The Role Of Desegregation In The United States

African Americans in the early United States faced strenuous hardships dealing with discrimination and inequality. Even decades after slavery ended, African Americans never achieved true freedom. An opportunity known as World War I allowed black people to serve in the United States military. They thought they could gain their right to be considered a true American and gain acceptance from the white man. Little did they know, risking their lives would barely change anything. This was true with many other wars, as well. After they came home from fighting in World War I, World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War, segregation still existed along with discrimination, but their service did not go unrecognized. Little things such as military service helped change the minds of white Americans.

The Desegregation of Schools as a Major Problem in the USA in the 1950s Segregation was always one of the layers of "the economically rising" America. It was the despicable separation of black and white people. This way of life really contradicted the "all men are created equal with the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness", commitment which is contained in the US declaration of Independence.

The forms of discrimination that existed were racial and religious discrimination. It is however important to note that racial discrimination took center stage with several Americans of African origin being looked down upon in several ways by their white counterparts. They were not even allowed to board the same bus on their way to work. There was dire need for change for several numbers of the black people suffered in the hands of their male counterparts in various sectors of the economy and especially in the employment and education sectors (Paterson, 2010). The Civil Rights groups solved these problems with effective mass actions and demonstrations against racial discrimination. Some of the civil rights activists that championed for a united America that is free from

Was it a good thing that school became desegregated? Yes, this was a great move for the United States for all students to learn and better their education fairly. If everyone is learning the amount of innovations and inventions would be endless. Many people learned new cultures and how to get along either other races even though there was riots. I’m ever much so grateful and happy that schools became desegregated because it is helping me today get to where I want to work at for a career job. To get a career job it requires me to have a certain degree and if you have a higher degree.

Another group that significantly made progress in the workforce are African Americans. While whites were overseas in the military, job opportunities for African Americans rose. They were assigned jobs relating to managing the supply lines and equipment. They became integrated into the military as well, a famous example of this is the Tuskegee Airmen. Thanks to Franklin D. Roosevelt, African Americans were allowed to work in the defense agency. Even African American woman were allowed to work as well, they were allowed jobs such as cleaning and cooking for white families. Although African Americans were able to progress as a whole in the workforce, they were still paid less and were usually harassed.

African American were fighting for rights to own land and “in January 1865, General William Tecumseh Sherman set aside part of the coast south of Charleston for black settlement”(437). Owning land was one of the main ways African American could build a wealth for themselves and gain their independance which they were not going to give up. African Americans were no longer going to allow whites to mistreat them. Despite the fact that they were “forced to return to the planters’ fields, they resisted efforts to restore slavelike conditions”(453). Once they had received of taste of what their free life is like, African American were not going to lose that right and were determined to fight against it. African American were determined to no longer be the white’s slaves. To further their independence “instead of working for wages, a South Carolinian observed, “‘the negroes all seem disposed to rent land, “‘ which increased their independence from whites”’(453). African American began renting land where they were more independent from their white masters and allowed to make decisions on their own. Along with their growing independence, African American were also having a bigger role in

Nixon himself came out adamantly against school busing as an infringement on the rights of people to live in their communities undisturbed.

In the 1970’s desegregation was a main concern and differences in the quality of education based on socioeconomic factors became apparent. Brown v. Board of Education deemed it harmful to African Americans to be segregated. Integration of public schools did not happen until Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education. The ruling of Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education mandated school districts to bus students to different schools so integration would be possible (Wilson). President Lyndon B. Johnson was also a key part in education reform during this time period, which will be discussed later. The federal government became involved to create additional benefits for low-income students. Head Start and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) were created to reduce poverty by providing equal opportunities for all students (Cross).

In addition, public buildings were challenged by local members of the NAACP Youth Council and the Pensacola Council of Ministers to create integrated communities of equality. With the establishment of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, discrimination was illegal based on your race, color, sex, religion, or national origin. This was implemented in voting registration, at schools, but more importantly in the workplace and public buildings. In Pensacola, the NAACP Youth Council and Pensacola Council of Ministers played an important part in conducting sit-ins and other actions of protest to desegregate the lunch counters. The influence for these sit-ins came from the national and state level, as Pensacola was a place that was not prone to performing protests of such a large degree. Much of the inspiration for

Please read the section from Shame of the Nation which I’ll send to you by email and send me an email with two ideas from this reading that you find especially promising for helping to dissolve our current educational inadequacies and inequalities. (Please include some short quotes and page numbers

It has been almost six decades since Ernest Green, Elizabeth Eckford, Jefferson Thomas, Terrence Roberts, Carlotta Walls Lanier, Minnijean Brown, Gloria Ray Karlmark, Thelma Mothershed and Melba Pattillo Beals entered Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. From there they became known as The Little Rock Nine and forever would be remembered as an essential part of history. These nine students were the first African Americans to go to an all white high school. In 1896, the court case Plessy v. Ferguson declared “separate but equal” as the precedent for schools. This separated the schools, and other things, on the basis color. The Little Rock Nine were a group of students from Arkansas who advanced the cause of desegregation of schools

The term "melting pot" for America came about during the early 1900s in reference to America's acceptance of all immigrants and races during the time period. America has, since the coining of the term, proven that it was an artificial label with little resemblance to the truth. Throughout history a great deal of white Americans practiced seclusion, segregation, and alienation of rights for non Anglo-Saxon peoples. Perhaps none have suffered more than the African Americans at the hand of Anglo-Saxon Americans. In his "South Carolina Schools and Colleges Desegregation" manuscript William E. Rone details the hard fought court cases against educational segregation in South Carolina during the 50s and 60s as well as events which related to those cases. The cases depict a story of intolerance, disregard for the law with respect to desegregation, and outright harm to non-white Americans. Knowing America's past and present one could say that America is more akin to an un-tossed salad than a melting pot. All the pieces coexisting together, yet perpetually divided by racial and cultural barriers as well as anger and fear of the unfamiliar.

Desegregation began with the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Public schools have used busing is an effective means of achieving desegregation in schools with the intention of closing the achievement gap. According to the courts, this is an effective means of achieving desegregation. Taxpayers and parents have often opposed this option due to cost and time among other concerns. Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education was a landmark United States Supreme Court case dealing with the busing of students to promote integration in public schools.

There were many African-American struggles against racism in the United States. Back in the (1800-1920’s) there were also traces of historical things that legalized segregation. The Jim Crow laws helped with that by separating blacks and whites at school, work on trains, busses, etc… African Americans went to the government and the courts to help protect their constitutional rights, but the courts challenged earlier civil rights legislation and handed down a lot of decisions that made states not able to segregate people of color.

Whites could still treat them however they wanted to, and get away with their actions. Although, work was being done behind the scenes, a lot of African Americans still struggled with their rights within the United