Integration of Public Schools Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Integration of Public Schools - Essay Example This paper approves that social change, and such a drastic change at that, takes time and effort to come into place, and prove fruitful. To expect people to redesign their thinking patterns to incorporate new social laws and ideals overnight is close to a fantasy; indeed, with time, the African American population was eventually integrated into the white society, starting with the denouncement of slavery, and extending to the desegregation of the educational system. This paper analyzes the sudden movement of the African American population from the southern states into states like Wisconsin, who’s percentage of the African American population increased by six hundred percent in a span of twenty years, caused unforeseen circumstances for the white population, which often reacted violently against the integration protests. These movements were considered a matter of the southern states, and suddenly the northern states were exposed to them as well. This paper tells that the late 1900s and especially the decades of 1960s and 1970s witnessed a great upheaval in the social set up of the United States in the form of the great Civil Rights movement. Although this movement had been picking up pace since the late 1800s and the early 1900s, it wasn’t till the late twentieth century that the general public and the legal bodies of the states started considering it a poignant issue.... in the northern states at that time, as compared to the political uprisings in the south; indeed, the Civil Rights movements for the rights of the African American population commenced from the southern states, which witnessed repeated protests, movements, walks, and boycotts (â€Å"Desegregation†). The northern states provided a much more peaceful and politically tranquil environment for the African American families to settle. There was also the attraction of better educational opportunities for their children (â€Å"Desegregation†). Although the constitution had afforded ‘separate but equal’ (Riley) laws, this segregation posed a lot of hindrances in the advancement of education for the students, especially the African American students, who could only attend schools in their own neighborhoods that were secluded from the white majority areas (Riley). There was a need for integration of both communities, so that education, both in the classroom and in the playground, could be properly imparted (Riley). In light of several amendments in the constitution (â€Å"Desegregation†), the government was also beginning to view the segregation as an unconstitutional act (â€Å"New Orleans†). It was no surprise, then, that the Civil Rights movement would address the desegregation of public schools. On the other hand, there were the anti-desegregation groups, which were largely formed by the white supremacist members (â€Å"Desegregation†). It was no surprise that the white community would react against such rulings by the court. It was largely accepted as law to discriminate on the basis of color and ethnicity, as there was no constitutional ruling as yet to mark such actions as unlawful (â€Å"Desegregation†). Indeed, it was stated in the constitution of South Carolina: