• The Slow End of School Segregation
    In the mid- 20th Century, segregation was a common sight in southern schools. Blacks and whites were not allowed to go to school together and the black children were forced to go to field school houses that were of poor quality and the children did not receive a good education. The severity of segregation in York County Schools in the mid-20th Century was extremely unconstitutional.

    The law used to say that separate schools must be separate but equal. In many schools however, this was not the case. These school districts built separate schools for black children that were of lesser quality than white schools. Emmett Scott High School had to use the old typewriters that were donated from Rock Hill High School because of the inequalities (Boone). After the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, the Supreme Court declared separated schools “inherently unequal.” This means that the black schools must be of the same quality of white schools. Not only did it do this, but it stated that schools could no longer be segregated. In many places people resisted this ruling; in fact, in one area an interpretation stated that the Supreme Court only meant to outlaw discrimination, not to require integration (Clotfelter 23).

    The Brown v. Board of Education case was brought before the Supreme Court on May 17, 1954 (Morrison 19). It was brought before the Court by Reverend Oliver Brown of Topeka, Kansas (Davis 423). It was one of six cases brought before the Supreme Court against the board of education of six states (Cottrol, Diamond, and Ware 119). It was chosen because “Brown” comes first alphabetically to the other cases (Cottrol, Diamond, and Ware). The Supreme Court ruled that separate educational facilities are “inherently unequal” (Morrison 19). In 1955, a follow-up case was held that was called Brown II (Clotfelter 23).
    People would argue that segregation was not unconstitutional. This was true when the country was founded. The Declaration of Independence says that the country is built on all men being equal. Blacks however, were not considered equal. Instead, they were counted as three- fifths of a person (B.H.I.Q. C1).
    After the Civil War, Congress ratified three amendments over the next three to four years. These were the Thirteenth, Fourteenth, and Fifteenth Amendments (Davis 606-607). The Thirteenth Amendment gave freedom to the slaves. The Fourteenth gave slaves basic liberties. The Fifteenth gave the freedmen the right to vote (Davis 606-607). The Fourteenth Amendment sets the “ground rules” for racial equality.
    Clause Two of the Fourteenth Amendment states that “No state shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States” (qtd. Davis 606). This means that the rights that are given with U.S. citizenship cannot be shortened by the states. Clause Three continues this by saying “nor shall any States deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law” (qtd. Davis 606). This means that the states cannot take away any of the rights given to the people by the Constitution. Section Five of the Fourteenth Amendment states that the “Congress shall have the power to enforce by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article” (qtd. Davis 607).
    The South Carolina Public School System slowly reacted to the Brown v. Board of Education ruling. Between the years of 1954 and 1957 the Rock Hill School District opened five new black schools and closed dozens of old field school houses (Longshaw). Because of this some black children had to walk five miles or more to get to school (Davis 423). Also, the number of South Carolina school districts dropped from 1500 to 109 (Longshaw). Governor James F. Byrnes was not happy with the ruling and said the he would either maintain segregation or abandon the public school system. Also at this time, he began a massive building program that included higher standards of pay for teachers and other improvements (Longshaw).

    In 1956 Thomas Waring, the editor of the Charleston News and Courier, wrote five reasons that blacks were segregated in the school system. His first reason was health. He says that venereal diseases are more common among blacks than whites. The second reason is home environment. With this he states that the cultural background of southern blacks is “different from that of their neighbors” (Reasons for Segregation). He goes on to talk about how the master/ slave role is still “the rule rather than the exception” (Reasons for Segregation). Waring’s third reason is black marital habits. He remarks that, on average, one in five southern black children is illegitimate. Being an illegitimate child back then was looked down upon. An illegitimate child was usually shunned. The fourth reason he gives is crime. To support this, he says that crime is “more prevalent among Negroes than white people” (Reasons for Segregation). He continues that if the races were not kept separate “conservative, law abiding citizens are fearful that hatred and bloodshed would increase” (Reasons for Segregation). The fifth and final reason he gives is intellectual development. He says that some supporters of integration believe that the best way to fix intellectual differences would be to let the children “mingle” so that the black children could learn from the white children. Waring goes on to say that in order to fully understand his reasoning, one must live in the South (Reasons for Segregation).
    About four months after the Brown v. Board of Education case in the spring on 1954, St. Anne Catholic School in Rock Hill began to integrate students (Harrison). When people heard that St. Anne was integrated when school started in the fall of 1954, twelve white students were pulled out of school (Boone). Many blacks did not want to be integrated either (Boone).
    One group in particular that protested segregation was the Friendship Nine. This was a group of men from Friendship Junior College who held a sit-in at McCrory’s lunch counter in Rock Hill. These men were arrested and are famous for “Jail, no Bail” meaning they were going to serve their 30-day sentence and did not want to be bailed out. These men were part of the massive movement towards the end of civil rights (Boone).
    In 1957, the Ku Klux Klan burned a cross in front of the school. The fire did not harm the school; it only burned the grass around it (Boone). Brother David Boone, one of the men that helped to transport black students to and from the school, helped to clean up the remnants of the cross and the scorched grass before the children arrived there the next day. After this incident and other threats to burn down the school, they were forced to purchase fire insurance (Boone).
    Rock Hill public schools such as Rock Hill High School kept the races separate until the three- year plan that took place from 1969 to 1971 (Longshaw). This was about twenty years after the Supreme Court ruling and the school system would not have integrated if it were not for three reasons. Those reasons are pressure from President John F. Kennedy’s administration, fear of violence similar to that in Mississippi, and growing pressure from business leaders that segregation was affecting the state’s prosperity (Longshaw). Black children believed that they had received a good education before they went to a new integrated school and saw that their previous education was inferior to that which they received at that new school (Harrison). Schools also began to integrate teachers in the late 1960’s. In 1968 Juanita Toatley was one of the first black teachers to be transferred to the all-white Central School in Rock Hill. Unlike many black teachers, Toatley was accepted by students, parents, and faculty. Most black teachers were not liked by most white adults (Harrison). Mr. Sibley in the book Burning Up was not accepted by the people of his town and was driven out of town by the people (Cooney).
    The resentment towards blacks was very harsh in some places, but in areas such as Winthrop University, there was little racism or segregation. However, at Winthrop there was minor racial segregation. Although the school itself was integrated in 1974, the students preferred to stay separate (Self). The first black student to graduate, Cynthia Roddey, was ignored by the white students at Winthrop and instead or getting to know the other students there, made friends with the faculty and staff (Self). The dorms and showers were segregated. Because of this, Roddey did not have much interaction with the other women at Winthrop. In 1970, the showers were integrated. This had little effect however. Whenever a black woman would enter the shower area, the white women would leave (Self). This was as bad as segregation was until the school became co-ed in 1974. In 1974, when the men began to attend, segregation became worse (Dogan). Dogan’s article does not give an explanation as to how it became worse, but one possibility is men were more outspoken than women regarding the races. The men made the unity established between blacks and whites disappear (Dogan).
    In summary, segregation was perhaps one of the biggest problems in the school system. The children that attended black schools did not receive as good of an education as white children. After the Brown v. Board of Education case, the Supreme Court deemed separate education facilities “inherently unequal” and said that the schools must integrate their students. In many places this ruling was ignored, such as in South Carolina. In South Carolina, the public schools were not integrated until the state’s three-year plan from 1969 to 1971. When the schools finally were integrated, many white southerners were not happy. The Ku Klux Klan was a group of white extremists who hated blacks. St. Anne was the first school in South Carolina to integrate its students. The white population in Rock Hill was very unhappy and soon the Ku Klux Klan began to target the school and the people who helped the black students to the school. The rest of Rock Hill and the rest of the state followed suit about twenty years after St. Anne.
    Segregation in the schools system was very unconstitutional. The thousands of children who were forced to go to schools that were of poor quality received a terrible education. The integrated schools proved to blacks that equality was possible. Although it took nearly twenty years for South Carolina to integrate its schools after the Brown v. Board of Education case in 1954, the wait was worth it. Children now have the opportunity to go to school together and to learn about each others’ cultures. The equality gained through school integration resulted in the fulfillment of the words this country is built on, “all men are created equal.”



    Works Cited

    Boone, Brother David. Personal Interview. Feb 29 2012.
    Clotfelter, Charles T., After Brown: The Rise and Retreat of School Desegregation. Princeton, New Jersey:
    Princeton University Press, 2004
    Cooney, Caroline B., Burning Up. New York: Delacorte Press, 1999.
    Cottrol, Robert J., Raymond T. Diamond, and Leland B. Ware. Brown v. Board Of Education: Caste,
    Culture, and the Constitution. Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 2003.
    Davis, Kenneth C., Don’t Know Much about History. New York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2003.
    Dogan, Reginald T. “Blacks Recall a ‘Different’ Winthrop.” The Herald 16 Feb. 1996.
    Harrison, Cal. “From Segregation to Integration: A local perspective on Race relations.”
    The Herald 25 Aug. 1996
    Longshaw, Judy H., “Desegregation Boosts Area Education.” The Herald 6 Feb. 1994.
    Morrison, Tony. Remember: The Journey to School Integration. New York: Houghton Mifflin, 2004.
    “Reasons for Segregation Listed By S.C. Editor.” Charlotte Observer. 3 Jan. 1956.
    Self, Jamie. “Breaking Race Barriers at Winthrop.” 16 Feb. 2011.
    “What is your B.H.I.Q.?” The Herald. 3 Feb., 2008.