The Weird Consequences of School Integration

In 1954, the Supreme Court ended school segregation decreeing that schools in the segregated South were separate, but they were not equal because they were not funded the same and were generally worse. What followed was a difficult period as parents of black children began to send their kids to better schools. Some all-black schools were closed, and because white parents refused to have their children taught by black teachers, many black teachers were suddenly and permanently unemployed. Black students not only had to fight overt racism, but they also had to fight the perception that they weren’t up to scratch. In some cases, a few parents thought that integration was a bad idea. In this video, we learn more about the fallout from the integration of schools and Brown vs. Topeka Board of Education.