James Meredith and the University of Mississippi’s Integration

Throughout this essay, I will be examining the effects of one of the most controversial university enrollments. James Meredith paved the way for African American acceptance into a historically all White University. No matter how much adversity Meredith would encounter, he would not give up or give in to institutional racism. The want to keep Ole Miss segregated by those there did not hinder his success. In an attempt to end racial segregation, the Supreme Court ordered the admittance of James Meredith to the campus. This action was a clear defiance of racial segregation. This resulted in an abundant amount of not only riots but also casualties. Meredith paved the way for other African-Americans

James Baldwin wrote a letter addressed to his African-American nephew about his nephew’s role in American society. Baldwin explains to his nephew how he will struggle in society and about his father's struggles and how his own struggles are something he is born with solely because of his skin color. Baldwin sums up his nephew struggles by saying “The limits of your ambition were, thus, expected to be set forever. You were born into a society which spelled out with brutal clarity, and in as many ways as possible, that you were a worthless human being. You were not expected to aspire to excellence”(7). Baldwin is telling his nephew that the main problem in America

Hatred for white society was a strong theme among the African American community during the 1950s. These emotions were conveyed through different platforms of the time, ranging from art and music, to articles and books. But James Baldwin, a popular African American writer during this time period, does not obsess over this subject that was so passionately conveyed by so many people like him. Instead of preaching about his hatred for white America, Baldwin utilizes his story of his childhood as well as his early adulthood to illustrate the destructive nature of the African Americans society’s hatred for white society in the very well known essay, “Notes of a Native Son.”

The following day after the case was presented to the Supreme Justices, the Dallas Morning News paper gave a few remarks about how “the federal government stood alongside the state of Mississippi in the Supreme Court and pleaded for delay in further desegregation…”1 The use of the federal government in this situation is to have the reader sympathize with Mississippi and is even followed by “pleaded” to further the sympathy. “The government shared the frustrations of black school children…”1 is written to try to balance out the biased opinion but when ‘children’ is used instead of students, it creates a belittling picture of their opposition. The administration’s chief civil rights lawyer, Jerris Leonard, was quoted saying that both the North and South had made “’substantial breakthroughs’ in desegregation of schools… but that

In his powerful memoir, Mississippi, Anthony Walton explores race relations in Mississippi in a historical context in an attempt to teach readers about Mississippi’s dark and muddled past. In the third section of the memoir, entitled “Rebels”, Walton focuses on the history of Mississippi through the lens of famous and not so famous changemakers who shaped Mississippi as it is today. Walton purposefully tells this story in chronological order, so that the reader can see the evolution of the Mississippi rebel; beginning with union and confederate troops, and ending with civil rights leaders and white supremacy groups. Walton’s purpose of creating such structure becomes abundantly clear at the end of the section, where he juxtaposes the success of the civil rights movement with that of the white supremacy movement in Mississippi. Walton argues that the ability of a cause to inspire fear ensures its continued survival.

Baldwin determines that violence and racial separatism are not acceptable solutions for achieving “power”. Baldwin believes that black people will only be able to achieve lasting influence in America if they love and accept white people. In contrast, writing 52 years after Baldwin, Coats tells his own son to “struggle” but not

Discrimination has afflicted the American society since its inception in 1776. The inferiority of the African American race – a notion embedded within the mindset of the white populace has difficult to eradicate – despite the efforts of civil rights activists and lawmakers alike. Many individuals are of the opinion that discrimination and racism no longer exist and that these issues have long since been resolved during the Civil War and the Civil Rights movement of the 1960s. However such is not the case. Discrimination is a complex issue – one that encompasses many aspects of society. The impact of discrimination of the African American race is addressed from two diverse perspectives in the essays: “Notes of a Native Son” by James Baldwin and “Letter from Birmingham Jail” by Martin Luther King .

African Americans have to strive extremely hard to be successful and obtain a place in America. When reading Baldwin’s statement it seems much like Martin Luther King Jr. statement: “One hundred years later, the Negro is still languishing in the corners of American society and finds himself an exile in his own land”(3). African Americans are trying to obtain their place in American society but are restricted to the area that the white Americans set aside for them. Both Martin Luther King Jr. and James Baldwin are striving to make a difference to better America by publicly sharing their emotions.

While attending The State of the Black Union I saw how the concepts that we learned in class are still prevalent in our daily lives. A comment that was made during the State of the union address at resonated with me was that College bound is a privilege. Living in the inner cities of Richmond I see this lived out on the daily. Virginia Tech’s efforts to try and reach the unreached population has been shy of their goals. Even with programs like Fall Visitation, Yates program, Gateway program, Access, there are still catered to a particular group of people. Virginia Tech looks at African Americans as a universal title instead of an individualize one. The aforementioned organizations attract those African Americans who are more

Baldwin continues on and says that blacks were being oppressed everywhere. “…Negro girls who set upon a white girl in the subway because…she was stepping on their toes. Indeed she was, all over the nation” (73). Not only does this portray the ever growing tension felt among African Americans in a certain area, it expresses the tension felt across the nation. African Americans everywhere were still continuously looked down upon, causing agitation, which was the current social condition blacks and whites faced.

Baldwin says, “The time has come to realize that the interracial drama acted out on the American continent has not only created a new black man, it has created a new white man, too. (Baldwin 449) Baldwin believed that the time has come for Americans to open their eyes to the world around them and learn to embrace the new cultures constantly growing to be apart of what makes up America. As an African-American in the 50s Baldwin especially felt how important it was for there to be and end to the separation of cultures and race in America.

It was a time of conflict, excitement, and confusion in the United States. And this was also “Black Power” of the Civil Rights Movement. Moody at that time was a member of NAACP. She was involved in her first sit-in, and her social science professor, John Salter, who was in charge of NAACP asked her to be the spokesman for a team that would sit-in at Woolworth’s lunch counter (Moody 1968, 286). Although she could go to jail for this, but she still agreed. After that, she joined CORE and continued to fight for the voting rights (Moody 1968, 311). Following passage of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964, the struggle for racial justice moved to the next battleground: voting rights in the Deep South. The campaign was already under way in places like Selma, Alabama, where local activists, facing intense white resistance, asked Martin Luther King, Jr., and his Southern Christian Leadership Conference for support (Ayers 2010, 780). Black voter registration in the South was one of the great accomplishments of the civil rights movement. Within months of its passage, more than 2 million black southern were registered to vote. Most supported the Democratic Party of Presidents John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson, which had endorsed the cause of civil rights (Ayers 2010, 782).

These studies seek to broadly explain the entire experience of being at a minority in institutions that have historically been, and still are, predominantly white. Moreover, studies depict evidence that suggest there is a large gap in academic achievement between white students and their minority counterparts. Throughout the nation, non-Asian minorities fail to attain as high GPAs as white students, dropout of school at a higher rate, are less likely to graduate in four years, experience greater rates of attrition, and far less often continue into graduate schools(Smedley, Myers, and Harrell 1993: 434). All of these data are indicative of a systematic marginalization and general treatment of minorities that has disadvantaged them in the education system. To uncover the true roots of minority struggles within the world of higher education, a sociological analysis of the minority experience - focusing on socioeconomic background, educational history, stress of home life, and of the white favoring education system - must be used. Minorities’ struggling to assimilate into the prevailing white culture of colleges is due to “minority status stress” (Smedley, Myers, and Harrell 1993: 435), which is a significant cultural gap between races, and an upbringing less conducive to the academic style of higher education institutions. Minorities, therefore, are disadvantaged in attaining the same scholastic accomplishments as their white

In my years growing up with multiple in-groups and conforming to many identities, it has been difficult learning to be myself in a world in which some people wish I wouldn’t. Early in my childhood, my parents always looked at others who looked like me and told me that they were beneath me and I could always do much better. Why? These people were mostly African Americans. Though most stereotypes associated with African Americans are perceived to be from non-African Americans, this is not the case. There are many events that led me to my college journey and I ultimately found myself at North Carolina State University. A Predominantly White Institution. Though I was forced to choose this college, it does not mean I love it any less. However, the experiences that I have encountered being an African American at a Predominantly White Institution have been life changing.

Providence College is home to over 4,000 undergraduates who hope to pursue a higher education that will prepare students for life after college. Through experiences inside and outside of the classroom, Providence College has been trying to provide the best overall experience to achieve well-rounded people upon graduation. In efforts for students to grow socially, emotionally and intellectually, Providence College challenges you to translate this growth into action, habit and purpose. As I am about to go into my last semester here at Providence, I reflect upon past and current issues involving diversity and racial-discrimination policies and regulations imposed by the college to see how far the school has come since I began here in the fall of 2014. Providence College has been repeatedly ranked one of the top colleges that have the most homogenous (White) student population in the country by Princeton Review. This has been ongoing for the past couple of decades and has put Providence Colleges’ goal to achieve a diverse student body in danger as they are stereotyped as a predominately white, preppy, rich kid school. This past August, The Princeton Review’s 26th Annual College Rankings, were released to the public. Out of the 382 schools accounted for in the survey, Providence college was ranked first for, “Having little race/class interaction” (Princeton Review). This may be viewed as shocking news to some, but to Jim Vincent, who is the President of the NAACP Providence