White Citizen Councils

Racial formation is a vast sum of signifying actions and social structures that clash in the creation of complex relationships and identities that is a labeled race. Throughout the history of the United States, a large array of strategies was engaged in regarding education that took advantage of nonwhites. Since policies by those who supposedly “protect our rights” attempted to eradicate social, economic and cultural aspirations, dominated groups were more often than not suspicious of the school 's interests. According to John Ogby, “children from dominated cultures often failed school because they considered the school to be representative of the dominant white culture” (Spring, 101). This portrays racial formation having an effect on equality. “Acting white” meant to attempt to do well in school because

The five reports of school segregation separately went to local courts with no avail. The cases then appealed to the Supreme Court, where they were pooled under the title “Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas”. (Good, 31, 32) (Davidson et al. 850)

Education has long been regarded as a valuable asset for all of America's youth. Yet, when this benefit is denied to a specific group, measures must be taken to protect its educational right. In the 1950's, a courageous group of activists launched a legal attack on segregation in schools. At the head of this attack was NAACP attorney Thurgood Marshall; his legal strategies would contribute greatly to the dissolution of educational segregation.

The case of Brown Vs the Board of Education is, in a roundabout way, a case of racial speech. By not allowing mixed schools, a message is being conveyed that segregation is all right. This is a prime example of how this hate can cause real psychological problems and how a student can be so tormented by racist speech that he is deprived from gaining a full education. Although university officials have tried to eliminate racial harassment, their efforts have proven to be futile except in incidences of personal confrontation. Only words that arouse anger and result in violence are not protected by the First Amendment.

The dominant white supremacy begins with the racial segregation, and the segregation is the origin of the political and economic inequality. This segregation in large has created this natural social hierarchy which has pushed the African American into the terrible living conditions with less-working skilled job opportunities. Education segregation is also a huge component of this white supremacy. Recalling the documentary, SNCC was unable to encourage most African Americans of the region to stand-up to claim their voting rights due to their lack of knowledge about the constitutional system. In response to this predicament, SNCC founded the Mississippi Freedom Schools and set up classes to prepare people to register to vote. To make the school more practical, SNCC not only selected their applicants from the white upper-middle class, but also evaluated the applicant 's class ranking and education level. This recruiting technique has provided a solid foundation for the freedom schools. The organizers also considered this recruiting technique with a different perspective. These wealthy upper-middle class well-educated candidates were likely to become the leaders in the society. SNCC recruiting them will help them to

“As soon as blacks gained the right to vote, secret societies sprang up in the South, devoted to restoring white supremacy in politics and social life” (digitalhistory) Those organizations beat, lynched and executed former slaves and republicans in order to try and maintain their hold on the power they thought were fleeing from their grasps. Others sought more political and ‘lawful’ ways of achieving white supremacy. They became politically involved, gained power, and were able to pass pieces of legislatures known as ‘black codes’. The Black Codes were a “series of laws passed by Southern states to define freedman's rights and responsibilities.” According to Florida's Black Code, “blacks who violated labor contracts could be whipped, and sold for up to one year's labor. “ And just like that, blacks realized that their freedom meant absolutely nothing. In fact, if a former slave did not adhere and respects the black codes they could potentially be sold back into slavery. Slavery may have been abolished, but Southern leaders became pioneers in the world of systematic and Institutional racism. A form of racism that is so strong that it’s still deeply entrenched in

The United States’ attention was captivated on the Supreme Court Case of Powell vs Alabama during the 1930s. During the time period, this case revealed the brutal treatment towards African Americans more than any other event. The case began on March 25, 1931, when a group of young white and African American youths were traveling on a train to find a job. A physical encounter broke out between them and the white youths were thrown out of the train. Then they reported the incident to a stationmaster, who stopped the train. The police arrived to gather the nine African Americans and brought them to jail. Nine young African Americans were recognized as the “Scottsboro boys”. They were accused of rape of two white women on that train. The white jury convicted eight of them, all except one, the youngest at 12-years-old, and were sentenced to death. These youths were falsely charged with raping two white women in Alabama. Although there was no evidence that linked the African Americans to the white women, they were still charged with sexual assault. The two women -- fearing prosecution for their sexual relationship with the white men agreed to testify against the black youths. The Supreme Court Case of Powell vs Alabama is crucial in both Civil Rights history and in the evolution of the Constitution.

Starting in the 1890s, segregation laws known as the Jim Crow Laws dominated the United States, specifically in the South. These laws required schools, parks, libraries, forms of public transportation and even drinking fountains to be segregated into “Whites Only” and “Coloreds”. Although the Jim Crow Laws intended to treat blacks “separate but equal”, blacks received poorer conditions in their public facilities, were denied the right to vote and were treated with no respect from the whites (Jim Crow Laws). In Richard Wright’s essay, “The Ethics of Living Jim Crow: An Autobiographical Sketch”, Wright describes his first-hand experience with these laws and the negative encounters he has faced just because of the color of his skin.

Document number 1 shows how the whites took back rights by segregation by saying, “ Black folks had to use separate bathrooms, hospitals, libraries, swimming pools; you name it! The worst though, was the schools. We knew that we weren’t getting an education equal to what the white kids got! It was frustrating always getting “hand-me-downs” from the white schools – old books, desks, and other things they did not want anymore.”

Early in the 1950s education in Mississippi was segregated. The Brown versus Board education decision caused complete panic in Mississippi due to the fact that it challenged everything Mississippi had ever known. Throughout the state opinions and reactions carried, but in Sunflower county the opinion of prominent whites were clear: Blacks would not be welcome in schools with their children. Two months after the Brown vs Board decision was announced the first Indianola County Citizens Council was held. At this first meeting men of power met to discuss how they were going to stop blacks from organizing in their county. “Herman Moore, president of the Indianola Bank, open the convocation; “This meeting should have been held 30 years ago.. when it was noticeable that the Negro was organizing.”(Moye65) this statement set the tone for how a whole

White supremacy was a major issue in Southern America during the 1950’s, 1960’s and 1970’s. Though not completely focusing on that fact, Timothy Tyson, author of Blood Done Sign My Name, does a elaborately explain the effects and repercussions of White Supremacy. Timothy Tyson was just a young boy during the beginning stages of the Civil Rights Movement of the 50’s and 60’s. Timothy lived with his mother, a schoolteacher, his father, a Methodist minister, one brother, and two sisters in a rural North Carolina town by the name of Oxford. Timothy’s father, Vernon Tyson, was what he called an “Eleanor Roosevelt liberal” and was a prominent figure in Tyson’s life. Tyson is trying to prove that a White, Southern man in rural North Carolina can share

They claimed that the Supreme Court had engaged their judicial powers to exchange the established laws of government, for their own personal, political and social ideas, therefor, violating the Constitution. Legislators argued against such strong manipulation of jurisdictive power and demanded that the federal government had neither the power or the authority to force state intergration of schools. Furthermore, the exercise of power by a court of law, contrary to an established Constitution, had created chaos, confusion and was destroying the harmonious relations between races in those states effected by the Courts decision, to add, the decision had also replaced the understanding and friendships of people with hatred and suspicion. The fight over the manifesto, remained fierce and that by implementing the Brown decision, the courts would not be allowed to perform the job it was created to do, therefor, being commandeered by the federal government . The authors of this document touched on many nerves, but the main nerve being,that with Brown being implemented, it had shattered the good-natured relations between both white and blacks. Relations that had taken many decades of the enduring determination by respectable people of both races to build. Segregation had become an American way of life in the minds of many in the south, and these customs should not be altered. It’s my opinion, that a majority of southerners had been raised and bred with idealogy of white people were the only true “entitled” race. These entitled were not accustomed to sharing intergrated facilities and would confront this forced intergration by the government with strong

The Supreme Court ruled that segregation in public school systems violated the Constitution on May 17, 1954. The Courts decision faced great resistance from whites in the South. They threatened with violence, intimidation and other means as a reaction of the decision. After the decision, things were not easy and struggles remained. But through it all, it was victorious. The implementation (Brown II v. Board of Education) proved to be difficult. “Lawyers can do right, they can do good, but they have their limits. The rest of the job is up to society” (Patterson, 2001, pp

The NAACP made an impact in South Carolina by the mission of ensuring that everyone has political, educational, social, and economic equality. They wanted to challenge federal anti hanging laws and fair housing laws. Also, they supported the crucial Supreme Court case Brown vs The Board of Education which desegregated schools. The NAACP helped have a social equality by civil rights, freedom of speech, property rights, and equal access to social goods and services. They also helped with the anti lynching and fair housing rights by supporting the Supreme Court decision on stop hanging everywhere in the United States and fair housing rights for enforcing the new fair house laws. Also, the NAACP helped with educational equality by supporting the

“Beyond religion, beyond class, beyond politics and ideology, for centuries race has been Americans dialogue.” In 1957 nine African American kids were prevented from entering Little Rock Central High School.