School Desegregation

Paper Summary:

The paper examines the critical role that education, or the lack of it, played in the creation and perpetuation of a system of race-based oppression in America. The paper explains that by denying African Americans access to a quality education, whites were able to ensure the continued availability and subservience of a poor working-class. The paper further explains that the inferior educational facilities implied that blacks were intellectually inferior to whites, a message that was internalized by the majority of the white community, and many members of the black community. The paper therefore illustrates how the desegregation of schools was an important goal in the Civil Rights Movement, because of the tangible and symbolic roles that education played in the subjugation of the black community. The paper includes an annotated bibliography.

Outline:
Introduction
Discussion
Conclusion

From the Paper:

"To truly understand the important role that school desegregation played in the Civil Rights Movement, one first has to understand the critical role that education, or the lack thereof, played in the creation and perpetuation of a system of race-based oppression in America. First, one must understand that the trappings of a formal education, such as instruction in reading and writing skills, is something that was restricted to the upper class for thousands of years. In fact, it is only within the last few hundred years that a formal education has become available to members of society, at large. Educational gains have been linked to a decrease in disparity between higher and lower social class groups and the existence of a burgeoning middle class. Moreover, the issues surrounding education and social class become more complex when one introduces in the idea of slavery and the ownership of human beings; education may make a slave a more efficient and profitable worker, but education is also linked to the desire for freedom."

Sample of Sources Used:

• Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, 347 U.S. 483 (1954).
• Plessy v. Ferguson, 163 U.S. 537 (1896).
• Woodson, C.G. (1919). The Education of the Negro Prior to 1861: A History of the Education of the Colored People of the United States from the Beginning of Slavery to the Civil War. Salt Lake City, UT: Project Gutenberg.
• Schwartzman, P. (2004, May 13). Ramifications of Brown Decision Came Slowly:Enforcement Delays Led to Busing in '70s. The Washington Post, p. PG03.

More papers on School Desegregation:

• Term Paper # 142792 : "Segregation at Detroit Metro School District"
• Term Paper # 124954 : "School Vouchers, Magnet and Charter Schools"
• Essay # 13431 : " The School that Refused to Die" by Daniel L Duke"

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