Griffin Speaks

SCHOOL DESEGREGATION AND PREJUDICE IN MONTGOMERY, ALABAMA

In 1896, the Supreme Court of the United States held in Plessy v. Ferguson, that it was not wrong for a state to use discriminatory seating practices on public transportation and that each state may require segregation on public transportation. The Supreme Court eventually ruled that segregated schools were legal.

In 1954, the Supreme Court held that segregated schools were inherently unequal and therefore unconstitutional. It ordered the elimination of discrimination in all public schools.

In 1955, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education II that blacks need not be immediately admitted to public schools on a racially nondiscriminatory basis. It further ruled that school boards should eliminate segregation “with all deliberate speed.” In Montgomery, Alabama there was a major resistance to the desegregation of its public schools.

Segregation is the key tool used by racist to physically separate people by race. It came into existence immediately after slavery for the sole purpose of controlling blacks. The doctrine of White Supremacy was universally accepted especially in Montgomery, Alabama. Many White Montgomerians made sure that Blacks understood their place in society. One of the major ways this was accomplished was through segregation laws.

Presently, Blacks are protected by law from blatant racial discrimination. Every kind of segregation and discrimination has been declared by the Supreme Court of the United States to be unconstitutional. The deeper prejudices and underlying racism has been slower to erase. It is these prejudices that have kept true integration from becoming a reality in Montgomery. The Montgomery Academy was founded in 1959. In my opinion it was founded to provide affluent whites the opportunity to avoid sending their kids to an integrated Montgomery Public School. The hallmark and motto of the Academy since its founding is “Pursuit of Excellence”. According to statistics and school reputation the Academy is the best K-12 school in Montgomery for WHITE KIDS.

My extreme distaste for majority white private schools stems from the fact that they are the number one reason public education in America is in shambles. Affluent white parents who presumably understand more than lower economic parents the value of an excellent education pulled out of the public schools. I believe this exodus occurred because they did not want to risk their child being crippled by sitting in a classroom with poor black kids or poor white kids who’s parents are presumed to not place the same high value on an excellent education. Many Civil Rights Leaders believe it was simple racism.

If the white affluent parents had left their children in the public school system there would be a remarkable difference. These parents would have demanded that the schools be better. Property taxes would be at a level that would adequately fund public schools. Teachers would be held to higher standards. Teachers who refuse to teach and students who refuse to learn would be removed quickly. High expectations would be expected of every child.

I believe that every child should have an opportunity to receive an excellent public school education. While ultimately most children in Montgomery Public Schools receive an adequate education, it is a far cry from the type of education students receives at the Montgomery Academy. I must give the devil his due. Almost all of the students at the Montgomery Academy compete successfully on a national level. They are prepared for college through rigorous preparation.

A non-sectarian independent day school for grades K-12, Montgomery Academy has approximately, 889 students. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and is a member of the National Association of Independent Schools and the Association of Independent Schools.

I can not help but wonder if the doctor with the cure for cancer is living in one of the housing projects in Montgomery. Is he or she a student at Patterson Elementary or Davis Elementary? When we fail to develop the minds of all of our children great possibilities are left unrealized.

I can not help but wonder if a future great Governor or great American President is attending a public school in Montgomery, but will not realize this possibility because of his or her attendance in a poorly funded public school.

Presently, the Montgomery Academy has a few black students, but my prediction is that it will eventually weed them out. I believe that tuition will increase to the point that no black will be able to afford to send their kid to the Academy. The mission of total school segregation for the elite will be accomplished.

Our only hope is to demand that public schools be adequately funded or start our own. One-day affluent white people and affluent black people will realize that every fully developed human mind benefits us all. A fully developed mind of an underprivileged child could save your life or the life of someone you love.

Greg Griffin is a free lance writer. You can read his previous articles at www.greggriffin.com