Virginia Teacher Not Sure Racial Integration Was Better
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ม.ค. 2024
- As many of you know who have been following my video posts, I recorded hundreds of interviews in 1989 for a television project. This gentleman from Farmville, Virginia is speaking specifically about the experiences that he encountered there around the time of Brown versus Board of Education, integrating school systems. Prince Edward County - his County - chose to close the public schools for five years rather than integrate them as the court had ordered.
He was a schoolteacher and proud of it. He was shocked by the white Virginia response. It made him not certain that he was in favor of integration as it was being articulated and experienced by him in Virginia at that time. I appreciated his honesty and his clarity. He was not a civil rights activist. But he thoroughly believed in the power and value of a good education to elevate people and give them opportunities.
Prince Edward County, Virginia played a pivotal and controversial role in the history of school desegregation in the United States, particularly following the landmark 1954 Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education, which declared racial segregation in public schools unconstitutional.
Following the Brown decision Prince Edward County, like many Southern localities, was resistant to desegregating its schools. This resistance was part of a broader movement known as "Massive Resistance" in Virginia, a strategy adopted by white political leaders to oppose desegregation.
In 1959, in an extreme move to avoid desegregation, Prince Edward County chose to close its entire public school system rather than comply with the mandate to integrate. This closure significantly impacted the education of the county's children, particularly African American students.
During this time, private schools, known as "segregation academies," were established for white children. These schools were supported by tuition grants from the state and private contributions, enabling white students to continue their education. African American children had few alternatives. Some were sent to live with relatives, some attended makeshift schools organized by the black community and many simply missed years of formal education.
The actions of Prince Edward County were met with a mixture of support and condemnation across Virginia and the rest of the country. Supporters of segregation praised the county for its stand against what they saw as federal overreach, viewing it as a defense of states' rights and the Southern way of life.
However many others in Virginia and across the nation were appalled by the extreme measures taken. The closure of public schools and the creation of private segregation academies were seen as blatant attempts to circumvent the law and deny basic educational opportunities to African American students. Civil rights organizations, including the NAACP, actively fought against these actions through legal challenges and advocacy.
The situation in Prince Edward County became a national scandal and a symbol of resistance to desegregation. It was a stark example of the lengths to which some communities went to maintain racial segregation and it highlighted the deep divisions and resistance to civil rights reforms in the United States during this period. It also underscored the crucial role of the federal judiciary in enforcing civil rights laws and the challenges involved in implementing those laws at the local level.
The phrase "separate but equal" was a legal doctrine in United States constitutional law that justified and permitted racial segregation as not being in violation of the Fourteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution, which guaranteed equal protection under the law to all citizens.
Under the "separate but equal" doctrine, racial segregation in public schools (and other public facilities) was legal as long as the facilities provided to each race were purported to be of equal quality. In reality, however, the facilities and resources provided to African-American students were often vastly inferior to those provided to white students. This included disparities in school buildings, textbooks, funding, teacher salaries, and educational opportunities.
The struggle to desegregate schools became a central issue of the Civil Rights Movement in the 1950s and 1960s. Activists and civil rights organizations fought to enforce the Brown decision and challenge ongoing segregation and inequality in education.
The legacy of the "separate but equal" doctrine and the fight for school integration had profound impacts on American society. It highlighted deep-seated racial divisions and inequalities and set the stage for further civil rights battles in various sectors of society.
If you found this of interest, please support my efforts to present more clips like this one by clicking the super thanks button below the video screen or by PayPal the username www.paypal.com/me/davidhoffmanfilms.
Thank you.
David Hoffman Filmmaker
They Loved Their Segregated School - th-cam.com/video/rFqCIEaB9S8/w-d-xo.html
It was a similar story with the First Nations here in Canada. Men from my band went to war in the 40’s, and when they came back they still weren’t allowed to leave reserves without permission from an Indian agent, they weren’t allowed to sell crops, they weren’t allowed to have businesses. Nothing had changed even though they served beside them. When the men came back they were disillusioned from the treatment, and our entire band was enfranchised under the decision of one man from our reserve, and the Indian agent. We lost our treaty, our reserve was dissolved and sold to white settlers or members that could afford it, and we lost our connection to each other. We’re the Michel band from Alberta. I feel for these men.
I hope they snapped out of it ❤ There are MANY opportunities for Natives nowadays as employers couldn’t care less on race. Most of this is generational victimization that hopefully would have been broken. It’s a mindset that gets shared over and over and intellect is the only thing that breaks that. 🫶🏼
@@BrooklynBaby-1 Yes, thank you, things are changing back. We were recently reinstated as a band, and many of us are getting our status back. There are many successful people from our nation. Lots of artists, musicians, leaders in our communities. Of course we have equal opportunities now, but that was the reality of the past, and it resulted in intergenerational trauma, not victimization. Only by understanding the past can we prevent history from repeating itself.
Hey Kenney of the Michel band! Not surprised to see you like David Hoffman since he has all that bluegrass stuff and the BB King. It’s sad to hear about the history of your people. I wish I could come up there and play banjo with ya.
Now this is what is happening to the youth no matter the color of their skin or their background. They can't afford businesses, homes, cars, or anything because everything has gotten too expensive for them.
@@clawhammerchris hey Chris! Yes, I love David’s Channel! Always thought provoking. Thanks mate, maybe we will one of these days!
Black soldiers came back to the same BS in the north
I was raised in Fla in the 60s. Moved to Ct for my high school years. First time I had EVER been exposed to outright and blatant racism. To the extent of frequent large group fights between white and black. After all these years I am still amazed at the blatant racism in the supposed accepting north compared to the horribly racist south.
David I've been watching your clips on and off for years now. You provide no-filler raw content that serves a valuable contribution to public interest and discourse. A true documentary auteur you are! Thank you for your work.
Another historical gem from 1989, Thanks
David! 😎✌
1968, Turnersville NJ, the school year had just begun. I was 7 and starting 2nd grade at Grenloch Terrace Elementary School. Our teacher was black. After a few weeks I announced to my friends and teacher that my family was moving to Florida. I remember this moment and it took me years to understand the question. My teacher knelt down, looking me straight in the eyes while holding my hands, "Anthony, why are your parents moving to Florida? " My answer was exactly as my parents had told me and my siblings; your father is going to college to make dentures. Fast forward a few years to 1971. My parents had purchased a home large enough for the family. We were a short walk to school, but things were tense, because school boundaries and FORCED BUSSING were being decided. The first day of school, 5th grade, I found many new friends. The family across the street was an old Florida family. Their opposition to the situation was extremely vulgar. Like so many they took their kids to "Christian" schools. I still maintain relationships with so many people that I met that year. I also learned about Sickle Cell Anemia. Norman Hicks I miss you.
A few years later, Doug Williams, Gambling Phenom was starting for the Tampa Bay Bucs. During a game, my dad and I watched as Williams kept getting pummeled by the other team. My dad was getting angry. He played on a traveling Army team, Semi Pro and practiced with the Eagles as a guard. In my most confident, 14 year old voice I remarked " Maybe there not ready to be led by a black quarterback". My dad, 280 pounds, quick as a flash, rises from his LazyBoy recliner, points his finger in my face and says "It's NOT SUPPOSED TO BE THAT WAY!" My heart was pounding loudly. I thought for sure I was going to be hit. This was another monumental day in my life. I have an answer to a question from 1968, but I don't see the connection.
If everyone remembers the series "ROOTS", they should recall the tremendous impact. My friends from 5th grade were now my 10th grade confidants. We discussed each episode. I wrote a speech, for Mrs Bolden's 10th grade English class. I used a word, today it's known as "N". Watching ROOTS, opened my eyes to how words can be used in such a derogatory fashion, as to limit, and control another person. Mrs Bolden still had my speech in her possession at the 10 year reunion.
I would like to get together with my 5th grade friends and have you interview them, for their side of the story.
Love you hoffman. No homo. Youre my favourite film maker, youre real and down to earth and just so human. God has a special place for you
You are totally homoing him.
Some Black servicemen in WW2 never came back to America. They were treated as men in Europe during the 40’s. My grandfather came back from WW2 and was greeted with the state stonewalling his applications for G.I.Bills. And nearly 1.2M other Black WW2 soldiers also dealt with this. Denying Black soldiers wealth generating mechanisms to buy homes, cars, property, land, education. It also meant White men could compete against themselves, unabated, for generations.
The hope that repression would diminish after coming home from fighting for your country reminds me of post war Soviet society in general, and vets in particular. "for Stalin!" was the battlecry and look at the thanks reciprocated.
Malcolm X said the same thing, that blacks weren't asking for integration, they were asking for better schools.
Your videos never disappoint !! Such excellent content, I look forward to every one of them !!
This should be shown in high schools.... people have no idea how bad black and brown people were treated
Poor white schools were no different.
I was in Fla as a kid and saw before and after civil rights act. Horrible before
These videos are great David. I’m surprised the view count isn’t much higher
so am I. There doesn't seem to be anything I can do about it.
David Hoffman filmmaker
Another great history here, the blacks needed their education as much as whites in public schools. Thanks for sharing this.👍📸
WA I will pray for you. What they did was ridiculous.
It's easy to forget how recent this was. Don't, try to study history whenever possible.
Thanks for sharing.
Camille Paglia said many years ago that the entire idea of coeducation needs to be reevaluated. I thought that was crazy when she said it but I think she was right. It would benefit both sexes in the elementary levels 1-6. Boys learn about honor and self restraint and girls (who have more complex psychology at those ages) would have more time to coalesce intellect and ego.
Separate the sexes at a time when there is minimal biological effect differentiating thier cognitive development so that they can be introduced to eachother at a time when there is maximum biological effect on thoer cognitive development? Good plan.
That is why she is the darling of the conservatives these days with her masculinist tripe.
@@DahVoozel Women don't want equality. They want dominance. The word "Camille Paglia" made you blind.
I cant imagine someone coming back home from the service and not shaking there hand and saying thank you regardless of color.
David, what a legend.
Thank you for sharing.
Thanks David 👍👍
Hypocrisy Doesn't Feel Safe
David, I’m an avid fan of the amount of clips and experience you have. I was wondering if you had any individuals in or with a Quaker background throughout your years of filming that made an impact on you?
Sadly I have not. I have always been fond of the Quakers I have met.
David Hoffman filmmaker
Thank you David Hoffman, for this wonderful interview of a veteran and school teacher in Virginia, who felt the shock of the white community fighting integration. He speaks so powerfully and honestly of what it feels like to be abused as a second class citizen. Civil rights were starting in the early 60's when I was in high school. Integration was presented as just. It's hard for me to empathize with the sign "we don't want to go to school with Negroes". I feel absolute terror for the young black students walking into white schools surrounded by police and angry whites. I'd say the problem is too much force (courts and police) and too little focus on educating all the children equally.
HBCUs have a "white" student population.
I think one thing black people failed to understand is it was separate but equal because every school had what its community could provide. So a wealthy black neighborhood would have more than a poor white neighborhood.
Not all whites had new books and fancy facilities.
I went to an all white school in a poor town and we also got all the hand-me-down books as our “ new” books except our principal couldn’t call anyone and say we need new books. This was literally all we could get. I never had a new book in school. But because they were worn out we were taught the valuable lesson to appreciate and take care of them which we did. No one complained about our old books instead we found it interesting to read the long history of people who had had our books before us.
We also only had coal heating (in the 80’s). So only those who were lucky enough to sit next to the heater got warm.
We had no a/c and not even a fan for the hot days. All we could do was open windows but we didn’t know anything different so it was normal to us.
We were a k-12 school and our library was a single wide trailer so you can imagine for children k-12 there was a wide reading discrepancy but with only books on the outer 3 walls and the librarian section at the front of the trailer, we didn’t have many books, and of course the books we did have were the throw away books from wealthier schools in our county but no one complained.
The football uniforms were falling apart from so many years of repetitive uses.
What I am saying is poor white schools were in the same boat as poor black schools so it was equal.
Going back a generation, my father went to a little country 1 room school 1st-8th grade with 1 teacher, no school bus, no school lunch, very much like Little House on the Prairie while my mom went to a school very modern well equipped and with all the modern conveniences, both were all white schools in the same years. It all depended on what your community could provide.
From my experience, I can say you don’t need a new book and a fancy classroom to learn. I went on to college and was at the very top of all my classes.
I’m in my 20s. I agree with what you are saying. I would move to know your take on on this question. Do impoverished individuals point fingers at each other intentionally or by manipulation from those that enjoy their class status with minimal/fraction of the labor that the poor endure?
@@justanotherhuman1865who’s pointing fingers 😂
@@justanotherhuman1865 it depends on the individuals and the group of people they live among.
I don’t think poor people point fingers at each other very much though. And truthfully they don’t tend to point fingers at themselves either with one exception.
The exception would be children pointing fingers at parents for making choices that brought poverty on the family.
However, I would class the majority of poor people in one of 4 categories:
1) For those who point fingers, they are more likely to blame other groups of people or the government rather than themselves. This group can be very bitter, angry and envious. They are unlikely to see how they have contributed to their own poverty due to poor money management, bad lifestyle choices, or not making efforts to better their own circumstances.
2) Those that just sigh and resign themselves to being born that way so there’s nothing they can do about it. They don’t really blame anyone and they don’t really see a way out. This group can either be apathetic or just accepting of their situation but they aren’t going around pointing fingers.
3) And then there are others who are content in their poverty and don’t really desire to climb out of it. It’s all they know and all their community knows. They love their community so it’s not something they want to lose. I have seen a number of people offered good professional jobs outside their community but it would mean having to leave family, friends and their strongly knit community so they turned down the job and took a low waged, unskilled factory job instead. Some people might say that’s foolish but maybe because country is in my blood too, I understand their decision and think they made the right choice for themselves because they chose happiness over wealth. They chose family and friends over a job even though that also meant they chose being poor. It was a choice of poverty, but they are not going to go through life pointing fingers at themselves or others for that choice. In other words they aren’t going to blame others that better opportunities were not in their town. Nor are they going to blame themselves for not following after better opportunities. They just get on with life as they always have, and their parents, grandparents and great grandparents did.
4) this group is similar to group 3 except they are not content in their poverty because they have no work to give them a sense of productivity and pride. I would say the coalminers in Appalachia would be a good representation of this group. The government really did take away their jobs without replacing those jobs with other jobs leaving the people with absolutely nothing, yet the people love their land and communities and don’t want to uproot themselves and leave, yet there is no work for them where they are. These people don’t turn bitter and angry like group 1, but they have dealt with their situation in a very bad way with drugs. So instead of casting blame, demanding the government fix the crisis that it caused, they just self implode.
@stst77 It was not equal, that is one particular case but there a re cases of public facilities - buses, trains, and other public spaces where the state was to provide equal services to all citizens. Black people not being able to sit at a public lunch counter is not equal or having to ride at the back of the bus was not equal and there are so many cases of this. Yes poor whites had poor services but they were not blatantly denied services when those services could have been provided to all the citizens equally.
Did the local government ever shut down your schools to force students to work in fields all day?
Yeah there is a movie called hidden colors and it goes deep into this train of thought.....
Many black service men stayed in europe, because they were actually treated like human beings there.
The truth hurts.
🙏🏽
When we personally come to see all people as distinct individuals, we then realize that we are all of one race regardless of skin color or ethnicity. Sadly, these artificial labels of referring to people as "black" and "white" are given at birth, often fostering immediate divisions.
It seems to be by design, the two most stark colors being used to describe Nigerians, Africans, Jamaicans, Irish, Italian, Romanian, and everyone else who can be labeled. I hate the fake divide being used to sow discord. Manning Johnson wrote about the tactic which is worth reading for anyone who buys the oppressor vs oppressed dynamic that is being taught to future extremists right now.
@@californiavirus3566 Yes, a wondrous 'design' of variety among the human family as observed among the other creative works like the animals and plant life. It's not the colors in itself, that you nicely expressed as a 'fake divide,' but the social construct humans have attached to them to "sow discord." We enjoy a variety of foods, do we not?
You think the high crime rates in Africa are because people of the world have the idea of "black skin" or "white skin" in their lexicon? There are very clear differences between people. Let's consider if people voluntarily choose to identify with their skin color.. would you try to forbid that? Will you scream at them "Stop identifying as black! You are just like us (white)!"
Do you see how crazy that is?
If you see people as distinct individuals, you must then give them the right to voluntarily self-identify with any group they choose.. or should that forbidden also?
@@californiavirus3566 Boils my blood knowing so many people cling to these divides because they find it easier to pretend that "most of the crime is because of one group" than to acknowledge that race is fake and acknowledge the sabotage & decline of our social systems by the wealthy.
👍
Whats the education system like now in the USA with full integration has it improved black peoples chances in life or is it much the same ?
It's hard to know considering our education system is a hot mess, primarily because our government has decided not to keep up it's investment in our future. It's more cost-effective for the wealthy to keep the rest of us stupid and willing to work cheap. Countries that invest in education are doing FAR better than the US. And they have no problem integrating either. Politics plays such a big part in funding education. Something else that doesn't help is our unwillingness to embrace the second most spoken language in our country. Sure there is ESL support if you call educating students far below their potential in a single class encompassing many grades support. It's not enough though. But it isn't there for our benefit anyway. They want to teach us all to be distracted consumers and wage slaves.
The education system in the USA is not even close to fully integrated, its still very segregated. Most schools in the US are either overwhelmingly white, overwhelmingly black or overwhelmingly Latino. That is because housing in the USA is still very segregated, zoning laws and rules that for the most part are designed to maintain single family homes, and limit or restrict mixed use or multi-family homes effectively keep housing segregated.
@@jefflewis4 the reason it’s segregated is people like to live among their own people where they share the same culture and values. This is why you will find moslims flocking together, Mormons flocking together, Jews making their own communities, China towns, Korean communities, Vietnamese communities, African don’t go to the black American communities but Africans break up into their individual African communities like a Somali community, Nigerian or Ethiopian community, you will find india Indian communities, Pakistani communities, so naturally you will also find American black and white communities. This is human nature. People naturally segregate. It’s not forced. It’s by choice.
@@stst77 No, the reason there is segregation in the USA is mostly due to housing policies. Most blacks and latinos don't live with each other because they choose to live with other blacks and latinos. They live with each other because their housing choices are restricted and limited. Low income people would love to live in better safer areas. But they cannot because the better safer areas have zoning restrictions that prevent low cost and low income housing from being developed in those areas. The people who live in those areas don't want the problems of the mixed use or inner city areas coming to where they live (that's why the moved there in the first place) so they created zoning laws to prevent mixed or multi-use housing which prices out low income and working class people from their areas. Which in effect segregates housing. Housing in the USA mostly is either clusters of mostly (or exclusively) single family homes, or clusters of mostly multi-family homes or apartments.
@@stst77duh but this idiot king ruined everything lol we never wanted to be around you people
Why can't they just choose?
13=52. Enough said.
It's more like 4=62
It's no wonder he wasn't comfortable with desegregation. He was rightfully afraid of how black students would be treated. They were guinea pigs. Their welfare came second to this experiment. I'm sure he would have rather had a safe school for black students with better equipment like for sports and music or you know ELECRICITY and he figured it would be a safer fight for that. It's not that he was against integration; he was afraid of the battle he predicted and wondered if it would be worth the fight.
Such is the Hubris of the Bourgeois White Liberals. At the end of the day they can go back to their homogenous gated communities.
Not forcibly, no.
Whether fighting agaisnt facists nazis or communist bloc nations. American blacks were treated with disrespect when they came back from from world War 2, Korean war to Vietnam. American black soldiers were fighting worst illiberal regimes abroad and faced illiberalism at home.
1979-1986 3 black kids ruined our elementary school. Wish I wasn't there. How much happier I was with my fathered white friends. All the black kids anger was from when we got picked up by our father's from school, hugged them... We got bullied
GFYS
@@davidmicalizio824 truth hurts. Sorry for your loss
From my experience, integration was good. I grew up in a diverse community. 40% white , 40% black, 20% other. We all grew up together not knowing about race, not having any racial issues, being aware of each others cultures, & just plain getting along. The racism I see comes from people who didnt get the opportunity to be in a diverse community.