School at the Crossroads - by Nan Brooks

Each of us in the Consortium of Seven has a particular area of interest that our fearless leader, Garbo, asked us to draw upon for our weekly posts. If I remember correctly (some days that is a big “IF”), my Wednesday assignment is non-fiction. Over the last few months I’ve expanded into memoir and the perspective that goes with remembering a lifetime. A recent conversation with a man who is over 40 years younger than I helped me realize that my memories may be informative and therefore helpful in this time of national crisis. He was startled by my memories of elementary school and the racism in the education system in my large city.

Please note: If you remember similar times, and especially of you are a person of color, please do feel free to correct my memory. I would appreciate your time and energy. It is not your responsibility to educate me about racism - and I hope to be corrected. A dilemma. 

I am 78 years old and entered first grade in 1948, four years before the lawsuit Brown v. Board of Education went to the Supreme Court.  The leadership in Indianapolis saw the handwriting on the wall, according to some, and began to racially integrate local public schools. Black high school students could attend only Crispus Attucks High School, no matter where they lived in the city or how difficult it was to get to school every day. (The school was not integrated until 1970.) Elementary schools were likewise separated by race.

We lived on 43^rd Street, one block from the official red line at 42^nd. Redlining marked off neighborhoods and was one of many ways designed to keep people of color separate and definite not equal. Among its many uses, it was a marker used by banks to determine who could and could not get a mortgage. This device prevented many people of color from owning real estate. It also meant that as lawsuits and court decisions began to address racial discrimination, the red lines faded somewhat. 

In our little double on 43^rd Street, we were soon beset with realtors who came to our door asking to meet the owner. Although we were mere tenants, my father identified himself as the owner, which startled me. I had never heard him lie. He listened through the screen door as the realtor began his well-rehearsed speech. “The coloreds can move in here now, so you’d better sell your house while you can.” My scrawny father, all 5 feet 4 inches of him, stepped out onto the porch, looked up at the large man, said, “Get the hell off my property and don’t come back. And leave everybody else around here alone, too. You are scum.” He probably used stronger language, as was his way. In any case, the realtors stopped coming. No one on our street moved out and the neighborhood thrived.

I wonder now how the integration of the school felt to the teachers and principal at James Whitcomb Riley School #43, located at 40^th Street. It was on one of the redline boundaries and surrounded by homes of white and black families, so folks had established friendships across the artificial lines of race, but the kids went to different schools. So dissolving the barriers may have felt easier in some ways than it did in other schools.

The city policy was to integrate one grade at a time. My brother, who followed me by one year, learned in an integrated classroom and formed new friendships with the “colored” kids. The following year, as that class moved into second grade, there were two integrated grades. After three years or so, the entire school was finally whole. I remember my brother being dumbfounded that his buddy Charlie could come to the school one block from his home, but his older sister had to ride a city bus to another school further away. It made no sense, but then inhumanity never does.

There were clear expectations and rules for everyone at School 43. No rudeness would be tolerated in the classroom, on the playground or – and this mattered – on the way to and from school. Children were encouraged to report any examples of prejudice, which was our word for racism. I still think it’s an effective word, meaning to pre-judge. Obviously, we all pre-judge on the basis of skin color, whether we want to or not, whether we believe we do or not. The adults made it perfectly clear to the School 43 community that we could, and would be expected to, attend to our behavior. I wonder now what the faculty meetings must have been like, how the principal led her staff through the big changes. In any event they all led the way with an apparently united purpose.

Almost all of the teachers were white women, the one or two men were white. Where were the black teachers?  No one ever talked about that. Despite the obvious disparity, the faculty and staff were consistent and thoughtful in how they approached the changes. Black kids were called on in class as often as white kids, they were given responsibilities and opportunities to lead on the playground and in the classroom. They were encouraged to sing the solos in choir concerts, present information on both Black and white history in class, play their favorite songs and hymns, participate in show and tell, and bring stories and heirlooms from their family histories. The white kids were expected to pay attention and ask respectful questions. We learned about fathers who had fought in World War II, grandmothers who had moved North from even worse conditions in the South, mothers who taught themselves to play the organ for church, family feasts of ham and collard greens and macaroni and cheese. Those of us with Appalachian heritage or who came from near poverty exclaimed, “We have that all the time, too!” I remember a heated discussion about cornbread and whether onions were appropriate in the recipe.

I remember Jackie, who loved airplanes and wanted to be a pilot. No one discouraged her, least of all the teacher. She was encouraged to learn about women pilots and discovered that not all of them were white. Her eyes sparkled as she gave a book report to the class. A librarian had helped her find Bessie Coleman. Jackie went on to a career in the Air Force as an air traffic controller, the first Black woman to do so, as I recall reading years later.  

It wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns, of course, and there were incidents of name calling and meanness. Boys would get into playground fights. Girls were a little less physical and just as mean.  (I’ll leave the gender roles alone for now.) Teachers talked about such incidents in class, mediated disagreements, encouraged kids to discover the source of their cruel behavior. Sometimes such conversations were private, sometimes they occurred with the entire class as witnesses. What lessons! Teachers named and enforced the consequences of bad behavior.

One day I overheard two teachers talking about a boy named Curtis [not his real name], who was Black. His classroom teacher complained about how how he never sat still and talked all the time. She called him a “busy little pickaninny.” I had heard adults use the word to describe the kids who lived south of 42^nd Street. Mrs. Warren replied, “Is Curtis hungry?” “I asked him,”said his teacher, “and he said no. He doesn’t need to go to the bathroom, he isn’t thirsty, he’s just rowdy.” Mrs. Warren said, “You know, Curtis knows your attitude about him. He’s very smart and he is bored. Give him some work that will interest him and he will settle down. He loves music.”  I was about ten years old and I remember all these years later the tone of that conversation. Curtis’ teacher assumed he was not smart because he had dark skin. She talked about him in a way she would never have done about a busy white boy. Mrs. Warren saw it and called it. Mrs. Warren had made the effort to know Curtis. The conversation stayed in my memory all these years – a model.

As we struggle to come to terms with our cruel racial history in this country, and as we struggle to connect with one another over the barriers of politicized differences, I remember School 43 and Mrs. Warren and the others. Change is possible, we can and we must do what those teachers did: be vigilant with our own behavior, call our friends and colleagues to awareness, keep the faith, persevere.

“Keep the faith.” A byword of the sixties and another crossroads. We are products of our cultural history as well as our education. Here is a timeline for your further reading if you like. There is always more to learn, eh? My undergraduate major included African American Studies and I still I found this list  illuminating. I wonder if you will be both appalled and inspired as I am by the back and forth, the maneuvering, the endlessness of the struggle for what is right and good. 

Onward we go, because we must.

From https://www.tolerance.org/magazine/spring-2004/

1849 The Massachusetts Supreme Court rules that segregated schools are permissible under the state's constitution. (Roberts v. City of Boston) The U.S. Supreme Court will later use this case to support the "separate but equal" doctrine.

1857 With the Dred Scott decision, the Supreme Court upholds the denial of citizenship to African Americans and rules that descendants of slaves are "so far inferior that they had no rights which the white man was bound to respect."

1868 The Fourteenth Amendment is ratified, guaranteeing "equal protection under the law"; citizenship is extended to African Americans.

1875 Congress passes the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which bans racial discrimination in public accommodations.

1883 The Supreme Court strikes down the Civil Rights Act of 1875 finding that discrimination by individuals or private businesses is constitutional.

1890 Louisiana passes the first Jim Crow law requiring separate accommodations for Whites and Blacks.

1896 The Supreme Court authorizes segregation in Plessy v. Ferguson, finding Louisiana's "separate but equal" law constitutional. The ruling, built on notions of white supremacy and black inferiority, provides legal justification for Jim Crow laws in southern states.

1899 The Supreme Court allows a state to levy taxes on black and white citizens alike while providing a public school for white children only. (Cumming v. Richmond (Ga.) County Board of Education)

1908 The Supreme Court upholds a state's authority to require a private college to operate on a segregated basis despite the wishes of the school. (Berea College v. Kentucky)

1927 The Supreme Court finds that states possess the right to define a Chinese student as non-white for the purpose of segregating public schools. (Gong Lum v. Rice)

1936 The Maryland Supreme Court orders the state's white law school to enroll a black student because there is no state-supported law school for Blacks in Maryland. (University of Maryland v. Murray)

1938 The Supreme Court rules the practice of sending black students out of state for legal training when the state provides a law school for whites within its borders does not fulfill the state's "separate but equal" obligation. The Court orders Missouri's all-white law school to grant admission to an African American student. (Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada)

1940 30% of Americans — 40% of Northerners and 2% of Southerners — believe that Whites and Blacks should attend the same schools.

A federal court requires equal salaries for African American and white teachers. (Alston v. School Board of City of Norfolk)

1947 In a precursor to the Brown case, a federal appeals court strikes down segregated schooling for Mexican American and white students. (Westminster School Dist. v. Mendez) The verdict prompts California Governor Earl Warren to repeal a state law calling for segregation of Native American and Asian American students.

1948 Arkansas desegregates its state university.

The Supreme Court orders the admission of a black student to the University of Oklahoma School of Law, a white school, because there is no law school for Blacks. (Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma)

1950 The Supreme Court rejects Texas' plan to create a new law school for black students rather than admit an African American to the state's whites-only law school. (Sweatt v. Painter)

The Supreme Court rules that learning in law school "cannot be effective in isolation from the individuals and institutions with which the law interacts." The decision stops short of overturning Plessy.

The Supreme Court holds that the policy of isolating a black student from his peers within a white law school is unconstitutional. (McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education)

Barbara Johns, a 16-year-old junior at Robert R. Moton High School in Farmville, Va., organizes and leads 450 students in an anti-school segregation strike.

1952 The Supreme Court hears oral arguments in Brown v. Board of Education. Thurgood Marshall, who will later become the first African American justice on the Supreme Court, is the lead counsel for the black school children.

1953 Earl Warren is appointed Chief Justice of the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court hears the second round of arguments in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka.

1954 In a unanimous opinion, the Supreme Court in Brown v. Board of Education overturns Plessy and declares that separate schools are "inherently unequal." The Court delays deciding on how to implement the decision and asks for another round of arguments.

The Court rules that the federal government is under the same duty as the states and must desegregate the Washington, D.C., schools. (Bolling v. Sharpe)

1955 In Brown II, the Supreme Court orders the lower federal courts to require desegregation "with all deliberate speed."

1955 Between 1955 and 1960, federal judges will hold more than 200 school desegregation hearings.

1956 49% of Americans — 61% of Northerners and 15% of Southerners — believe that Whites and Blacks should attend the same schools.

Tennessee Governor Frank Clement calls in the National Guard after white mobs attempt to block the desegregation of a high school.

Under court order, the University of Alabama admits Autherine Lucy, its first African American student. White students and residents riot. Lucy is suspended and later expelled for criticizing the university.

The Virginia legislature calls for "massive resistance" to school desegregation and pledges to close schools under desegregation orders.

1957 More than 1,000 paratroopers from the 101st Airborne Division and a federalized Arkansas National Guard protect nine black students integrating Central High School in Little Rock, Ark.

1958 The Supreme Court rules that fear of social unrest or violence, whether real or constructed by those wishing to oppose integration, does not excuse state governments from complying with Brown. (Cooper v. Aaron)

10,000 young people march in Washington, D.C., in support of integration.

1959 25,000 young people march in Washington, D.C., in support of integration.

Prince Edward County, Va., officials close their public schools rather than integrate them. White students attend private academies; black students do not head back to class until 1963, when the Ford Foundation funds private black schools. The Supreme Court orders the county to reopen its schools on a desegregated basis in 1964.

1960 In New Orleans, federal marshals shielded Ruby Bridges, Gail St. Etienne, Leona Tate and Tessie Prevost from angry crowds as they enrolled in school. 

1961 A federal district court orders the University of Georgia to admit African American students Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter. After a riot on campus, the two are suspended. A court later reinstates them.

1962 A federal appeals court orders the University of Mississippi to admit James Meredith, an African American student. Upon his arrival, a mob of more than 2,000 white people riots.

1963 62% of Americans — 73% of Northerners and 31% of Southerners — believe Blacks and Whites should attend the same schools.

Two African American students, Vivian Malone and James A. Hood, successfully register at the University of Alabama despite George Wallace's "stand in the schoolhouse door" — but only after President Kennedy federalizes the Alabama National Guard.

For the first time, a small number of black students in Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Mississippi attend public elementary and secondary schools with white students.

1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 is adopted. Title IV of the Act authorizes the federal government to file school desegregation cases. Title VI of the Act prohibits discrimination in programs and activities, including schools, receiving federal financial assistance.

The Rev. Bruce Klunder is killed protesting the construction of a new segregated school in Cleveland, Ohio.

1968 The Supreme Court orders states to dismantle segregated school systems "root and branch." The Court identifies five factors — facilities, staff, faculty, extracurricular activities and transportation — to be used to gauge a school system's compliance with the mandate of Brown. (Green v. County School Board of New Kent County)

In a private note to Justice Brennan, Justice Warren writes: "When this opinion is handed down, the traffic light will have changed from Brown to Green. Amen!"

1969 The Supreme Court declares the "all deliberate speed" standard is no longer constitutionally permissible and orders the immediate desegregation of Mississippi schools. (Alexander v. Holmes County Board of Education)

1971 The Court approves busing, magnet schools, compensatory education and other tools as appropriate remedies to overcome the role of residential segregation in perpetuating racially segregated schools. (Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenberg Board of Education)

1972 The Supreme Court refuses to allow public school systems to avoid desegregation by creating new, mostly or all-white "splinter districts." (Wright v. Council of the City of Emporia; United States v. Scotland Neck City Board of Education)

Brown's legacy extends to gender. Title IX of the Educational Amendments of 1972 is passed prohibiting sex discrimination in any educational program that receives federal financial assistance.

1973 Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act is passed prohibiting schools from discriminating against students with mental or physical impairments.

The Supreme Court rules that states cannot provide textbooks to racially segregated private schools to avoid integration mandates. (Norwood v. Harrison)

The Supreme Court finds that the Denver school board intentionally segregated Mexican American and black students from white students. (Keyes v. Denver School District No. 1) The Court distinguishes between state-mandated segregation (de jure) and segregation that is the result of private choices (de facto). The latter form of segregation, the Court rules, is not unconstitutional.

The Supreme Court rules that education is not a "fundamental right" and that the Constitution does not require equal education expenditures within a state. (San Antonio Independent School District v. Rodriguez) The ruling has the effect of locking minority and poor children who live in low-income areas into inferior schools.

1974 The Supreme Court blocks metropolitan-wide desegregation plans as a means to desegregate urban schools with high minority populations. (Milliken v. Bradley) As a result, Brown will not have a substantial impact on many racially isolated urban districts.

Non-English-speaking Chinese students file suit against the San Francisco Unified School District for failing to provide instruction to those with limited English proficiency. The Supreme Court rules that the failure to do so violates Title VI's prohibition of national origin, race or color discrimination in school districts receiving federal funds. (Lau v. Nichols)

1978 A fractured Supreme Court declares the affirmative action admissions program for the University of California Davis Medical School unconstitutional because it set aside a specific number of seats for black and Latino students. The Court rules that race can be a factor in university admissions, but it cannot be the deciding factor. (Regents of the University of California v. Bakke)

1982 The Supreme Court rejects tax exemptions for private religious schools that discriminate. (Bob Jones University v. U.S.; Goldboro Christian Schools v. U.S.)

1986 For the first time, a federal court finds that once a school district meets the Green factors, it can be released from its desegregation plan and returned to local control. (Riddick v. School Board of the City of Norfolk, Virginia)

1988 School integration reaches its all-time high; almost 45% of black students in the United States are attending majority-white schools.

1991 Emphasizing that court orders are not intended "to operate in perpetuity," the Supreme Court makes it easier for formerly segregated school systems to fulfill their obligations under desegregation decrees. (Board of Education of Oklahoma City v. Dowell) After being released from a court order, the Oklahoma City school system abandons its desegregation efforts and returns to neighborhood schools.

1992 The Supreme Court further speeds the end of desegregation cases, ruling that school systems can fulfill their obligations in an incremental fashion. (Freeman v. Pitts)

The Supreme Court rules that the adoption of race-neutral measures does not, by itself, fulfill the Constitutional obligation to desegregate colleges and universities that were segregated by law. (United States v. Fordice)

1995 The Supreme Court sets a new goal for desegregation plans: the return of schools to local control. It emphasizes again that judicial remedies were intended to be "limited in time and extent." (Missouri v. Jenkins)

1996 A federal appeals court prohibits the use of race in college and university admissions, ending affirmative action in Louisiana, Texas and Mississippi. (Hopwood v. Texas)

2001 White parents in Charlotte, N.C., schools successfully seek an end to the desegregation process and a bar to the use of race in making student assignments.

2002 A report from Harvard's Civil Rights Project concludes that America's schools are resegregating.

2003 The Supreme Court upholds diversity as a rationale for affirmative action programs in higher education admissions, but concludes that point systems are not appropriate. (Grutter v. Bollinger; Gratz v. Bollinger)

A federal district court case affirms the value of racial diversity and race-conscious student assignment plans in K-12 education. (Lynn v. Comfort)

A study by Harvard's Civil Rights Project finds that schools were more segregated in 2000 than in 1970 when busing for desegregation began.

2004 The nation marks the 50th anniversary of Brown v. Board of Education.

2007 In Parents Involved, the Supreme Court finds voluntary school integration plans unconstitutional, paving the way for contemporary school segregation to escalate.

The nation marks the 50th anniversary of the Little Rock Nine.

Note from Nan: That is as far as the timeline goes – we could add the ensuing 13 years, certainly. What we add would show the same one-step-forward-two-steps-back. May we do better at this crossroads in 2020, may we be better.