The Struggles of Desegregation

A Chronological Account of the Struggle of Desegregation and Equal Education in the South
Name:
Institution:
Introduction
The United States was founded and shaped of the ideology of equally that only existed in theory. The norm was very unpopular and impractical in many American societies especially in the south where racial discrimination was practiced in broad daylight. The theme of equal opportunities was adopted by civil rights movements in the latter half of 1990 and has since become a struggle because equal opportunity rallies did not necessarily establish equal results. The period between 1963 and 1990 was a very difficult moment to the education fraternity in the Southern States of United States of America. Professionals, civil rights activists, students and parents went through a very difficult time to ensure the future of the African American children (Brown, 2013).
The liberation and struggle movement for desegregation and equal education in southern states was inevitable and unstoppable. Every single resource that projected any slight possibility of changing the educational atmosphere in the south was not left out. The struggle for equal education and desegregation in America was spear head by two faction; the Mexican Americans and African Americans with the assistance of numerous Supreme Court rulings. The end of segregated education in America was the most important achievement of civil rights moments in the south. Before the reforms, the African American child and the white American child could not share a classroom. The discrimination and segregation of the African American child was so severe and radical that civil rights movements had to intervene. The changes and reforms that the civil rights movement seeked were to alter the socialization and attitudes of children at their tender age. They fought for the elimination of the inequalities inherent in the incumbent education system of that time. Provision of education facilities was a variable of a child’s skin color (Brown, 2013).
The African American struggle for desegregation and equal education
The African American desegregation didnot begin because some people believed that sitting next to a white in a classroom was magical. It was unfortunately based on a vague belief that the dominant class/group would control most schools. The only way they could exploit full range opportunities from the schools was to fully access them and segregate the African child.
The struggle for an inclusive and integrated school system evolved through numerous phases since the 1950’s. The 1954 decision shaped, re-energized and constrained the direction of the struggle. Specifically, the Brown and Brown II court ruling in 1955 sparked a lot of political policy and emotional battles in the public. The ruling called for immediate and speedy desegregation in schools. Upon the ruling, education in the south was reduced to what is famously renowned as “the south’s missives resistance” (Daugherity and Charles, 2008).
The waste cases of desegregation took place in Arkansas and Virginia. In Arkansas, the sitting governor (governor Orval Faubus) ordered the state’s National Guard unit to block nine African Americans from being admitted in Little Rocks Central High School .The one month long confrontation saw the intervention of President Eisenhower. Otherwise, it as a nearly bloody affair. In Virginia, the prince Edward county public school education system was abandoned. Education was left on the hands of the private system that strictly excluded African American children. For almost seven years, many African American children were locked out of school until the Supreme Court condemned Virginia action unacceptable and unconstitutional. The events in Virginia and Arkansas were some of the tactics that state authorities and locals used to resist implementation of Supreme Court rulings.
The dilatory and delay tactics, such as those that were practiced in Virginia and Arkansas were somehow partially successful in the first decade of desegregation. The first decade recorded 2.3% of African American children/students in integrated schools in the Deep South. Such tactics not only inflicted the African American community but also tried the government’s federal courts patience. The enactment of the Civil Rights Act (1964) was a reaction to such tacticts. The Act encouraged civil rights movements to spur actions. Fruits of the movement started sprouting in 1966 when the fifth circuit court, in the case; United States v. Jefferson country board, ordered the end of desegregation in all district schools. The ruling also ordered school heads to “undo the harm” perpetuated by the segregation through maintaining racially balanced enrollments as dictated by federal guidelines. United States v. Jefferson was followed by green v. County School board (New Kent County). The Supreme Court decision (1968) outlined that desegregation plans must promise to work toward the right direction (Daugherity and Charles, 2008).
With the massive court rulings condemning segregation, the strong commitment and goodwill of the federal government was very critical in the enactment, implementation and enforcement of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. The first five years of following the enactment saw the government going the extremes to threaten and at times cut funding to schools that continued practicing segregation. Government efforts were substantial directed towards desegregating schools than in the one decade following Brown v. Brown II. With the enormous government’s efforts and federal courts rulings, the future of the African American children was secured. The enrollment of Afro-American children in public schools in the south increased every year. By 1968, the numbers had risen to a hooping 32% from a mere 1.2% in 1964 (James, 1991).
The dawn of 1970 recorded the south as the most educationally integrated region in U.S.by 1976, 45.1% of the students in the south were African American compare to the northern’s 27.5 percent and 29.7% in the Midwest. These plausible gains were regarded as the greatest second controversy of school desegregation efforts. The controversy began in 1971 in a Supreme Court decision in Swann v. Charlotte –Mecklenburg board of education. The court ruling was the first attempt of implementing a major urban desegregation plan. Swann’s case summoned the district-wide desegregation machinery that allowed the application of busing to achieve high levels of integration. The court ordered for “busing” which was later fiercely attacked by many stakeholders. The administration of President Nixon fueled the attacks. Critics were discontented with busing because it undermined the sanctity of neighboring schools. They argued that it was a form of social engineering, unpractical, intrusive and that it was an inappropriate judicial meddling (Brown, 2013).
While the busing debate took the centre stage in the public domain, critics fundamentally disregarded the fact that very few students got bused for desegregation. They were surprised that busing was taking root in many district schools especially in those in the south worked, and that it was working countrywide both in big cities and suburbs. When it came to matters regarding desegregation and equal education rights, the administration of President Nixon failed to provide leadership. Some historians are of the opinion that president Nixon was the biggest disgrace to the African American community. One sad event in 1972 during presidential campaigns, President Nixon in fear of Governor George Wallace’s candidature in the presidential race, mounted an unwarranted attack on busing. In his address, he asked the congress to ban busing. Nixon...