Historical Note

At one time in America, the laws in many states kept black and white citizens separate in public places, including restaurants, movie theaters, buses, hotels, and pools. And, children of different races could not go to school together.

The laws, known as Jim Crow laws, gave school districts the legal right to keep schools racially segregated, as long as they provided an equal education to black and white students. Jim Crow laws upheld the belief that if schools were “separate but equal,” it was acceptable to keep black and white students apart.

But these separate schools weren’t the same. Black students were forced to work with inferior materials — shabby books, broken pencils, and facilities that needed fixing. In white public schools, students usually enjoyed new books, sports equipment, hot lunches, and extracurricular activities. Black teachers were underpaid and under-represented among state school officials, and they struggled to get proper learning tools for their students.

The unfairness of these circumstances made black children and their parents angry. To strike out against these unjust laws, a group of African American parents from Delaware, Kansas, South Carolina, Virginia, and Washington, D.C., worked with the NAACP (National Association for the Advancement of Colored People). They sued school boards that discriminated against black children. Their case was named after Oliver Brown, one of the parents who lived in Kansas. Oliver’s daughter, Linda, was prevented from attending her local all-white elementary school because she was African American.

On May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in favor of school integration in a case known as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka. As part of the court’s decision, it was determined that separate school facilities were not equal, and that the best way to ensure equality in education was to allow black children to enroll in any public school they wished to attend. This was not an easy fight. It took the hard work of many determined people to make school integration possible.

The Brown v. Board of Education ruling brought hope to students and teachers. At the same time, though, there were individuals who were strongly against school integration. Most schools did not integrate right away. Progress was slow. Many residents in Southern states resisted integration. In Southern towns, school officials upheld segregation practices, despite the law.

In September 1954, months after the Brown v. Board of Education decision, schools on military bases in Fort Myer and Fort Belvoir in Virginia, and Craig Air Force Base in Alabama integrated. Military base schools were required to comply immediately under federal law. Schools in Washington, D.C., also integrated.

In the state of Virginia, U.S. senator Harry F. Byrd, Sr., a segregationist, promoted a movement known as the “Southern Manifesto,” which opposed integrating schools. This program was supported by more than one hundred Southern government officials. On February 25, 1956, Senator Byrd launched an initiative called the “Massive Resistance” movement that led to legislation passed in 1958 intending to prevent school integration. Massive Resistance enacted a law that cut off state funds and closed public schools that agreed to integrate. During this time, Virginia closed nine schools in four counties rather than integrate them. Virginia state courts and federal courts ruled against the Massive Resistance tactics, citing them as illegal. Schools were forced to uphold the laws set forth under the Brown v. Board of Education ruling.

Still, less than 2 percent of Southern schools were integrated by 1957. That year, nine African American students, known as the “Little Rock Nine,” enrolled in Central High School, an all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. Their bravery captured the attention of Americans throughout the nation, as the violent events surrounding their attempts to enter Central High School were covered by national news media.

The same was true in 1960 when six-year-old Ruby Bridges was the first black child to attend William Frantz Elementary School, a white school in New Orleans, Louisiana.

Although these integration stories are the most well-known, many brave black children enrolled in all-white schools after integration laws were passed. Despite the taunts and abuses of segregationists, these children proceeded with strength and dignity.

School integration enraged and frightened many people, and stirred racial tensions. As a result, African American children and adults were often tormented by those who believed in segregation.

At the same time, other people stood up for what was right. They banded together and worked hard to make integration a reality.