UNIT 5

Question

Decades of Change
LESSON 2
Separate Schools

Answer 1

In the United States, there was a time when schools were segregated based on race. This meant that white students and black students attended separate schools. The separation of schools was a result of the Jim Crow laws that were established in many southern states after the Civil War. These laws were designed to strictly enforce racial segregation and limit the rights of African Americans.

In 1896, the Supreme Court upheld the “separate but equal” doctrine in the landmark case Plessy v. Ferguson. This allowed for separate public facilities, including schools, for different races as long as those facilities were equal in quality. However, in reality, the facilities for black students were often subpar compared to those for white students. This led to a lower quality of education and limited opportunities for black students.

The struggle for desegregation in education was a long and difficult one. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that segregation in public schools was unconstitutional. The decision was based on the fact that separate was not truly equal, as it violated the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment.

Despite the Supreme Court’s ruling, many Southern states resisted desegregation and attempted to maintain separate schools. In some cases, they closed public schools altogether rather than integrate them. This was known as the “Massive Resistance” movement.

It was not until the 1960s and 1970s that progress was made in desegregating schools. Federal court orders and new laws were put in place to ensure that schools were integrated. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped to enforce the desegregation of schools and other public facilities.

Today, there are still issues of segregation and inequality in education. While schools may no longer be legally segregated, there are still disparities in funding and resources that disproportionately affect minority and low-income students. The fight for equal access to education and opportunities must continue.