Diversity

Brief Overview of School Desegregation

The article, "A Brief Historical Overview of School Desegregation" by Walter G. Stephan, covers the desegregation of the nation's schools from the beginning of black slavery in America to the present times. It explains how blacks became an "inferior" race in the nation's eyes, the lack of educational opportunities for black children, and the rise of the public school system in the North. After the Civil War, blacks were still not guaranteed an education, and it was not until the Brown vs. The Board of Education ruling in 1954 that blacks were guaranteed the same education as whites, and on the same turf. Before that, their education had been stipulated as "separate but equal," meaning they must attend their own black schools - usually not enjoying the same amenities white schools offered their students. Of course, segregation did not happen overnight, and there were many groups who fought against it with fervor. It did not really proceed full speed until the late 1960s, when busing black children to white schools became a normal activity.

This article shows how difficult it was for blacks to simply gain the same educational opportunities that whites had enjoyed for decades. Unfortunately, the affects of busing and desegregation were not always positive, as we tend to believe today. Busing created animosity in both black and white neighborhoods, and unfortunately, many black educators lost their jobs when busing effectively shut their schools down. Stephan notes, "a Georgia desegregation suit, cited HEW statistics indication that over 1,000 Black educators in five southern states lost their jobs between 1968 and 1971" (Stephan 18). This one outcome seems to have been overlooked in the desegregation process. It did not affect all blacks positively, and while overall, black children were experiencing much better educational opportunities and it opened up many possibilities for their futures. However, Stephan notes there were many unexpected problems and changes associated with the desegregation of our nation's schools, and only one of them was the loss of good employment by some of the nation's most educated and committed black teachers.

References

Stephan, Walter G. "A Brief Historical Overview of School Desegregation."