (1956), which both transferred political power to the local levels of government. Although Southern schools started to “desegregate” in response to legal challenges, this desegregation was only symbolic. From 1954 to 1964, the percentage of black students attending majority white schools increased from zero percent to 2.3 percent, a negligible