Resistance to Integration

What?

In the audio recording “The Myth That Busing Failed” the author, Hannah-Jones challenges this overall idea about the failure of the busing system and advocates for how it was executed in certain parts of the United States. While many were reluctant to listen to the courts and act on desegregating schools, she argues that it was the “most effective [method] because it was the most immediate” (Hannah-Jones). She highlights how integration in schools was becoming a nationwide movement and the different ways that the North and South had responded to this act.

Telling a fuller history about resistance to school integration happening in the North, not just the South, is important because it helps us to realize that the enactment of this movement was different depending on populations and the community. Even though this community, the North, was known to be more progressive, they were still, like the South, unwilling to listen to the courts. Both the North and the South had said no to desegregation and the bussing systems.

In the South they originally were against the bussing system; however, people started to accept it overtime. Hannah-Jones explains how the South had become “the most integrated region of the country in a matter of 10 years” (Hannah-Jones). Law enforcement started laying down the laws and people dealt with it. The members of the community in the South tended to get over it because Blacks were already a large part of their community. The large amounts of plantations and Black workers made the people more accepting of integration. The South tended to be a more rural area with farms, less education, and more slavery. The courts were beginning to enforce that they follow through with the bussing systems and they were okay with it because there were more people of color in the South that were striving for rights. In the South it was normalized for there to be a larger Black community.

In the North the busing system was also not accepted and people resisted the desegregation of schools. Originally, “White communities… applauded it,” but they failed to listen to the courts and act on the new, overnight laws (Hannah-Jones). This is interesting because the North tended to be more progressive than the South. For example, in the South they would have the workers pick cotton by hand and in the North they began to convert to more heavy machinery and factories earlier on. Manual labor was put out of business in the North and people had switched to machines. This caused the South to be a more heavily populated Black community due to all of the manual labor. Hannah-Jones explains how Black children were bullied when put in schools with White children. This is probably because the North mainly consisted of a White community. Whites went to private schools and Blacks were not given permission to attend these institutions. They felt that the ruling in Brown vs Board of Education “did not apply to them” and that it was actually for the South community (Hannah-Jones). In reality, the goal was to encourage integration in both the North and the South. The North was usually very progressive, but they were not and did not want to be in this case. Black people were not really a part of the North’s community. There were no plantations and there were mainly White suburbs. It was a heavily condensed population with more school districts, which made it harder to desegregate since there was more organizing to do.

So What?

In the audio recording “The Problem We All Live With” the author, Hannah-Jones, describes the moment when she heard about the death of Michael Brown. Michael Brown was an 18 year old African American man that was shot and killed by a White police officer in Ferguson, Missouri. Her discovery of this young man, Michael Brown, led her to come across the Normandy district and the poverty that Brown grew up in. Normandy was an impoverished and unaccredited school. Students were not getting an accredited education meaning the curriculum was not meeting educational standards. This meant that the students attending Normandy would be given the option to transfer to another district. The school that the Normandy students were given the option to attend was Francis Howell.

Throughout this audio recording Hannah-Jones recognizes the elitist attitudes of the parents of Francis Howell. The parents stated opinions that were entitled and they believed that the students of Normandy would be bringing “violent” behavior into the school.They thought that Normandy would “lower [their] accreditation” and that “discipline records [should] come with” the Normandy students (Hannah-Jones). They demanded metal detectors, security guards, and were determined to preserve the name of their school and the high scores they were known for. Parents even suggested making the start time earlier which would make it more inconvenient for Black students from Normandy to attend. Parents of Francis Howell were in favor of non integration because they wanted continued state funding for their school. Often, schools with better grades get more funding from programs and donors if they are competitive. Students are more sought after by colleges, so it means that if their education at Francis Howell is low then it is likely that the economic situation in that area will go down. Students will be unable to attend better colleges and get better education which would inevitably lead those students to be in poverty in the future.

The reaction to the large number of Black children moving into the White school was unacceptable. They thought that the kids at Normandy were dangerous and a threat, and that this integration would lead to additional violence at Francis Howell. The Normandy parents believed that their children should be given the opportunity to an equal education while the Francis Howell parents were not embracing this decision at all. They Normandy parents argued that equal opportunity would allow their children to have successful and high paying jobs in the future as well.

When it comes to integration, Hannah-Jones advocates for the idea that “integration… gets Black kids in the same facilities as White kids, and therefore it gets them access to the same things that those kids get — quality teachers and quality instruction” (Hannah-Jones). She claims that with integration, students that are taking on subordinate roles are able to catch up with those who are dominant when it comes to education. Additionally, this idea was proven through the integration of Normandy students into Francis Hall. She claims that “in the schools where white families chose to stay, test scores for black transfer students rose” (Hannah-Jones). This example backs up her idea that those who are given less opportunity can reach success through these desegregation programs. Although many were against it from the start, this school “became the most successful desegregation program” in the United States (Hannah-Jones).

Listening to Hannah-Jones support the idea that those who are given access to more resources have a better chance of succeeding was fascinating to me. It reminded me of the structural racism that goes on in the Marin City and the limited access that the students at WHAP have to additional resources outside of the classroom. If these students had equal access to all of the tools that those who are attending more privileged schools had they may be able to reach a higher level of education. When watching educational films the students usually have to crowd around one small computer screen. In my experience in school teachers have always had large screens for projectors in order to display a film for the entire class. Thinking about this made me realize the barriers that these students in low income communities may face and I began to recognize how integration could allow for these students to have equal access to the tools that predominantly White schools may have.

It was interesting hearing about the different experiences of the kids from Normandy who had transferred to Francis Howell. I was expecting the students and staff to be unwelcoming towards the Normandy students; however, most of the students describe a very memorable first encounter with the students and staff at Francis Howell. While some students experienced the ability to create long term relationships with white students, others were challenged by the White students and made to feel that they did not fit in. They had to prove that they belonged by showing that they could keep up with the rigorous course material. Once Normandy changed its name and became a non accredited school, students were forced to go back, but they were given the chance to re-attend Francis Howell about a year later. All in all, the law began to recognize that the Normandy kids should not be kept in schools that are unaccredited. It is necessary that youths, no matter their race, class or sex, be given the opportunity to access materials that could help them to succeed in the future.

Now What?

Structural racism causes communities, like Marin City, to be treated unequally. It is how an organization is set up without anyone doing anything about it. Individuals are born into specific communities due to the segregation of housing and schools. Minorities, especially African Americans, often get segregated within cities and this causes there to be substantial power gaps in society. For example, one may be forced into an impoverished living situation which causes them to have little to no opportunity to receive an education. Because of this, they will be more at risk for being in poverty still in the future. This causes them to have to commit more crime in order to survive and make ends meet.

By providing youths in an impoverished area, like Marin City, with an education, WHAP is working to end this cycle of structural racism. They are helping to provide children with a chance to get out of this loop and attend college to gain a dominant trait in the future.

While volunteering at Women Helping All People I have recognized that there is a profound amount of structural racism in the area of Marin City and Golden Gate Village. At my community partner site the population is primarily African American and low income. There is distinct segregation between the schools located in Marin, and WHAP helps to avoid this idea of structural racism by providing youths in the area with an opportunity to get an education. The education system is racist, and being born into a certain identity and location has extreme impacts on individuals. By challenging their students and teaching them about their own cultural backgrounds, WHAP is able to better prepare students for the future. The teachers at this school work to provide their students with higher learning and foundation in curriculum. They have rigorous coursework and expect more from their students in order to prepare them for high school and a college education. This school was started to be an example for the village and neighborhood in Marin City. The staff has strived to work against structural racism by providing students with an adequate education and materials to work with. By providing students with more resources, WHAP helps them to have more equal opportunities that other, more privileged, school systems in Marin may have. This school is helping to eliminate the impacts of structural racism by altering the societal and physical structures that may be designed to promote certain individuals over others.