The desegregation of American schools was a pivotal part of the civil rights movement, as no progress in the civil rights movement would have been made if America’s schools remained segregated. Desegregation is the process of ending Racial segregation, most commonly used in reference to the United States. See also Protests of 1968 Historically the civil rights movement was a concentrated period of time around the world of approximately twenty years (1960-1980 in
In 1954, the United States Supreme Court ruled, in the case of Brown v. Board of Education, that segregation in schools went against constitutional law. The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States and leads the federal judiciary. Brown v Board of Education of Topeka, 347 US 483 (1954 was a Landmark decision of the United States Supreme Court, which overturned earlier (Brown 1966, 103) Cities all across America began to desegregate. Baltimore, the largest city in the state of Maryland, desegregated immediately after the Supreme Court’s decision, and the events that followed the desegregation in Baltimore, were both interesting and important to the civil rights movement across America.
The state of Maryland is in a unique position on the east coast. Though Maryland is below the Mason Dixon line, Maryland is for the most part looked at as a northern state. The Mason–Dixon Line (or "Mason and Dixon's Line" is a Demarcation line between four U The African American population in Baltimore before 1954 was significant, and rose dramatically after the schools were desegregated. (Crain 1968, 72) This is not to say, however, that the desegregation of Baltimore schools went smoothly. There were many problems encountered along the way to a free and equal school system and society in Baltimore, Maryland.
Because of the rapid growth of the African American community in Baltimore, the schools became over crowded. Due to the over crowding of the schools, Baltimore decided to district the schools. (Crain 1968, 74) This means that if someone did not live in the district of a certain school, they could not attend that school. This was a way for the school system to remain segregated. Negroid and Caucasians still lived in different areas of Baltimore, therefore, Negroid and Caucasian children went to different schools. Obviously desegregation had not taken full effect.
The Maryland State Department of Education put out a book on the progress of desegregation in 1961, titled; A Decade of Progress in Education in Maryland, 1949-1959. The book has an over all feeling that all is fixed, and that nothing more needs to be done to further the cause of desegregation. This was obviously inaccurate, and displays the hardships that the civil rights movement encountered.
The Baltimore school system was accused of intentionally segregating schools through districting. (Crain 1968, 74) Many civil rights leaders protested this, and asked for reform in the system. The reform was slow, and is still being sought after today.
By 1968, the tensions between the African American and Caucasian citizens in Baltimore were high, and came to a head when Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated in April of 1968. Martin Luther King Jr ( January 15, 1929 April 4, 1968) was an American clergyman, Activist and prominent leader Riots broke out in Baltimore during the weekend of Palm Sunday. The Baltimore Riot of 1968 began two days after the murder of Dr African American citizens were frustrated and angry. The 1968 riots were not exclusive to Baltimore. Many American cities had riots after Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was assassinated. Though the riots were tragic, America’s backwards and unenlightened racial beliefs led to the riots. The riots were a necessary and key event in the civil rights movement.
The civil rights movement in Baltimore was very important to the civil rights movement across the United States. Much has changed in Baltimore since the 1960’s; however, Baltimore is still facing some of the same problems in its inner city school systems that Baltimore faced in the fifties and sixties. Most of the population in Baltimore city schools is still African American. These schools are over overcrowded, and under funded. Much still needs to be done to improve the quality and equality of the Baltimore city school system.
References
- Berman, Daniel M. It Is So Ordered: The Supreme Court Rules on School Segregation. New York: W. W. Norton & Company, 1966.
- Crain, Robert L. The Politics of School Desegregation. Chicago: Aldine Publishing Company, 1968.
- Maryland State Department of Education, ed. A Decade of Progress in Education in Maryland: 1949-1959. Baltimore: Maryland State Department of Education, 1961.
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