Segregation in America's Schools
Segregation in America's schools existed up until 1954. "Separate but equal" laws allowed states to segregate schools and other public facilities based on race, in which in most cases facilities were unequal. Inequality affected the way black and white students learned during the times of segregation.The issue of whether public facilities may be segregated based on race first arose in the context of transportation, not education. In the 1896 case of Plessy v. Ferguson, the Supreme Court concluded that a Louisiana Law requiring whites and blacks to ride in separate cars did not violate the equal protection clause which basically states that the laws of a state must treat an individual in the same manner as others in similar conditions and circumstances. The court felt that having blacks arrested for riding with whites was just, because there were facilities for blacks. If a white person sat in a black car, would they be arrested? Most likely not, because these laws were put in place to keep black people oppressed. Such laws paved the way for the Jim Crow era to follow.The Jim Crow era in American history started in the late 1890's when the southern states began to strengthen laws for sepa
As written in Problems of Segregation and Desegregation of Public Schools, Dr. If the preceding were upheld then segregation in schools would not have existed. Negro children carry the burden of being let down by a system that is supposed to protect them. Long after the end of segregation black people are still fighting for equal rights, facilities, schools and opportunities as whites, even still today the NAACP and other organization continue the struggle and fight for equality. explains in his essay Creating Jim Crow: In-Depth Essay that "this system of white supremacy cut across class boundaries and re-enforced a cult of "whiteness" that predated the civil war". In another essay Creating Jim Crow: In Depth Essay Ronald Davis reflects the ruling in the case of Cumming v. In which proving that black children thought the white dolls were better and smarter. This showed that because black children had no self-esteem they weren't comfortable with learning and didn't feel they were as smart as white children. I feel the powers that be at the time felt people of color were inferior to white people and that they didn't deserve to be educated a well a white person. Fischer, states " the purposes of American Schools are two-fold: (a) to provide the opportunity and the means for each student to develop his individual potential fully and (b) to induct all youth into society so that they may join the adult world as full partners (Education Conference 1). The white people during the era of Jim Crow didn't want blacks to learn side by side with whites because they felt maybe black people will get so educated that they will know the treatment they are receiving is wrong and they deserve better. Even partial desegregation of these schools, however, was still very far away, as would soon become apparent.
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