An Honest Conversation about Race

[katsteve2012]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

First and foremost, if an "honest discussion about race" is to transpire, a few common sense ground rules should be established. Here are a couple of suggestions:

*No one should state that "the majority" of any race is prone to any type of belief or behavior. That is at best an arrogant and pompous misinformed approach, and from the start categorizes people which perpetuates stereotypes, as opposed to promoting dialogue.

*Address people as individuals , as opposed to prefacing statements with comments such as "YOUR race" _______(fill in the blank). Speaking for myself, I will not waste a minute talking to anyone who does this.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

First and foremost, if an "honest discussion about race" is to transpire, a few common sense ground rules should be established. Here are a couple of suggestions:

*No one should state that "the majority" of any race is prone to any type of belief or behavior. That is at best an arrogant and pompous misinformed approach, and from the start categorizes people which perpetuates stereotypes, as opposed to promoting dialogue.

*Address people as individuals , as opposed to prefacing statements with comments such as "YOUR race" _______(fill in the blank). Speaking for myself, I will not waste a minute talking to anyone who does this.

If any particular race has shown a history of a type of behavior or belief then it is certainly open for debate.

You can't have a completely honest discussion if the discussion is limited.

Stereotypes become that way because often times there is an element of truth to them.

When people think of rap music I'm certain they don't think of Asians.

If a stereotype doesn't fit you then you shouldn't be offended by it.

 

[poet]

maybe i just don't get bhm. Is it
a) because you all don't pay any attention to your own history any other time of the year?
B) it's a desperate attempt to get other colours' attention?
C) purely a black supremacist thing, like a white history month would be.
D) all of the above.

e)

there wasnt any black history being represented it was all white.

Cmon, that's a cop out. MLK, slavery, the underground railroad, Kunta Kinte and all the blacks musicians in American music. Sprinkle with a few Denzels and Halleys, maybe a Fresh Prince here and there. And MJ, who wanted to be white.
What the fuck else is there?

Proof that you're an idiot.

 

[katsteve2012]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

First and foremost, if an "honest discussion about race" is to transpire, a few common sense ground rules should be established. Here are a couple of suggestions:

*No one should state that "the majority" of any race is prone to any type of belief or behavior. That is at best an arrogant and pompous misinformed approach, and from the start categorizes people which perpetuates stereotypes, as opposed to promoting dialogue.

*Address people as individuals , as opposed to prefacing statements with comments such as "YOUR race" _______(fill in the blank). Speaking for myself, I will not waste a minute talking to anyone who does this.

If any particular race has shown a history of a type of behavior or belief then it is certainly open for debate.

If "some" within a "particular race" demonstrate a certain type of behavior, that is in no way representative of the "majority" of that race. An intelligent, objective individual would recognize that fact and form their opinions based on their personal experiences with individuals, and not apply their experiences to a "majority".


You can't have a completely honest discussion if the discussion is limited.

Stereotypes become that way because often times there is an element of truth to them.

When people think of rap music I'm certain they don't think of Asians.

If a stereotype doesn't fit you then you shouldn't be offended by it.

I have been to almost every state in this nation with the exception of 2, and have also been to several different countries on 3 continents, and I have never found any stereotypes to fit the "majority" of any specific ethnic group that I have encountered multiple times.

As far as "rap music" goes, I don't like it, do not allow it to be played in my home or cars and no one who is black within my circle does either.

In fact, I even know a number of caucasians who cannot stand country music and pickup trucks or NASCAR.

So when initially meeting them, I could have sounded quite ignorant by making a statement like "Isn't Toby Keith awesome"?

Kind like I have been asked if I have heard "Snoop Doggs" new album or asked about "soul food", which I do not eat either.

So I disagree. With some objectivity and life experience where one is paying attention, stereotypes can be avoided in an INTELLIGENT discussion pertaining to race relations.

 

[Ava]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

The majority of blacks who need an excuse to feel the way they do, will never stop biting the hand that quite literally "feeds them."

 

[poet]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

The majority of blacks who need an excuse to feel the way they do, will never stop biting the hand that quite literally "feeds them."

Oh, bitch, you have life and reality fucked up. Your hand doesn't feed anyone. If you'd let go your "white privilege", and realize that you are nothing special, then there could be dialogue. Why is it our perceptions are "far-fetched", while yours is a reflection of reality?
It's you that have a history of oppression and repression against minorities...we merely react to it, as anyone would. It's not us that is fucked up in this equation.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

First and foremost, if an "honest discussion about race" is to transpire, a few common sense ground rules should be established. Here are a couple of suggestions:

*No one should state that "the majority" of any race is prone to any type of belief or behavior. That is at best an arrogant and pompous misinformed approach, and from the start categorizes people which perpetuates stereotypes, as opposed to promoting dialogue.

*Address people as individuals , as opposed to prefacing statements with comments such as "YOUR race" _______(fill in the blank). Speaking for myself, I will not waste a minute talking to anyone who does this.

If any particular race has shown a history of a type of behavior or belief then it is certainly open for debate.

If "some" within a "particular race" demonstrate a certain type of behavior, that is in no way representative of the "majority" of that race. An intelligent, objective individual would recognize that fact and form their opinions based on their personal experiences with individuals, and not apply their experiences to a "majority".


You can't have a completely honest discussion if the discussion is limited.

Stereotypes become that way because often times there is an element of truth to them.

When people think of rap music I'm certain they don't think of Asians.

If a stereotype doesn't fit you then you shouldn't be offended by it.

I have been to almost every state in this nation with the exception of 2, and have also been to several different countries on 3 continents, and I have never found any stereotypes to fit the "majority" of any specific ethnic group that I have encountered multiple times.

As far as "rap music" goes, I don't like it, do not allow it to be played in my home or cars and no one who is black within my circle does either.

In fact, I even know a number of caucasians who cannot stand country music and pickup trucks or NASCAR.

So when initially meeting them, I could have sounded quite ignorant by making a statement like "Isn't Toby Keith awesome"?

Kind like I have been asked if I have heard "Snoop Doggs" new album or asked about "soul food", which I do not eat either.

So I disagree. With some objectivity and life experience where one is paying attention, stereotypes can be avoided in an INTELLIGENT discussion pertaining to race relations.

Stereotyping is not limited to those who are biased. We all use stereotypes all the time. They are a kind of mental shortcut.

Many stereotypes are empirical generalizations with a statistical basis and thus on average tend to be true. If they are not true, they wouldn’t be stereotypes. The only problem with stereotypes and empirical generalizations is that they are not always true for all individual cases. They are generalizations, not invariant laws. There are always individual exceptions to stereotypes and empirical generalizations. The danger lies in applying the empirical generalizations to individual cases, which may or may not be exceptions. But these individual exceptions do not invalidate the generalizations.

An observation, if true, becomes an empirical generalization until someone objects to it, and then it becomes a stereotype. For example, the statement “Men are taller than women” is an empirical generalization. It is in general true, but there are individual exceptions. There are many men who are shorter than the average woman, and there are many women who are taller than the average man, but these exceptions do not make the generalization untrue. Men on average are taller than women in every human society (and, by the way, there are evolutionary psychological explanations for this phenomenon, known as the sexual dimorphism in size, but that’s perhaps for a future post). Everybody knows this, but nobody calls it a stereotype because it is not unkind to anybody. Men in general like being taller than women, and women in general like being shorter than men.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

The majority of blacks who need an excuse to feel the way they do, will never stop biting the hand that quite literally "feeds them."

Oh, bitch, you have life and reality fucked up. Your hand doesn't feed anyone. If you'd let go your "white privilege", and realize that you are nothing special, then there could be dialogue. Why is it our perceptions are "far-fetched", while yours is a reflection of reality?
It's you that have a history of oppression and repression against minorities...we merely react to it, as anyone would. It's not us that is fucked up in this equation.

I wonder where the "angry black man" stereotype comes from?


If her statement offended you then you must be guilty or feel guilty.

 

[poet]

The majority of blacks who need an excuse to feel the way they do, will never stop biting the hand that quite literally "feeds them."

Oh, bitch, you have life and reality fucked up. Your hand doesn't feed anyone. If you'd let go your "white privilege", and realize that you are nothing special, then there could be dialogue. Why is it our perceptions are "far-fetched", while yours is a reflection of reality?
It's you that have a history of oppression and repression against minorities...we merely react to it, as anyone would. It's not us that is fucked up in this equation.

I wonder where the "angry black man" stereotype comes from?


If her statement offended you then you must be guilty or feel guilty.

Guilty??? You're one stupid bitch, also. Just countering "lies" that someone is feeding someone. If that isn't white privilege "on steroids", then I don't know. Angry black man stereotype, or a normal reaction to being painted with a broad brush, and offending in the process?

 

[Unkotare]

As far as "rap music" goes, I don't like it, do not allow it to be played in my home or cars and no one who is black within my circle does either. .

"Do not allow it"? What the hell is that? Do you not "allow" everything you personally don't like? That just sounds wierd.

 

[Lonestar_logic]

Oh, bitch, you have life and reality fucked up. Your hand doesn't feed anyone. If you'd let go your "white privilege", and realize that you are nothing special, then there could be dialogue. Why is it our perceptions are "far-fetched", while yours is a reflection of reality?
It's you that have a history of oppression and repression against minorities...we merely react to it, as anyone would. It's not us that is fucked up in this equation.

I wonder where the "angry black man" stereotype comes from?


If her statement offended you then you must be guilty or feel guilty.

Guilty??? You're one stupid bitch, also. Just countering "lies" that someone is feeding someone. If that isn't white privilege "on steroids", then I don't know. Angry black man stereotype, or a normal reaction to being painted with a broad brush, and offending in the process?

You're not countering anything. You're showing your true colors.

To counter a statement like hers would be to show evidence that indicates she's wrong.

Blacks represent roughly 15 percent of the population. Almost 40 percent of those are on welfare. So yes, taxpayers are in effect "feeding" them. Likewise the whites, Hispanics, Asians and everyone else on welfare.

 

[katsteve2012]

If any particular race has shown a history of a type of behavior or belief then it is certainly open for debate.

If "some" within a "particular race" demonstrate a certain type of behavior, that is in no way representative of the "majority" of that race. An intelligent, objective individual would recognize that fact and form their opinions based on their personal experiences with individuals, and not apply their experiences to a "majority".


You can't have a completely honest discussion if the discussion is limited.

Stereotypes become that way because often times there is an element of truth to them.

When people think of rap music I'm certain they don't think of Asians.

If a stereotype doesn't fit you then you shouldn't be offended by it.

I have been to almost every state in this nation with the exception of 2, and have also been to several different countries on 3 continents, and I have never found any stereotypes to fit the "majority" of any specific ethnic group that I have encountered multiple times.

As far as "rap music" goes, I don't like it, do not allow it to be played in my home or cars and no one who is black within my circle does either.

In fact, I even know a number of caucasians who cannot stand country music and pickup trucks or NASCAR.

So when initially meeting them, I could have sounded quite ignorant by making a statement like "Isn't Toby Keith awesome"?

Kind like I have been asked if I have heard "Snoop Doggs" new album or asked about "soul food", which I do not eat either.

So I disagree. With some objectivity and life experience where one is paying attention, stereotypes can be avoided in an INTELLIGENT discussion pertaining to race relations.

Stereotyping is not limited to those who are biased. We all use stereotypes all the time. They are a kind of mental shortcut.

That being said, in the arena of race relations "mental shortcuts" they are too often used by individuals who as opposed to engaging in the application of critical thinking skills and objectivity, will take the "shortcut" instead of judging individuals as individuals.

Many stereotypes are empirical generalizations with a statistical basis and thus on average tend to be true. If they are not true, they wouldn’t be stereotypes. The only problem with stereotypes and empirical generalizations is that they are not always true for all individual cases. They are generalizations, not invariant laws. There are always individual exceptions to stereotypes and empirical generalizations. The danger lies in applying the empirical generalizations to individual cases, which may or may not be exceptions. But these individual exceptions do not invalidate the generalizations.

An observation, if true, becomes an empirical generalization until someone objects to it, and then it becomes a stereotype. For example, the statement “Men are taller than women” is an empirical generalization. It is in general true, but there are individual exceptions. There are many men who are shorter than the average woman, and there are many women who are taller than the average man, but these exceptions do not make the generalization untrue. Men on average are taller than women in every human society (and, by the way, there are evolutionary psychological explanations for this phenomenon, known as the sexual dimorphism in size, but that’s perhaps for a future post). Everybody knows this, but nobody calls it a stereotype because it is not unkind to anybody. Men in general like being taller than women, and women in general like being shorter than men.

As it relates to physical characteristics, generalizations are used daily. Generally, whites are typically more light complexioned than blacks, Asians are by comparison more often slighter of build and stature than blacks.

I understand that reasoning, however, applying generalizations to behavioral charateristics based on ethnicity invalidates the theory that humans are capable of rationalizing, which IMO, is a display of ignorance.

So I agree to disagree with that type of logic.

 

[poet]

I wonder where the "angry black man" stereotype comes from?


If her statement offended you then you must be guilty or feel guilty.

Guilty??? You're one stupid bitch, also. Just countering "lies" that someone is feeding someone. If that isn't white privilege "on steroids", then I don't know. Angry black man stereotype, or a normal reaction to being painted with a broad brush, and offending in the process?

You're not countering anything. You're showing your true colors.

To counter a statement like hers would be to show evidence that indicates she's wrong.

Blacks represent roughly 15 percent of the population. Almost 40 percent of those are on welfare. So yes, taxpayers are in effect "feeding" them. Likewise the whites, Hispanics, Asians and everyone else on welfare.

Whites and Welfare: GOP and the Food Stamp Fallacy

What Do the Numbers Tell Us About Poverty?

White Americans, poor and middle-class alike, receive the vast majority of tax-funded government assistance programs, from monthly assistance to Social Security to food stamps.

TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families), the program that provides aid to single mothers, is the most well-known welfare program, but the truth is that Social Security and Medicare are also social welfare services, funded by tax dollars. To that end, nearly 70 percent of all benefits of these programs go to white people. In fact, since African Americans have lower life expectancy, many work and pay into the Social Security and Medicare programs through their tax dollars, only to have white Americans, who have a longer life expectancy, benefit from the income they've left behind.

O'Hare's research in his 2009 report "The Forgotten Fifth: Child Poverty in Rural America," reveals that 57 percent of rural poor children were white and 44 percent of all urban poor children were white. But theirs is a story rarely told, their faces hardly seen. High poverty rates for poor and working-class whites have worsened since the 2008 economic crisis. Rural white poverty was already more systemic than urban poverty. Poor whites are more likely to lack basic education levels and remain in poverty for generations.

So let's stop "spinning" and twisting the truth. I don't need to show that she's wrong....she's wrong. The overwhelmingly vast majority of blacks "work", "hard", everyday...so retire the myth that blacks have their hands "out" and are inherently "lazy". That is a stereotype that certain white people (with agendas) love to tout, because it makes them feel good about themselves and their lack of initiative. Stop blaming black people for your problems.

 

[katsteve2012]

As far as "rap music" goes, I don't like it, do not allow it to be played in my home or cars and no one who is black within my circle does either. .

"Do not allow it"? What the hell is that? Do you not "allow" everything you personally don't like? That just sounds wierd.

I stated that I do not allow it to be played in my MY home or MY cars. Which means as long I hold the deed to my home, and the pink slips to my cars, I am in a position to decide what is acceptable or unacceptable to me in those environments.

That's what "it is".

 

[ima]

Blacks are least likely to wear a condom. Bill Cosby agrees.

 

[poet]

Blacks are least likely to wear a condom. Bill Cosby agrees.

Ima Stupid, blanket indictments are almost always wrong. Show where Bill Cosby agrees.

 

[MaryL]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

Except that blacks WERE screwed by whites for generations by slavery. Slavery ripped apart families and traditions that white European immigrants can't relate to. Understanding that might help bridge a gulf.

 

[ima]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

Except that blacks WERE screwed by whites for generations by slavery. Slavery ripped apart families and traditions that white European immigrants can't relate to. Understanding that might help bridge a gulf.

Slavery ended 150 years ago, time for negros to stop using it as a crutch. NEWS FLASH: Slavery didn't happen to today's blacks. Time to get over it.

 

[Unkotare]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

Except that blacks WERE screwed by whites for generations by slavery. Slavery ripped apart families and traditions that white European immigrants can't relate to. Understanding that might help bridge a gulf.

Slavery ended 150 years ago, time for negros to stop using it as a crutch. NEWS FLASH: Slavery didn't happen to today's blacks. Time to get over it.

Who the fuck are YOU to decide it's "time to get over it"?

 

[katsteve2012]

should begin with the fact that a majority of Whites don't spend their days dreaming up ways to screw Blacks, whereas the majority of Blacks believe they are getting screwed by Whites. How to bridge this gulf between perceptions?

Except that blacks WERE screwed by whites for generations by slavery. Slavery ripped apart families and traditions that white European immigrants can't relate to. Understanding that might help bridge a gulf.

Slavery ended 150 years ago, time for negros to stop using it as a crutch. NEWS FLASH: Slavery didn't happen to today's blacks. Time to get over it.

After slavery ended, slaves did not just "magically assimilate" into society with all of the freedoms and privileges" of all other citizens, as you seem to think.

Jim Crow segregation, which was an oppressive system in some ways worse than slavery stayed in effect until well into the 20th century.

Generally, the entire black population in America has had little more than 50 years of consistent existence in this country with full lawful rights of citizenship

Normally I would not waste a minute of time even posting anything to someone who probably can not comprehend a word in excess of one syllable, however, I had some time to kill today. Read......if you can.


“I can ride in first-class cars on the railroads and in the streets,” wrote journalist T. McCants Stewart. “I can stop in and drink a glass of soda and be more politely waited upon than in some parts of New England.” Perhaps Stewart’s comments don’t seem newsworthy. Consider that he was reporting from South Carolina in 1885 and he was black.


A marker in New Orleans stands where Homer Plessy was arrested in 1892. His case ultimately reached the U.S. Supreme Court and resulted in an infamous decision creating the legal doctrine of “separate, but equal.” (Wikimedia Commons)

Stewart had decided to tour the South because he feared for freedmen’s liberties. In 1868, with Amendment XIV, the Constitution had finally given black men full citizenship and promised them equal protection under the law. Blacks voted, won elected office, and served on juries. However, 10 years later, federal troops withdrew from the South, returning it to local white rule. And now, the Republican Party, champion of Reconstruction and freedmen’s rights, had fallen from national power. Would black people’s rights survive?

After a few weeks on the road, Stewart decided they would. True, terrorism against blacks — lynching, rape, arson — ran unchecked. True, many rural blacks lived under a sharecropping system little better than slavery. But Stewart noted many signs of change. He saw a black policeman arrest a white criminal. He saw whites casually talk with black strangers. “The morning light is breaking,” he told his readers.

Stewart was wrong. Over the next 20 years, blacks would lose almost all they had gained. Worse, denial of their rights and freedoms would be made legal by a series of racist statutes, the Jim Crow laws.

“Jim Crow” was a derisive slang term for a black man. It came to mean my law that established different rules for blacks and whites. First passed in the North long before the Civil War, such laws were based on the theory of white supremacy. In the depression-racked 1890s, racism appealed to whites who feared losing their jobs to blacks. Politicians abused blacks to win the votes of poor white “crackers.” Newspapers fed the bias of white readers by playing up (sometimes even making up) black crimes.

In 1890, in spite of its 16 black members, the Louisiana General Assembly passed a law to prevent black and white people from riding together on railroads. Plessy v. Ferguson, a case challenging the law, reached the U.S. Supreme Court in 1896. Upholding the law, the court said that public facilities for blacks and whites could be “separate but equal.” Soon, throughout the South, they had to be separate.

Two years later, the court seemed to seal the fate of black Americans when it upheld a Mississippi law designed to deny black men the vote. Given the green light, Southern states began to limit the voting right to those who owned property or could read well, to those whose grandfathers had been able to vote, to those with “good characters,” to those who paid poll taxes. In 1896, Louisiana had 130,334 registered black voters. Eight years later, only 1,342, 1 percent, could pass the state’s new rules.

Jim Crow laws touched every part of life. In South Carolina, black and white textile workers could not work in the same room, enter through the same door, or gaze out of the same window. Many industries wouldn’t hire blacks: Many unions passed rules to exclude them.

In Richmond, one could not live on a street unless most of the residents were people one could marry. (One could not marry someone of a different race.) By 1914, Texas had six entire towns in which blacks could not live. Mobile passed a Jim Crow curfew: Blacks could not leave their homes after 10 p.m. Signs marked “Whites Only” or “Colored” hung over doors, ticket windows, and drinking fountains. Georgia had black and white parks. Oklahoma had black and white phone booths.

Prisons, hospitals, and orphanages were segregated as were schools and colleges. In North Carolina, black and white students had to use separate sets of textbooks. In Florida, the books couldn’t even be stored together. Atlanta courts kept two Bibles: one for black witnesses and one for whites. Virginia told fraternal social groups that black and white members could not address each other as “Brother.”

Though seemingly rigid and complete, Jim Crow laws did not account for all of the discrimination blacks suffered. Unwritten rules barred blacks from white jobs in New York and kept them out of white stores in Los Angeles. Humiliation was about the best treatment blacks who broke such rules could hope for. Groups like the Ku Klux Klan, which revived in 1915, used venom and violence to keep blacks “in their place.”

More than 360,000 black men served in World War I. The country welcomed them home with 25 major race riots, the most serious in Chicago. White mobs lynched veterans in uniform. Black Americans fought back. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, founded in 1909, and the Urban League publicized abuses and worked for redress.


Protesters march against school segregation. (Wikimedia Commons)

Though they drew support from both races, these groups barely stemmed the tide. The 1920s and 30s produced new Jim Crow laws. By 1944, a Swede visiting the South pronounced segregation so complete that whites did not see blacks except when being served by them.

But World War II changed America, inside and out. The link between white supremacy and Hitler’s “master race” could not be ignored. Jim Crow shocked United Nations delegates who reported home about the practice. “Racial discrimination furnishes grist for the Communist propaganda mills,” said a government spokesman. “It raises doubt even among friendly nations as to the intensity of our devotion to the democratic faith.”

In 1948, President Harry Truman took decisive action to promote racial equality. He urged Congress to abolish the poll tax, enforce fair voting and hiring practices, and end Jim Crow transportation between states. Four Southern states abandoned Truman’s Democratic Party in protest. Then, as commander in chief, Truman ordered the complete integration of the armed forces. He did not wipe out racism, but, trained to obey commands, officers complied as best they could. In Korea, during the 1950s, integrated U.S. forces fought their first war.

Back at home, when the new Eisenhower administration downplayed civil rights, federal courts took the lead. In 1950, the NAACP decided to challenge the concept of “separate but equal.” Fed up with poor, overcrowded schools, black parents in South Carolina and Virginia sued to get their children into white schools. Both times, federal courts upheld segregation. Both times, the parents appealed. Meanwhile, in a similar case, Delaware’s Supreme Court ordered a district to admit black students to white schools until adequate classrooms could be provided for blacks. This time, the district appealed.

The Supreme Court agreed to consider these three cases in combination with one other. In Topeka, Kansas, where schools for blacks and whites were equally good, Oliver Brown wanted his 8-year-old daughter, Linda, to attend a school close to home. State law, however, prevented the white school from accepting Linda because she was black.

On May 17, 1954, at the stroke of noon, the nine Supreme Court Justices announced their unanimous decision in the four cases, now grouped as Brown v. Board of Education. They held that racial segregation of children in public schools, even in schools of equal quality, hurt minority children. “Separate educational facilities are inherently unequal.” The practice violated the Constitution’s 14th amendment and must stop. To some, the judgment seemed the fruitful end of a long struggle. Actually, the struggle had just begun.

For Discussion and Writing

Imagine that you were born black in 1860 and lived until 1920. Would you have any faith in the U.S. legal system? In the “American way of life”? Why or why not?
How did Jim Crow laws affect the American image abroad? How did our foreign policy impact racial equality at home?
Most laws are meant to promote the general welfare or protect society from an evil. Did Jim Crow laws serve these purposes? If so, how? If not, what was their purpose?
Under Jim Crow, black facilities were often of far poorer quality than those reserved for whites. Separate rarely meant equal. If blacks and whites had received equal treatment, would Jim Crow laws have been fair?
“I don’t believe you can change the hearts of men with laws or decisions,” said one person who opposed court ordered desegregation. Do you agree with the statement? Is it a valid reason to continue segregation?
Read the 14th Amendment and explain how the Supreme Court used it to disallow segregation in the Brown decision. Why didn’t the Court use it for the same purpose in Plessy v. Ferguson?
For Further Reading

*
Packard, Jerrald M. American Nightmare: The History of Jim Crow. New York: St. Martin’s Press. 2002.

Chafe, William H. Remembering Jim Crow: African Americans Tell about Life in the Segregated South. New York: The New Press. 2001.