School Segregation: When Brown came to Tylertown

[Tiassa]

It only took forty years. Or fifty-five, depending on how you count:

Forty years after a Mississippi school district was ordered to desegregate its schools, a federal judge has finally enforced the order.

A US District Court judge in southern Mississippi has ordered the Walthall County school board to stop segregating students by allowing white students to transfer to a predominantly-white school outside of their residence area and by "clustering" white students into separate classrooms in predominantly black schools.

"The district shall cease using race in the assignment of students to classrooms in a manner that results in the racial segregation of students," Judge Tom S. Lee said in his order, as quoted at the Christian Science Monitor. “The district shall randomly assign students to classrooms at the Tylertown Elementary Schools through the use of a student management software program.”

"More than 55 years after Brown v. Board of Education, it is unacceptable for school districts to act in a way that encourages or tolerates the resegregation of public schools," said Thomas E. Perez, head of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division, in a statement. "We will take action so that school districts subject to federal desegregation orders comply with their obligation to eliminate vestiges of separate black and white schools" ....

.... Walthall County was first issued a desegregation order in 1970, but the investigation into the school's practices was closed in 2001 due to a "lack of activity."

(Tencer)​

Apparently, the investigation into Walthall County's schools stalled in 2001, being closed for "lack of activity", but was reopened in 2007 and eventually alleged two main violations. The county did not dispute the allegations of clustering white students into certain classrooms and mass transfers of white students to predominantly white schools.

Judge Lee did allow for certain exceptions to the desegregation order, including hardship or emergency and problematic racial tensions between students. And if such an order seems a throwback to the days of Brown and the civil rights movement, it is worth noting that the school district was also instructed to "ensure that the physical condition of each school facility is adequate to satisfactorily accommodate the anticipated enrollment for respective school" and to staff each school sufficiently to "ensure the effective delivery of educational services to all students at the school for which they are residentially zoned".

The order does not demand midyear reassignment of students to different schools, but, rather, requires the district to take whatever measures necessary to accommodate the ruling and its effects prior to the beginning of the 2010-11 school year.

It's hard to figure what to say to Mississipppi at this point. "Welcome to the twenty-first century" seems appropriate, but so does, "Welcome to 1954".

It's 2010, and Brown finally comes to Tylertown, Mississippi.
____________________

Notes:

Tencer, Daniel. "Feds force Mississippi county to desegregate — after 40 years". Raw Story. April 14, 2010. RawStory.com. April 15, 2010. http://rawstory.com/rs/2010/0414/feds-force-county-desegregate-40-years/

Richey, Warren. "Mississippi school district ordered to end racial segregation". The Christian Science Monitor. April 13, 2010. CSMonitor.com. April 15, 2010. http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Justic...ol-district-ordered-to-end-racial-segregation

 

[madanthonywayne]

I've been thru something like this. I moved into a small Illinois town that was over ninety percent white and had one of the top school districts in the state. Well, it happened that the adjacent school district was mostly black and those schools pretty much sucked.

So there was a lawsuit and the school districts were merged. Suddenly, my son's school went from 98% white and upper middle class to 66% black low income.

We went from Leave it to Beaver to Boyz in the Hood.. There were fights, gang problems, drugs. It was as if we'd moved from the suburbs into the inner city.

Before long, almost all the white people had moved out of town. (We moved out of the state, as did many others since we were near a border and wanted to be sure of being beyond the reach of the court..) The Illinois school district, which formerly had been one of the best and very well funded, is now one of the worst and constantly cutting programs to make up for budget shortfalls.

But at least there's no longer a disparity between that school district and the one's around it. They're now all uniformly bad.

 

[Tiassa]

When equality means a step down

But at least there's no longer a disparity between that school district and the one's around it. They're now all uniformly bad.

Indeed. Better to leave the Negroes to their own filth, eh?

Or, to be a bit more useful about it, the disparity is one of the lasting effects of racism. If we leave one group to pull themselves up by their bootstraps while demanding that, during the interim, they operate in an inferior environment, it will take a lot longer for them to catch up.

The economic effects of racism remain long after people think they've overcome their prejudices. Even if we attempted a genuinely forceful equalization of society, and even if those who would lose their advantages in the process simply shut up and took it, the process would require at least a full generation, if not longer, to achieve its final goal.

For Americans, this is the harvest we have sown.

 

[madanthonywayne]

Indeed. Better to leave the Negroes to their own filth, eh?

Tell me, if your daughter were a student at my son's old school during this transition and she began suddenly getting stomach aches and other mysterious illnesses (anything to avoid going to a school that had suddenly become hostile to a bookish young white kid); fights were breaking out; gang symbols began appearing around the school, drug busts started occurring, and of course the quality of the education amid all this chaos fell precipitously: would you have kept her at the school assuming you had the means to move?

Or, to be a bit more useful about it, the disparity is one of the lasting effects of racism. If we leave one group to pull themselves up by their bootstraps while demanding that, during the interim, they operate in an inferior environment, it will take a lot longer for them to catch up.

The focus should be upon improving the schools rather than shifting the children around to different schools based upon race. I've always found it ironic that Brown v/s Board of Education was based upon a black child having to go to a far away black school rather than the neighborhood school (which happend to be a "white" school); yet to address this issue we began busing kids to far away schools rather than sending them to their neighborhood schools.

 

[Tiassa]

Is wealth the luxury to live in fear?

... would you have kept her at the school assuming you had the means to move?

I might send her to a private school if things got bad enough. Then again, where I live, it's not exactly hard to find a good private school; there are plenty in the area. Moving to another state? No. Another county? No. Across town? Maybe. But not for schools. I would, at the very least—

"Before long, almost all the white people had moved out of town .... The Illinois school district, which formerly had been one of the best and very well funded, is now one of the worst and constantly cutting programs to make up for budget shortfalls."​

—attempt to help my community before abandoning it. I mean, if I have the means to run away every time something happens that I don't like, does that suggest my higher quality of life should include living in constant fear of every challenge?

The focus should be upon improving the schools rather than shifting the children around to different schools based upon race. I've always found it ironic that Brown v/s Board of Education was based upon a black child having to go to a far away black school rather than the neighborhood school (which happend to be a "white" school); yet to address this issue we began busing kids to far away schools rather than sending them to their neighborhood schools.

I think your view of the case in Tylertown might suggest a couple of things about your sense of irony. The judge's order included stipulations that the schools be adequately staffed, and the facilities adequately maintained. Fifty-five years ago, that was an issue. It shouldn't be today. Of course, we're also talking about Mississippi, so ... yeah.

But your sense of irony is often superficial, and apathetic toward the details of history. Not that there is anything wrong with the occasional rush superficial irony, but it can be addictive, and is even more toxic to your being over the long run than dependence on more subtle forms.

 

[madanthonywayne]

I might send her to a private school if things got bad enough. Then again, where I live, it's not exactly hard to find a good private school; there are plenty in the area. Moving to another state? No. Another county? No. Across town? Maybe. But not for schools. I would, at the very least—
I
—attempt to help my community before abandoning it. I mean, if I have the means to run away every time something happens that I don't like, does that suggest my higher quality of life should include living in constant fear of every challenge?

What you don't know is that I gave you the reader's digest version. These events played over the course of a few years. We were very active at the school and in the town. We had friends on the school board. We were even involved in local politics.

We all fought to save the town. But what is a community but the people in it? As time went by fewer and fewer of our friends were left. Once all of our friends with political connections bailed, we knew the fight was lost. There was no community left to save.

I got the opportunity to take a job in another state making significantly more money than I had been and figured it was time to go. So we went.

 

[Tiassa]

Complexities of condensation

What you don't know is that I gave you the reader's digest version ....

.... I got the opportunity to take a job in another state making significantly more money than I had been and figured it was time to go. So we went.

Well, one of the problems with the condensed version is that it often creates contextual problems. Consider the above explanation, compared to your prior expression—

"Before long, almost all the white people had moved out of town. (We moved out of the state, as did many others since we were near a border and wanted to be sure of being beyond the reach of the court..) The Illinois school district, which formerly had been one of the best and very well funded, is now one of the worst and constantly cutting programs to make up for budget shortfalls."​

—and the question you asked me:

"Tell me, if your daughter were a student at my son's old school during this transition and she began suddenly getting stomach aches and other mysterious illnesses (anything to avoid going to a school that had suddenly become hostile to a bookish young white kid); fights were breaking out; gang symbols began appearing around the school, drug busts started occurring, and of course the quality of the education amid all this chaos fell precipitously: would you have kept her at the school assuming you had the means to move?"​

That's considerably different than relocating for a job. And that sort of problematic expression is one of the reasons it's so easy to rib you with bits like the line about Negroes. Okay, so we all believe you haven't a racist bone in your body. Fine. Then you must be a blast to drink with, because you just keep setting yourself up.

Besides, the kind of jobs I would end up relocating for would likely take me to a media center, like Los Angeles or New York. And I'd have to think twice, or even thrice, before moving my daughter to that sort of environment. So, yeah, it would have to be a hell of a lot of money.

Go ahead and leave all books, you won't need any in Hollywood.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .—Floater​

 

[madanthonywayne]

That's considerably different than relocating for a job.

Like most major life decisions, there were many factors that went into it. The problems facing the town were chief among them. The new job was taking my career in a completely different direction (from employee to self employed) and was a bit risky. Were it not for the crappy situation we found ourselves in, I'd probably never have left my old job and certainly wouldn't have moved to Fort Wayne.

We were already looking at houses over the border (in Indiana) before the job opportunity presented itself. The new job just helped decide where we were going.

Besides, the kind of jobs I would end up relocating for would likely take me to a media center, like Los Angeles or New York. And I'd have to think twice, or even thrice, before moving my daughter to that sort of environment. So, yeah, it would have to be a hell of a lot of money.

The funny thing is, in my profession, moving from a large city (Chicago) to a smaller city allowed me to increase my income significantly while also returning my kids to a nice suburban environment with excellent schools.

 

[pjdude1219]

Tell me, if your daughter were a student at my son's old school during this transition and she began suddenly getting stomach aches and other mysterious illnesses (anything to avoid going to a school that had suddenly become hostile to a bookish young white kid); fights were breaking out; gang symbols began appearing around the school, drug busts started occurring, and of course the quality of the education amid all this chaos fell precipitously: would you have kept her at the school assuming you had the means to move?
The focus should be upon improving the schools rather than shifting the children around to different schools based upon race. I've always found it ironic that Brown v/s Board of Education was based upon a black child having to go to a far away black school rather than the neighborhood school (which happend to be a "white" school); yet to address this issue we began busing kids to far away schools rather than sending them to their neighborhood schools.

people want to avoid making the schools good.