America's Segregated Schools

Summary

The transcript explores the ongoing segregation in American schools, 65 years after the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. Despite demographic shifts, with no racial majority in public schools today, segregation remains widespread, especially in southern states. The transcript highlights historical resistance to desegregation, particularly in southern and northern cities, where tactics like 'white flight' and suburbanization have reinforced racial divides. It also discusses how policies like school choice and vouchers, along with government inaction, have perpetuated inequality, ultimately resulting in enduring segregation in both urban and suburban school districts.

Takeaways

• 📊 America's public schools no longer have a majority racial group, although white students remain the largest group with approximately 23.9 million students.
• 📉 The percentage of white students in public schools has declined to around 48.4%, largely due to birth rates and immigration changes.
• 🌎 Latino student enrollment has been growing significantly and now makes up more than half of the students of color in the United States, totaling approximately 13 million students.
• 👩🏾‍🏫 Segregation in the U.S. persisted long after the 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, with states and local districts implementing various strategies to resist desegregation.
• 📜 The Jim Crow era saw the rise of legally enforced segregation, and by 1915, white supremacy, racial violence, and discrimination became entrenched in the Southern U.S.
• 🏃🏾‍♂️ Massive migration of African Americans from the South to the North in the early 20th century led to the expansion of racial segregation and discriminatory housing policies in cities like New York, Chicago, and Detroit.
• 🏫 After Brown vs. Board of Education, many Southern states resisted desegregation through freedom of choice plans and pupil placement plans to keep white students separated.
• ❌ In extreme cases like Prince Edward County, Virginia, public schools were completely closed from 1959 to 1964 to avoid desegregation, leaving African American students without educational options.
• ⚖️ Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy's intervention and federal oversight led to an increase in desegregated schools in the South by the early 1970s.
• 🚪 By the 1970s and 1980s, the rise of predominantly white suburbs and policies that protected them from integration led to a re-segregation of schools, creating persistent racial disparities.

Q & A

What is the significance of the UCLA report 'Harming Our Common Future' in relation to school segregation in the U.S.?

The UCLA report highlights that, despite the Brown vs. Board of Education ruling 65 years ago, America's public schools remain segregated. It points out that no racial group is the majority in public schools today, with white students comprising the largest racial group at 48.4%. The report underscores the demographic changes caused by immigration and birth rates, particularly the rise of Latino students.

How have demographic shifts impacted public school enrollment in the United States?

Demographic shifts, largely due to immigration and changes in birth rates, have led to the decline of white students as a majority in public schools. Latino students now represent over half of the students of color, with roughly 13 million students, making Latinos the second-largest racial group in schools.

What were the effects of Jim Crow laws on African American education in the southern United States?

Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation, especially in public schooling, which significantly limited educational opportunities for African Americans. By the late 1800s, African Americans had lost many civil rights, including access to quality education, forcing them to migrate north in search of better opportunities.

How did public education differ between the North and South prior to the Civil War?

Public schooling was virtually non-existent in the South before the Civil War due to slavery and the fear that enslaved African Americans might gain literacy. In contrast, the North had begun to establish public schooling systems funded by the state. After emancipation, the South developed dual systems for white and black students, heavily favoring white schools.

What were the consequences of resistance to the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in southern states?

Many southern states actively resisted the Brown decision by implementing freedom of choice and pupil placement plans that allowed whites to continue sending their children to segregated private schools. Some states, like Virginia, went as far as closing public schools entirely rather than integrating them, which left African American students without education for several years.

How did residential segregation impact public schooling in northern cities?

Residential segregation in northern cities resulted in racially segregated schools, as African American families were forced into segregated neighborhoods. Despite desegregation efforts, such as inter-district plans, white families often moved to the suburbs, exacerbating school segregation in both cities and suburbs.

What role did the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) of 1965 play in school desegregation?

The ESEA of 1965 played a crucial role in enforcing school desegregation by allowing the federal government to withhold education funds from districts that continued segregation. This federal oversight helped increase the percentage of black students attending desegregated schools, particularly in the southern states.

Why did desegregation efforts face resistance in the suburbs of northern cities?

Suburban resistance to desegregation was largely due to white families' reluctance to participate in desegregation plans that required sending students from cities to suburbs and vice versa. This resistance led to more 'white flight,' where white families left public schools to avoid integration, further segregating schools.

How did federal desegregation laws evolve after the 1970s?

Federal desegregation efforts slowed significantly after the 1970s. Under the Reagan and Bush administrations, there were no major expansions of federal desegregation laws, and the focus shifted away from active support for integration. As a result, segregation spread to suburban areas and became a persistent issue in many parts of the country.

What was the outcome of desegregation lawsuits outside the southern United States after 1973?

After 1973, the Supreme Court opened the door for desegregation lawsuits outside the South, including for Latino students. However, the court imposed a higher burden of proof for violations, making it more difficult to implement desegregation remedies, especially in suburban areas where segregation continued to grow.

Outlines

00:00

📊 Changing Demographics in U.S. Public Schools

A UCLA report titled *Harming Our Common Future* highlights the changing racial composition of U.S. public schools. While white students remain the largest group, they no longer constitute a majority, making up 48.4% of students. This shift is driven by declining birth rates and immigration changes, particularly the growing number of Latino students, who now make up more than half of students of color. Black students are the third largest racial group, followed by Asian, multiracial, and American Indian students. The U.S. is now a multiracial society, contrasting with the demographics during the *Brown v. Board of Education* decision in 1954.

05:01

📚 Segregation and Resistance to Integration in the U.S. South

The legacy of segregation in the South persisted well after the *Brown v. Board of Education* decision. Christopher Spann's article highlights how Jim Crow laws cemented segregation until 1915, leading to deep racial divides. From 1877 to 1901, African Americans lost many post-emancipation rights, forced to live as second-class citizens. Violence and systemic racism in public schooling were used to prevent African Americans from gaining mobility and equity. This led to significant migration of Black families to northern cities. Segregationist policies, including unequal school funding, and racial gerrymandering ensured continued educational inequities for African Americans.

10:04

🏫 Defiance of Desegregation and School Choice Movements

Many Southern states and school districts resisted desegregation efforts after the 1954 *Brown* decision. Some adopted 'freedom of choice' and 'pupil placement' plans to circumvent integration, diverting public funds to private schools for white students. Virginia, in particular, closed its public schools rather than comply with desegregation, leaving Black students without educational options for years. This resistance laid the groundwork for today’s school choice and voucher movements, which were originally rooted in efforts to avoid desegregation. Federal intervention and threats to withhold funds were eventually used to enforce desegregation, particularly in the 1960s.

🏙️ The Rise of Suburban Segregation and Resistance

In the 1970s, as Northern cities became majority Black and Latino, white families fled to suburban areas, leading to segregated suburban schools. Efforts to balance demographics through inter-district desegregation plans faced significant resistance, resulting in further white flight. Despite major civil rights breakthroughs in the South, integration efforts outside of the region were less effective. Suburban schools largely remained segregated due to residential patterns, and by the 1980s, political resistance to desegregation intensified under the Reagan and Bush administrations, halting further progress. Today, segregation affects not only cities but also suburban and small-town schools.

Keywords

💡Segregation

Segregation refers to the enforced separation of different racial groups in schools, housing, and other public areas. In the context of the video, it highlights the systemic division between white students and students of color, particularly black students, in America's education system. Despite the Brown v. Board of Education ruling in 1954, segregation persisted for decades through various legal and social mechanisms, such as 'freedom of choice' plans and racial gerrymandering.

💡Brown v. Board of Education

The landmark 1954 Supreme Court case that ruled racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional. Although this decision was supposed to end segregation, the video explains how the South and other regions resisted, delaying integration for years. Brown v. Board of Education is central to the narrative as a symbol of the fight for civil rights in education.

💡Jim Crow Era

The Jim Crow era refers to the period of legalized racial segregation in the Southern United States following the Reconstruction era. It saw the implementation of laws that enforced racial discrimination and inequality, which severely restricted the rights and freedoms of African Americans. The video mentions how this era solidified segregation in education and other areas, creating a legacy of inequality.

💡White Flight

White flight describes the phenomenon where white families moved from urban areas to suburbs to avoid desegregation efforts in schools. The video notes how this contributed to the demographic shift in American cities, leaving urban schools increasingly populated by students of color and reinforcing school segregation even after legal desegregation.

💡Freedom of Choice Plans

These were policies implemented by Southern school districts to allow parents to choose which school their children attended. In practice, they were used to maintain segregation by making it difficult for black students to attend historically white schools. The video discusses how these plans were one of the methods used to resist the desegregation mandated by Brown v. Board of Education.

💡Racial Gerrymandering

Racial gerrymandering involves drawing school district or political boundaries in ways that separate racial groups, thereby maintaining segregation. The video describes how northern cities used this tactic to preserve racial separation in schools, despite legal challenges to segregation.

💡Great Migration

The Great Migration refers to the movement of African Americans from the rural South to urban areas in the North and West between 1915 and 1970, seeking better economic opportunities and escaping segregation and violence. The video highlights this migration as a response to the oppressive conditions in the South, including the lack of educational opportunities for black children.

💡Civil Rights Act of 1964

This landmark legislation outlawed discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin. The video emphasizes the importance of the Civil Rights Act in enforcing desegregation in schools, especially in Southern states that had resisted integration for decades after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

💡Prince Edward County School Closure

In 1959, Prince Edward County in Virginia closed its public schools for five years rather than comply with desegregation orders, leaving black students without access to education. The video uses this example to illustrate the extreme lengths some regions went to in order to resist integration, even at the expense of education for African American children.

💡Integration

Integration refers to the process of combining students of different racial backgrounds into the same schools, aiming to provide equal educational opportunities. The video discusses the slow and often resisted implementation of integration in American schools following the Brown decision, and how, despite legal progress, de facto segregation continues in many areas today.

Highlights

America's public school enrollment no longer has a majority racial group, although white students are still the largest group.

White students now make up 48.4% of the public school population, reflecting a decline influenced by birth rates and immigration.

Latino student enrollment has grown significantly, now comprising more than half of the students of color in the U.S., with approximately 13 million Latino students.

Black students are the third-largest racial group in schools, with around 7.5 million students, followed by Asian, multiracial, and American Indian students.

At the time of the Brown vs. Board of Education decision in 1954, the U.S. had a different racial makeup compared to today’s multiracial society.

During the Jim Crow era, segregation laws were enforced in the South, leading to intense racial discrimination and violence against African Americans.

By 1895, formerly enslaved African Americans in the South lost many of the civil rights they had gained after emancipation and were forced into second-class citizenship.

Public schooling in the South lagged due to the region's efforts to maintain a racial caste system, preventing African Americans from achieving equity and mobility.

Between 1915 and 1920, around 500,000 African Americans left the South for better opportunities in the North, followed by an additional million by 1930.

In response to the Brown decision, Southern states and school officials established dual school systems, funding schools for white students while underfunding schools for black children.

In Virginia, Prince Edward County closed all public schools between 1959 and 1964 to avoid complying with desegregation orders, leaving African American children without schooling options.

After the Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965, the percentage of black students attending desegregated schools in the South increased significantly by 1973.

By the 1970s, Northern suburbs had become predominantly white, exacerbating school segregation despite attempts to desegregate schools in cities.

White flight to suburbs intensified school segregation, particularly in Northern cities, where demographic shifts made desegregation efforts increasingly difficult.

By the 1980s, the Reagan and Bush administrations began dismantling federal desegregation efforts, and by the 1990s, most court orders enforcing desegregation had ended.

Transcripts

according to a ucla report

titled harming our common future

america segregated schools 65 years

after brown

our nation's public school enrollment no

longer has a majority racial group

although white students still comprise

the largest racial group in our nation's

schools

roughly 23.9 million white students

after nearly half a century of decline

in the percentage of the overall

enrollment it is notable that white

students

no longer account for the majority of

public school students

which is roughly 48.4 percent in the

united states this is largely due to the

impact of

birth rates and immigration changes in

our country

the latino student enrollment has been

growing tremendously

so today more than half of the students

of color

in the united states identify as latino

so approximately 13 million

students black students account for the

third largest racial group which is

roughly 7.5 million students

followed by asian multiracial and

american indian students

so our society is truly multiracial

which is quite different from the

demographics at the time

of the brown versus the board of

education decision in 1954.

in the article post-slavery

post-segregation

post-racial a history of the impact of

slavery

segregation and racism on the education

of african americans

by christopher spann he states that the

jim crow

era which was segregation by law was

firmly locked into place in the south by

1915

so between the period of 1877

and 1901 america had entered into its

lowest point in american race relations

so in the south whites imposed an

unrestrained form of white supremacy

violence segregation

and racial discrimination unseen

in the history of the nation

so by 1895 formerly enslaved african

americans across the south

lost many of the civil rights they

obtained after emancipation

and were forced to live as second-class

citizens in the region

so if people were to aspire

african-american people were to aspire

for anything more

they really needed to look for options

outside of the south

um due to the unrestrained and

unmitigated violence perpetuated against

them

during this time also the south lagged

in their development largely because of

its preoccupation with

reestablishing and maintaining a racial

caste system

to prevent free african americans and

their children

from mobility and equity following

emancipation

particularly in the area of public

schooling

as the idea of public schooling at the

expense of the state

took root in the northeast and the

midwest in the early to mid 19th century

this option was virtually non-existent

in the south prior to the civil war

slavery and the fear of enslaved african

americans

acquiring any degree of literacy limited

the creation and implementation

of public education in the south

legalized racism de jure segregation

and limited or denied schooling

opportunities

forced a number of african americans to

migrate out of the south

so between the period of 1915 to 1920

about half a million african americans

left the south

to pursue better opportunities in

northern cities and by roughly 1930

another million born african americans

also migrated north

so as the rise of the public school

system swept across the south

in the first decade of emancipation the

south developed what

already existed in the northeast the

midwest and the west

which was a dual system of schools one

for white

students and one for colored students

and by the start of the 20th century

southern states and school officials

established systems that funded schools

for whites

at the expense of funding schools for

black children

the migration of southern african

americans to the northeast

the midwest and the west resulted in the

expansion

of anti-black sentiment laws and housing

policies

that purposefully segregated blacks and

their children

if the neighborhoods they were forced to

move into were segregated

the neighborhood schools also would be

segregated

school districts use racial

gerrymandering to preserve

racial separation so this means that

every northern city

from mid-sized cities like cleveland

columbus detroit philadelphia

and sacramento as well as large cities

like new york chicago and los

angeles redlined african americans into

racially

segregated areas brown versus the board

of education

that supreme court ruling in 1954 was

supposed to

immediately in segregation yet that did

not happen

in the south where did your segregation

remain the law of the land for three

generations

massive resistance campaigns were

launched to ensure

that the supreme court decisions would

not be implemented

documented within the previously

mentioned article

by christopher spann local officials and

school board members

heeded calls for defiance of the court's

rulings

so throughout the south school districts

developed

freedom of choice plans and pupil

placement plans or private schools to

avoid compliance

with desegregation efforts and this

allowed whites to use

monies collected for public schools for

the purposes of sending their children

to private schools of their choice

now this is important to note um that

this whole notion of school choice and

voucher movements

that some of you may have read about or

have heard about in history classes or

in private readings

these ideas are prevalent today because

largely due to resistance to integration

as a very interesting example of this

time period in these issues

the state of virginia took the most

extreme action

in regard to integration in 1956

two years after the brown decision the

state legislature

passed a law that sought to close any

school

that attempted to comply with brown

after the virginia supreme court struck

down the law in 1959

school officials and prince edward

county

voted to close all public schools so to

completely close them

off rather than comply with the law of

the land

consequently all schools were closed in

the county until 1964.

in the interim whites enrolled their

children

in prince edward academy and used

tuition grants from public money so

public dollars

for them to attend private segregated

schools

and this this issue is documented in the

work of christopher spann

so with no alternative schooling options

african americans who remained in the

county

had no schools for their children to

attend for five years

after the schools reopened in 1964

less than two percent of african

americans in the county

attended a desegregated school and there

are numerous

examples of such actions that took place

in different parts of the country

to undermine the brown decision

before the passage of the elementary and

secondary education act what we call

e-s-e-a of 1965

no southern state in any meaningful way

attempted to comply with the brown

decision in 1954

case in point between 1955

and 1964 the number of african-american

students

attending schools with whites in the

former confederate states

only rose from zero to two percent

and it was concluded that at that pace

full integration would not be achieved

for at least 500 years and this is

documented again in the work of scholar

christopher spann

some states made absolutely no effort at

all to comply with the law

given this resistance and the slow pace

to comply with the brown decision

then attorney general robert f kennedy

removed desegregation complaints from

the courts

and placed them under the authority of

the department of health education and

welfare

which was a cabinet level department in

the u.s government from 1953

to about 1979. kennedy demanded that

the office the department of the hew

would threaten to withhold education

funds from

any districts that continue to practice

segregation

so due to this authority at the federal

level and that type of

oversight the percentage of southern

black children

in desegregated schools began to rise

so roughly um 1 1.18

in 1964 to 6.1 percent in 1966

to roughly 90 percent by 1973.

at the same time what was happening in

the suburbs of these major cities right

whether it be small or major metropolis

so this is interesting

the rise of the suburbs around major

northern cities

exacerbated this issue of school

segregation

so by the 1970s the demographics of

america's northern cities were rapidly

becoming

majority african american and latino and

less white

the opposite was occurring in the

suburbs of the large cities

so the demographics of these areas and

their schools

were almost exclusively white as white

families moved to suburban areas

to avoid being part of desegregation

orders affecting cities

so despite the efforts to desegregate

public schools in northern cities and

their suburbs

it became increasingly impossible to

achieve

these demographic balances due to

residential shifts so some school

districts even went so far as to adopt

inter-district desegregation plans

across the city and suburban lines so

sending students from the suburbs

to the cities and from the cities to the

suburbs

but the efforts to do this was met with

massive resistance

which resulted in more white flights of

white

families leaving schools and taking

their children elsewhere

after more than a decade of resistance

campaigns and very limited change in the

united states

the passage of the most sweeping civil

rights law in u.s history

enforcement by then president lyndon b

johnson's administration

and powerful unanimous decisions by the

supreme court

there was a huge breakthrough and the

southern schools became the most

integrated region of the country for

several decades

19 years after brown versus the board of

education

in 1973 the supreme court

opened the door to desegregation

lawsuits outside of the southern united

states

for both black and latino desegregation

but it also created a far more demanding

standard for proof of violations

of students rights than what was ever

the case in the southern united states

so

in 1974 the courts protected

the suburbs from involvement in

desegregation remedies

although many central cities had already

lost the great bulk of their white

student populations

by the 1980s there was a full-scale

attack on integration plans by both the

reagan

and the bush justice departments since

the early 1970s

there have been no expansions of federal

desegregation law

and no real creation of federal programs

or policies

to support the immigration of schools

and neighborhoods

segregation has thus engulfed central

cities and has spread

far out into sectors of suburbia and is

now

a serious problem not only in

metropolitan cities

but also small towns most court orders

in large districts

ended in the 1990s