There is “A Tale of Two Browns”

“AWE AND RESPECT” and

“A TROUBLED LEGACY”

Derrick Bell asks “How could a decision that promised so much and, by its terms, accomplished so little?” (Anderson,14-15)

The most famous court case in US schoolingBROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATIONOutcome? Two ways of viewing this case.

Professor James Anderson“A Tale of Two Browns” and

“The Historical Context for

Understanding the Test Score Gap”

CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITYCONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITYEqual access to schools today is based on the 14Equal access to schools today is based on the 14thth Amendment. But why did it fail to protect Amendment. But why did it fail to protect people prior to Brown?people prior to Brown?

14th Amendment passed in 1868 Section 1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the state wherein they reside. No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any state deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws. WHY?

Why did the 14th amendment fail to protect the rights of African Americans and other minorities?

The 14The 14thth Amendment interpreted by GOVERNMENT Amendment interpreted by GOVERNMENT Congress, Federal Courts, States, and localities. Congress, Federal Courts, States, and localities.

States continued to set laws, and the Federal government States continued to set laws, and the Federal government did not interfere. The 14did not interfere. The 14thth amendment was defined narrowly by amendment was defined narrowly by the courts. Plessy virtually nullified the 14the courts. Plessy virtually nullified the 14th th amendment. amendment.

The law did not impact The law did not impact socialsocial customs. customs.

What role did What role did courtscourts play? play? Supported states until late 1930s.Supported states until late 1930s. Teachers’ pay, graduate schools (law, education)Teachers’ pay, graduate schools (law, education)

Political Economy (Institutions and Practices) What forces most affected African Americans in daily life 1865-1954? SEE HANDOUT

LEGAL CONSTITUTION ADVANCES EQUAL RIGHTS 13th, 14th, 15th Amendments Anderson shows that equality of individuals was not protected by the Constitution prior to 14th Amendment.

FEDERAL LAW FREE BLACKS TARGETED BY Reconstruction Act of 1867 BUT PROTECTION ended in 1877 with withdrawal of Federal troops.

SUPREME COURT 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson “Separate and Unequal” ORGANIZATIONS KKK (fear) both in the North and South ACADEMY Science of Social Darwinism, IQ Testing Movement LEGAL STATE LAWS Jim Crow State and Local Governments (laws

and regulations that limited rights, and voting of free Black males) SOCIAL PRACTICES Jim Crow Customs ECONOMY Limited Economic Power for Blacks Employment Structure:

share cropping, low wage jobs, restrictions on work based on race CLASS High Levels of Poverty among former slaves SCHOOLS: Poorly funded, limited number of High Schools, 17 states plus

D.C. had some form of forced legal segregation

After the Civil War14th Amendment andReconstruction

Would states continue protection of freed Blacks after the end of Reconstruction?

After Reconstruction ended, States curtailed the rights of free blacks.

How did the Federal government act?

Thomas Nast (1868) cartoon “This is a white man’s

government”

Supreme Court Plessy v. FergusonAnderson, p. 22

1896 Plessy boarded a train and sat the in car designated for whites only. The court found that as long as he could ride the train, the state had the right to tell him where to sit, even though accommodations for African American passengers were inferior to the cars for white passengers. The picture is a caricature of African Americans, but not a likeness of Plessy, who was 1/8 African American and light skinned.

SUPREME COURT DECISION (5 TO 4) NULLIFIED THE EQUAL PROTECTION CLAUSE of the 14th Amendment

ALLOWED SEPARATE AND UNEQUAL

What were the consequences of Plessy for schools? 1898 STATE COURT OF GEORGIA COMPLICIT in discrimination (Anderson, p. 26)

Cumming v. Richmond (1899) In 1898, Richmond County closed its only

High School in the state for Black students, and used the funds for elementary schools

SUPPORTED HIGH SCHOOLS FOR WHITE STUDENTS

Court ruled the closing was not discrimination, but based on trying to best serve the African American community.

1945 first public high school funded in this county in Georgia for African American students since 1898.

EDUCATIONAL REGRESSSeparate and UnequalCourts would not uphold equal schools

The legacy of Plessy v. Ferguson touches several generations of African Americans who do not have access to a high school education.

In 1916, Mississippi, South Carolina, Louisiana, and North Carolina had no public high schools for African Americans.

True or False?

1945 in the South, 77% African Americans of high school age were not enrolled in high school.

EDUCATIONAL OPPORTUNITIESWERE LIMITED, CONTROLLED BY THE STATES (See Anderson pp. 23, 26, 28-29)

In Mississippi: 1890s To prevent Blacks from voting--poll taxes and

literacy tests for voting 1890 35% state school funds spent on black students who

represented 60% of the school aged population 1940 REDUCED TO 13% state funds spent on black

students who represented 57% of the school aged population

1940 half of the public schools for black children met in privately owned structures (double taxation)

1960 80% of Mississippi’s black population had completed less than 9 years of school (Anderson)

WORLD EVENTS THAT MOVE AMERICAN SOCIETY TOWARD CHANGE JUST PRIOR TO BROWN V. BOARD OF EDUCATION

World War II A segregated Army

After the War, Truman Desegregated Armed Forces. Black veterans’ held high expectations

of freedom after fighting to defend freedom in the world.

Integration in Major League Baseball 1947

Cold War with Soviet Union—accused US of hypocrisy

NATIONAL PROBLEMLEGAL SCHOOL SEGREGATION in 1950Prohibited (light mix, dots) No legislation (white) Required (dark) Local option (dark mix, slants)

PARENTS OF STUDENTS EXCLUDED FROM SCHOOLS TRIED TO CLAIM THEIR RIGHTS In 1885 and 1948 California Courts ruled that minority children cannot be barred from attending public schools

1885 Chinese Students The California Supreme Court ruled that it was unconstitutional to deny “a child of Chinese parents entrance to public schools” based on the 14th Amendment, but it stays silent on “separate but equal”. San Francisco builds separate schools for Chinese students.

1948 Latino Students Mendez family sues regarding segregated schools. The court ruled that separate but equal violated the equal protection clauses of the 14th amendment and orders California public schools to desegregate.

BROWN CASEOrganized by NAACPOliver Brown filed suit on behalf of his daughter Linda (3rd Grade)

What did segregation mean? Forced busing, forced

separation

Who were the plaintiffs? Linda Brown and 12 others in

Topeka, and similar cases in Delaware, Virginia,

South Carolina, Kansas, and District of Columbia.

PBS on Brown v. Board of Education

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TTGHLdr-iak

ANOTHER HEADLINE New York Times headline on May 18, 1954: "A Sociological Decision: Court Founded Its Segregation Ruling On Hearts and Minds Rather Than Laws." James Reston commented that "the Court's opinion reads more like an expert paper on sociology."

Expert witness Kenneth Clarke presented evidence of a doll experiment to showed that Black children thought White dolls more preferable than Black dolls. Court ruled separation harms the hearts and minds of the separated group. (Video resource)

What is the ESSENCE OF THE BROWN DECISION? Chief Justice Earl Warren, who justified the significance of

education in the Brown decision as being "the very foundation of good citizenship." “… for the policy of separating the races is usually interpreted as denoting the inferiority of the negro group. A sense of inferiority affects the motivation of a child to learn. Segregation with the sanction of law, therefore, has a tendency to retard the educational and mental development of negro children and to deprive them of some of the benefits they would receive in a racially integrated school system. We conclude that, in the field of public education, the doctrine of "separate but equal" has no place. Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.”

1957-1958 Massive ResistanceState vs. Federal troops

http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=5541

OUTCOME of BROWN: Some schools desegregated, but the school climate was frequently hostile. Some communities resist ---Massive Resistance http://www.smithsonianglobalsound.org/trackdetail.aspx?itemid=5541

1957

Little Rock Nine

With protection of Federal Troops, the students attended school in 1957-58.

Hostility and views of inferiority stand in the wayin mixed schools

What is the difference between a desegregated and integrated school?

DESEGREGATED students go to school together, but minority students are not comfortable, not treated as equal, nor given the same educational opportunities in the curriculum.

INTEGRATED (mix of minority and white students and equal treatment and similar success for all students)

MASSIVE RESISTANCE IN VIRGINIA In Prince Edward County schools for Black students were severely under funded. In 1958 schools were ordered to desegregate Anderson, 31-32

Is it legal for a school district to close its schools and deny students access to public education?

If the public schools were closed, who do you think would be responsible for getting them reopened?

Schools were closed in Prince Edward County, Virginia to avoid desegregation. How many years were schools closed?

Griffen v. County School Board of Prince Edward County

1959 Prince Edward County shuts down schools NAACP sues Virginia passes a law closing all schools that desegregate

Law struck down in the courts Prince Edward County Board votes to close schools

Opens private academy, gives white students vouchers paid for with state and local public funds

Court strikes down vouchers, but declines to rule on school closings, so system continues.

Virginia Court rules counties are authorized, but not required to provide schools, so system continues.

1964 Supreme Court strikes down the use of vouchers for only a few students, but it also declines to rule on school closings.

Virginia desegregates schools.

“Lost generation” February 2003 200 received honorary diplomas(Anderson, 32) Virginia

State of Virginia, Issues regret “…..severely affected the education of

African American students, wounding the human spirit, and ultimately contributing to job and home losses, family displacements and separation, and a deep sense of despair within the African American community.”

Awarded “honorary” diplomas Scholarship fund for GED or to support

college attendance today.

EDITH GEE

The history of schooling includes a major struggle for equal education by many different groups of students. Democracy is a work in progress

+ 1868 14th Amendment Should have made all persons equal under the law + - 1885 California affirms public schools for all, but School Board creates separate

schools for Chinese students - 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson --Court ruled in favor of legal segregation - 1899 Cumming Case showed that education did not have to be equal even if

separate + 1945 Mendez Case in California struck down segregation for Mexican

American/Latino students + 1954 Brown Jubilation -- will effect practices beyond schools, housing,

transportation, public accommodations. + 1955 Brown II “All deliberate speed” - 1955-1970 DO NOTHING or MASSIVE RESISTANCE -Prince Edward county closes all schools rather than desegregate, Virginia funds

private schools for white students. + 1964 Griffen v. School Board of Prince Edward County + 1964 Civil Rights Act, prohibited discrimination based on race, ethnicity, and

nationality could withdraw Federal funds. - 1960s-1980s Loss of jobs for Black principals and teachers (Anderson, 29-31)

Negative Effect of Desegregation on Black Teachers and Principles: Unintended Consequences of Brown Anderson, 29-31

Closing of black schools, the loss of black schools as important social and cultural institutions, a source of community pride.

38,000 black teachers lost their jobs in southern and border states between 1954-1964, another 21,515 teachers lost their jobs between 1984-1989.

The number of Black Principals also declined dramatically.

“AWE AND RESPECT” for Brown: CONSTITUTIONAL EQUALITY

LONGTERM IMPACT FOR SCHOOLING -- ADVANCED EDUCATIONAL RIGHTS

For ALL STUDENTS Girls and women, students with disabilities, limited English speaking students, and in the 1990s gay, lesbian and transgendered students.

BUT Educational rights were not automatic: INDIVIDUAL (S) had to SUE and go to COURT—after success in court THEN FEDERAL LEGISLATION followed.

SOME GAPS FOR MINORITY STUDENTS HAVE BEEN ELIMINATED--Anderson, The Historic Context for Test Score Gap

1. ACCESS TO HIGH SCHOOL2. HIGHER GRADUATION RATES

Advances in high school graduation among African American students in the South (Anderson, Tale of Two Browns, 29) 1960 most African Americans obtained at

most an eighth grade education

1970 25 and older, 31% high school graduates

1997 25-29 year olds 86% high school graduates

HOW SHOULD WE READ THE TEST SCORE GAP?What’s are the problems? Lack of Increase in National Test Scores (NAEP)

NAEP TrendsNational samples of studentsBlack/ White test score gap

Achievement Gap

Achievement Gap part of a larger issue of limited increases by all students on standardized tests.

Schools are serving more students than in 1970s.

Minority students decreased the test score gap in the 1980s, younger students have more recently decreased the gap, but it still prevails among older students.

Social Psychology Research shows effect of stereotyped threat in testing situation for any group that is negatively stereotyped. Stereotyped threat-social psychology

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nGEUVM6QuMg&feature=related

What are the key educational issues of the troubled legacy of Brown? Brown did not achieve substantive (reality, substance) equality for minority students.

1. A powerful legacy of segregation, resistance, discrimination, and poor funding throughout the 20th Century still impacts the African American community today.

2. Gains made by desegregation efforts between 1960 and 1980, were lost starting in the 1990s, schools are more segregated today due to housing patterns and districting.

3. Integrated schools may still be possible in small cities and in the suburbs as they grow in their diversity. Recent courts have ruled that policies can’t be designed to achieve racial balance in school districts.

Brown v. Board of Education 55th Anniversary

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3LKlvW2LD3s

What is defacto segregation?

Looks at Charlotte North Carolina High School

Conclusions: Brown brought a reinterpretation of the 14th Amendment. Laws could not separate citizens or be used to provide separate and unequal treatment.

Brown decision led to greater constitutional equality

Institutions and daily life: schooling, housing, busing, employment, etc. Anderson, p. 15,22

Bridge to passage of Civil Rights Act of 1964

The 1964 Civil Rights Act made racial discrimination in public places, such as theaters, restaurants and hotels, illegal. It also required employers to provide equal employment opportunities. Projects involving federal funds could now be cut off if there was evidence of discriminated based on color, race or national origin.