Speaker Notes
Slide 1:
• Title page
Slide 2:
• May 17, 1954
• ‘Separate But Equal’ has no place
• “decision not only legally ended segregation, it deprived segregationist practices of their moral legitimacy as well” – David Halberstam
Slide 3:
• Despite ruling, Board of Education still argued segregation was a fact of life
• Many Americans opposed Court decision and decided with Board
• Strong opposition led to white flight
• Trying to escape integration
Slide 4:
• Embodiment of American Dream
• Very populated
• Widespread car ownership and freeway system helped catalyze the move
• Increasingly large number of Americans employed…could afford new housing
Slide 5:
• African Americans still discriminated against for better paying jobs
• Could not afford housing in suburban neighborhoods
Slide 6:
• African Americans denied access to suburban dream
• Blacks not permitted to use or occupy Levittown homes
• William Levitt stood by his decision to only let Caucasians purchase his homes
Slide 7:
• By 1950s, cities in spiral of decline
• Many social problems that accompanied the rising tide of the poor
• Suburbs remained largely white while cities became increasingly nonwhite
Slide 8:
• School districts subject to integration lost approximately 50% of their white students within 10 years to the suburbs
• Division of blacks in cities and whites in suburbs led to severe educational differences
Slide 9:
• Severe educational differences
Slide 10:
• Despite billions of dollars spent, no significant improvements in academic achievement in African American schools have been made
• Suburban students take the bus or drive to school while inner-city kids must walk through crime-infested neighborhoods which puts their safety at risk
• Suspension rates for blacks is 5x higher than it is for whites
• On average, African American students are suspended at a younger age, for a longer time and more often than whites
• In integrated schools, little social interaction between races except in school-sponsored sports teams
Slide 11:
• Approximately ½ of all blacks in any given racially mixed school are enrolled in low achievement groups, compared to 1/5 for whites
• “Such racial disparity…isolates students, associates skin color with skill, and leads parents, teachers, and students alike to expect little...from blacks” - Brooks
Slide 12:
• Startling compared to suburban students who are considered up to standards for their grade-level throughout their school career
Slide 13:
• 2000 census…more blacks, Hispanics, and Asians are living in suburbs but are continuing to live apart from whites
• In past, minorities had to go to white neighborhoods to find good homes and schools
• Now they can find the same types of items in their own suburban neighborhoods
Slide 14:
• Federal Legislation- Fair Housing Act, Home Mortgage Disclosure Act, Fair Housing Amendments
• These have addressed the issue by outlawing prohibitive deeds and other forms of residential discrimination
Slide 15:
• 1998 poll revealed that both black and white parents believed that raising student achievement and academic standards was more important than integration
Slide 16:
• Designed to improve the preparation of preschoolers for public school
• Helpful to all low income families, black or white
Slide 17:
• Only way to achieve true equality according to black educators
• Leads population to believe that black teachers and administrators do not trust their colleagues of different races to treat minority students the same as white students
Slide 18:
• Society’s racial attitude needs to change
• If not, it will be extremely difficult to make any headway in desegregating America
Slide 19:
• America still struggling with racism and segregation
• Because of this continued segregation, America no longer provides equal opportunity and treatment to every citizen
Slide 20:
• Works cit
3. “Segregation is a fact of life in the states where these children attend school and segregated schools help prepare the children for the reality of what their adult lives will be like.” -Board of Education
6. New homeowners agreed to a clause that bound them “not to permit the premises to be used or occupied by any other person than members of the Caucasian race…”
12. “By the end of fourth grade, African American students are already two years behind grade level- by the time they reach twelfth grade they are four years behind.” –Educational Trust Study
18. “I think that one thing that we need to remember when we’re talking about racial integration or desegregation in schools is that schools are part of a larger society. And we live in an incredibly race-conscious, racist society.” –Susan Eaton (Harvard University)
20. Works CitedBickford, Eric. “White Flight: The Effect of Minority Presence on Post World War II Suburbanization.” eh.net. Web. 5 April 2011.Massey, Douglas S. and Nancy A. Denton. American Apartheid: Segregation and the Making of the Underclass. Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993. Print.Nasser, Haya El. “Minorities Make Choice to Live with their Own.” Usatoday.com. Usa Today. 9 July 2001. Web. 5 April 2011.Robinson, Susan. “Brown vs. Board of Education.” Gibbsmagazine.com. Gibbs Magazine. 25 April 2005. Web. 15 April 2011.Sabo, Kyle. “The Levittown Legacy: Segregation in Suburbia?” Hofstra.edu. Hofstra. Web. 5 April 2011.Sharp, Anne Wallace. Separate But Equal: The Desegregation of America’s Schools. Farmington Hills. Thomson Gale, 2007. Print.
