Daniel Guiller

Professor Woo

Going Public: History of American Public Education

Is separate but equal a viable option in education today? 

Is this a course we should pursue as a society? 

While reading part three of school the topic of separate and unequal kept popping up. The 1950s through 1970s was a turbulent time for public education. Schools were kept segregated, while the quality of public education was wildly disproportionate. Inevitably a struggle would begin brewing as people would begin to grow further dissatisfied with the polarity in the quality of education. It was illegal for ethnic minorities to attend so-called white schools making it more dangerous for one group of people over another. For many Americans, participation in the public system was essential to be a true American. All of this is the pipeline toward the American dream, an idealistic idea that has been held up for generations as the lifeline for all citizens of this nation. In order to help create a better, more sustainable future emphasis and expectation were placed on the shoulders of children. But unlike previous generations, this emphasis wasn’t solely focused on one race over another. Instead what would ensue would be a generation of children that for the first time would be counter to the norm of segregation. This would not be achievable without controversy or public outcry. As the people of the time were never used to this form of thinking and it was all too uncomforting for some. The bigoted normality that would blur into American tradition has seeped into the cultural zeitgeist of the country. In order to cleanse it of it, it would begin a long, and arduous process that even to this day is occasionally challenged. Minority children knew they were being cheated out of their lives, their prosperity, and the prosperity of their future children. The protections that were supposed to be ingrained into the law had not begun to apply to them. The system itself needed a massive correction. African Americans, Latino Americans, and Native Americans were particularly devastated by this injustice. These groups were frequently cast aside when they weren’t supposed to be and in many cases deemed social pariahs. This would naturally spawn an opposition movement to counter the efforts of those in the wrong that would not cede the territory of authority. Movements for struggle would begin from the areas of Topeka Kansas, Farmville Virginia, and Little Rock, Arkansas. All across the country, people from different races would begin to challenge the status quo. But even beyond that really they would begin to ultimately unify under a banner that would promote freedom as it was written in the constitution. All of this I think has made the most amount of progress in our society. Personally, I don’t align myself with the notion of Separate but equal because it undoes and ignores the progress made in the 20th century. As previously mentioned, for the longest time our society struggled to accept the idea of a unified people that would be forcefully separated by skin color. Eventually, the various movements championing freedom would win. To see all that undone would be devastating to various major civil rights figures and would essentially be the return to a status quo that was ultimately what a lot of detractors of these movements wanted. It would be playing into their hands and undermining the wishes of the majority. Our society has made great strides in the name of progress and maintaining this will be the next chapter of our lives.