Whites Fighting Brown vs. Board Of Education

Racism in the United States dates back to the slavery periods and has since formed the part of the American society over the years. The primary racist belief is that there is a big difference between the whites and the black with the latter having an innate superiority over the former. As such, the history of the American society has always been viewed through the lenses of segregation where the two races were not allowed to use the same facilities as advocated in the Jim Crow rules. The ‘’separate but equal’’ clause created after the Plessy v. Fergusson decision underscored the assertions that whites and blacks were meant to exist as two separate entities. Therefore, this principles of segregation existed in the education system for a long time until in 1954 when the Supreme Court reversed the ‘’separate but equal’’ clause in the Brown v. Board of Education decisions. The Brown v. Board of Education was a movement in 1952-1954 in which African Americans wanted equality in public schools and end segregation. However, the white society fought tooth and nail to make sure that that did not happen. The white supremacy groups wanted to stand by the Jim Crow laws to keep order in the society. Therefore it is critical to assess the issue of segregation of schools, the reasons why the southern whites wanted to stop integration in the public schools, and the strategies they used to ensure that this did not happen. 

The Brown V. Board Of Education and White Supremacy Hurdles

The fight to end inequalities and segregation in education dates back to 1896 in the Plessy vs. Ferguson case which the Supreme Court ruled that separation of schools between the white and the minorities was constitutional so long as they provided similar education to those given in the majority schools. 1 Therefore, this ruling promoted segregation in American schools until 1954 when a landmark decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision asserting that there was no way the American schools could be regarded equal and at the same time segregated. Various civil rights movements such as National Association for the Advancement of Colored people (NAACP) put weight behind the case through other similar petitions that were consolidation into the Brown v. Board of Education. The court also stamped its claims by finding that the minority students learned better in racially mixed schools. However, almost a decade after the Brown v. Board of Education, there was a huge element and contempt to the provisions of the ruling. Only a small proportion of black children were allowed to attend the schools containing a majority white. Governors would stand at school gates, and angry white supremacists would terrorize the blacks. In some areas, integration was only depicted after a powerful intervention by the federal troops.

It is evident that the whites were against the process of desegregation. An example that showed how the supremacists were determined to stall this process is when county officials in Virginia decided to close public schools as a way of evading the integration process. Children were provided with tuition to attend private schools, but this was not possible because such schools only accepted the admission of the white children. Before the Brown v. Board of Education, the schools in the United States followed the capitalist system which believed in white supremacy and the restraints on social equality and justice. The Brown v. Board of Education consisted of five different cases, but the commonality came from the fact that they all wanted an end to state-sponsored segregation experienced in the public schools. 2 One of the areas raised in the cases was that the separate school systems for the majority whites and minority blacks was unequal and therefore negated the ‘’equal protection clause’’ provided for in the Fourteenth Amendment. Using sociological proof, the plaintiff also argued that the systems of segregating schools made the black students feel inferior to their white counterparts and as such, the system should not be allowed to continue.

Whereas the judges made a historic ruling that the principle of ''separate but equal'' was wrong because the two schools were inherently unequal, they knew that it would result in a backlash from several quarters. Therefore, the Supreme Court failed to give an immediate indication of the implementation of its judgment. It, however, asked the attorney generals of the respective states to submit their plans on the desegregation process. At that time, one of the positive achievements of the Brown's decision was that it legally overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson decision and signaled the end of legal segregation in the public schools. However, it is important to note that this landmark decision was not enough to stop racism in the public schools. The attempts to segregate the institution did not come without drama as, for instance, the governor of Tennessee Frank Clement sought the help of the National Guard after a mob consisting of whites attempted to block the process of desegregation in a high school. 3 The University of Alabama used a court order to admit the first black student. However, students rioted following this decision leading to the suspension of the student. The legislature in Virginia also called for a huge resistance to the process of integration and vowed to close any school which attempted to embrace the desegregation process. 

In 1957, the white supremacists employed several tactics with a view to scuttle the desegregation process and therefore prevent the implementation of the court decisions of the Brown v. Board of Kansas. Nine African American students that were integrating into a high school in Little Rock had to seek protection from the National Guard. However, in another case that featured Cooper v. Aaron, the Supreme Court ruled that the fear of violence or social unrest whether real or justified was not to be used as an excuse by the state governments in complying with the Brown decision. Another major hurdle in the implementation of the Brown decision came in 1959 when Prince Edward County resorted to closing the public schools instead of engaging in the desegregation process. As such, the white students went to the private schools which had an all-white attendance policy while the black students stayed at home until 1963 when the Ford Foundation funded private schools for the black. However, the county was ordered by the Supreme Court to open and subsequently desegregate the schools in 1964.

The activities of the white supremacists continued in various areas of the country in the spirited fight against the Brown's decision that would see the end to the legal segregation process. A similar case was witnessed in New Orleans in 1960 where federal marshals were forced to protect three students after an angry crowd intimidated them during their enrollment into school. A year later, the federal district court ordered the admission of two black students into the University of Georgia. However, a riot erupted in the campus environment leading to an immediate suspension of the students. The Brown decision further suffered a setback after the adoption of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 which authorized the federal government to file cases on desegregation. In realizing that the Brown decision had resulted in little impact in enhancing equality, the Supreme Court in 1968 advocated for a total overhaul of the segregated schools. 4 The court identified five key areas where equality needed to be observed including staff, facility, extracurricular, faculty, and lastly activities and transportation. 

It is imperative to appreciate the fact that many African Americans pushed for integration and equity through litigation in the courts. An example of a state where court rulings forced through the process of desegregation was Virginia. Among the white supremacists that were against the implementation of the Brown’s decisions were state and local officials. They used mainly their political power and influence in frustrating the desegregation efforts thereby limiting the influence of the entire process. One critical area of the decision in which the white racists utilized in delaying the efforts of desegregation was on the fact that the Supreme Court failed to outline how soon the integration policy should have been completed. The Supreme Court used an ambiguous phrase ‘’with all deliberate speed’’ which was seen as a grey area subject to different interpretations from various quarters. Therefore, the fight to ensure that desegregation of schools was left on the domain of the African Americans and other civil rights groups. Among the fiercest critics and fighters of the Brown decision were the southern whites including the southern public officials. 

The period after the implementation of the Brown decision also saw the rise of the segregationist movements that fought the desegregation process to the core. Some of these groups included the ‘'Defenders of State Sovereignty and Individual Liberties based in Virginia that highly promoted the resistance. It was a grass root political body initiated in 1954, and its main goal was to prevent the desegregation in Virginia schools. 5 The group used various tactics all of which were aimed at frustrating the Brown decision. They influenced the state commission and were subsequently given the go-ahead to engage in massive resistance and also the temporary closure of public schools which succumbed to the pressure of integration. The group also engaged in massive protests as a way of rebutting to court orders seeking the desegregation process. The white supremacists also resorted to threat and intimidation especially to the schools that fully embraced the desegregation process. For instance, the whites wrote to Governor Faubus and the Little Rock School Board because they allowed complete integration with the black people as observed in the Brown decision. The whites believed that their children could not coexist with the black children in the same schools. They further rationalized that it was not possible for the two children to exercise similar rights. In their view, such a scenario would threaten the stability of the whites. Therefore, most of their tactics were concerned with the dehumanization of the black people. 

Another common tactic employed by the white supremacist was propaganda that sought to tarnish the image of the black and change public opinion against the process of desegregation. For instance, in 1959, a flyer was released in Arkansas that highlighted various issues on teenage pregnancies and an increase in venereal diseases. 6 The information on the flyer focused on the sexual activities between the blacks and the whites painting a picture of how the sexual activity was prevalent among black children aged 15b years and above. The move attempted to assert how the blacks were irresponsible hence influence the Arkansas parents. Therefore, the information on the flyer attempted to ask the parents if they wanted to have such public schools with teenage pregnancies and incidences of sexually transmitted infections. Such a move was employed to ensure that parents continuously fought the integration policy

Perceptions and Tools of Resistance by the White Supremacists

Religion

In asserting their position regarding the resistance to the desegregation process, the white supremacists fronted several perceptions, philosophies, and ways of thinking that explained how integration was not a possible reality just yet. One critical white rationale used in support of separation between the whites and the blacks was religion. The white, especially in the southern communities, provided biblical evidence as a foundation of information that preserved their hierarchical society. In their claim, God intended that the segregation was God's plan and therefore desegregation was a move that defied the tenets of Christianity. As God was held to the highest standard, integration was seen as open defiance to his principles of natural existence. Integration was a sin, and many whites questioned why pleasing the Negro would suddenly become more important than protecting the interests of the white child. For instance, in 1958, Little Rock received a letter from a minister warning the administration of the sin they committed when they gave the integration process a go ahead. In the letter, the minister quotes that there was a reason why God separated the two races. As such, the whites tilted the interpretation of the Bible to ensure that the Brown decision was frustrated to the core.

Fear

There also existed a group that was referred to as the Southern moderates. They preferred to remain nonviolent to protect the economy of the south. They articulated for strategic constitutionalism that evaded defiance but turned their attention to promoting equality through influencing the economy. Therefore, instead of using violence, they frustrated the Brown decision by enhancing economic discrimination. Segregationists, on the other hand, advocated for a defiant attitude characterized by violent acts. 7 The decisions made in the Brown v. Board of Education particularly angered the Southern politicians who questioned the constitutionality of the decision made by the Supreme Court. Therefore in this scenario, race and fear was the tool employed by these politicians. In describing the decision, the politicians asserted that the Brown decision would set precedence for one of the monstrous crimes in the history of America. Many Southerners who showed resent against the Brown decision saw it as a move that would disrupt their conventional way of life. They wanted to preserve their untainted white culture. The Whites failed to envision the prospect of integrating the societies because they felt that it would give the African Americans a sense of comfort and equality. It would also blur the clear line that separated the blacks and the whites. The segregationists further thought that it was inappropriate to give the black children the civil rights enjoyed by the white children as this would lead to future atrocities. 

Jim Crow Laws

The Jim Crow laws advocated for the separation of whites from the people of color including the African Americans. The principle of segregation was extended in several areas including the theatres, parks, cemeteries, and restaurants in a move that was seen to prevent the contact between black and whites and remove the notion of equality. 8 The Jim Crow rules existed both at the state and local levels and mandated that segregation should exist in social places including the public schools. The Jim Crow was premised on white supremacy which advocated for the establishment of different rules between the whites and the blacks. The whites have always lived in a perpetual fear that empowering the blacks would give them an equal opportunity and hence threaten their position as the supreme ones. The Jim Crow laws touched every part of life including education, social, and economic aspects. 9 One of the biggest successes of the Jim Crow laws was witnessed after the ruling of the Plessy v. Ferguson case where the court held that the facilities for blacks and whites would be separate but equal.

However, the whites knew very well that the separate but equal principle was only true on paper and it did not mean what it said. As such, the supremacists cherished in the clause because they knew that it allowed them to continue asserting their dominance over the blacks whose facilities and amenities were second best to theirs. The African Americans, through the Brown v. Board of education, therefore, attempted to disrupt the status quo by challenging the Plessy v. Ferguson and removing the Jim Crow philosophy altogether. In their court arguments, one of the points they sought to clarify was the principle of separate but equal did not apply in the country and as such, the only cure was integration through racially mixing of the students. Whereas the case succeeded in legally ending the separate but equal clause, the white supremacists continued to base their modus operandi through the Jim Crow laws. The laws did not account for the discrimination of the blacks but saw it as a social order that was meant to exist in a particular way.

White Selfishness

The white supremacists were also indoctrinated in a selfish tendency that is meant to view the blacks as second rate citizens. The selfishness was partly promoted by the separate but equal clause which was an unfair system that allowed the whites to enjoy the superior amenities and blacks to remain with their second-rate facilities. As such, it was always true that the whites would emerge better all round personalities after completing their education as opposed to their black counterparts. Before the Brown decision, segregation was a legal process. The white supremacists grew to positions of influence through a culture of exerting white dominance over the people of color. 10 It is therefore imperative to note that the Brown decision that led to the illegal pronunciation of segregation was setting a new paradigm shift to the whites who were now required to share their facilities with the blacks. 

The whites were not ready to give up their privileges especially to people they regarded not equal to them. The Supreme Court, however, did an excellent job in revealing that the schools were not inherently similar and as such, the education system was innately unfair from the very beginning. However, the desegregation process proved to be a slow and frustrating process for the involved persons because of the narrow-minded supremacists who were not ready to relinquish their long-held tools of supremacy. From the facet of the African Americans and the few whites who accepted the change, this was a worthwhile change whose time had come and therefore needed embracing.

In conclusion, the nature of the education system in America traces its roots back to the Jim Crow laws that advocated for segregation in all spheres of life between the blacks and whites. The Brown decision of 1954 sought to revolutionize change in the education by bringing in equality. It, therefore, had a challenge of overturning the Plessy v. Ferguson ruling that legally recognized the segregation. The case was also like opening a Pandora’s Box as it gave birth to many civil rights movements that believed that equality was on the verge of being achieved such as the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Freedom Summer among others. However, despite the fact that the Brown decision asserted the unconstitutionality of the separate but equal clause, the process of desegregation was never going to be easy because of the white supremacists. They included the political class, civilians, and groups who did everything including protests, violence, threats, and spreading propaganda among others to ensure that integrating schools was impossible. Some of the drivers of the supremacists included a fear that giving the blacks an equal opportunity would jeopardize their superior position and a deep belief in the Jim Crow rules of old that divided the society into two worlds consisting of the whites and blacks. Racism continues to be a problem today as blacks continue to be regarded as second-rate citizens thanks to the supremacist views. However, it is imperative to appreciate that the Brown v. Board of Education remains a major landmark in improving the education of the African Americans.

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