Monday, March 23, 2009

Talking Point 6

"One More River to Cross"- Recognizing the Real Injury in Brown: A Prerequiste to Sharping New Remedies.
By: Charles Lawrence
In this article Lawrence talks about the struggle for equality, in America. He uses the famous case Brown vs. Board of Education to show just a piece of the struggle, as well as other segregation cases. These cases really changed the education system for blacks, who at one point were hardly going to school and learning.

Quotes:

1) "The ultimate goal was full political and civil equality for blacks; they knew that this could not be achieved until the entire system of segregation had been destroyed"
---- This quote stands out to me for more then one reason, for starters it amazes me that at one point they thought that this could or would have potential to bring total equality to America. Yes it is a step in the right direction, but there is no way that this one simple act can erase. Also knowing that it could not be achieved until the entire system had been desegregated, even when that happens I believe racial problems will always exist. The history can never be erased.

2) "Many black schools that existed within the segregated school systems of the South were in
fact superior to their white counterparts."
-----This quote, to say the least confusing.... especially to what I have been taught growing up. You always learned that the black schools had the worst materials; broken books, and not enough supplies to teach. Maybe I am just reading this wrong, or I was not taught the truth, which would not be a surprise because often children are not.

3) "In 1954 we believed that school integration would break down racist attitudes by bringing white and black children together."
----Because many Northern Americans wanted a quick fix to the racial problem, they believed that a simple act of forcing schools to desegregated would immediately solve all problems. When in fact the problem was much deeper then that, the history would not be erased by such a simple act.

The reading was difficult to read, both for vocabulary as well as just the structure in which it was written. Is was interesting to read the different views, as well as integrating the different cases into the time period, and conflicts. Looking froward to the talk in class to help bring some of the things into perspective.... :)

3 comments:

  1. I agree with you. I thought that the reading was pretty tough and it was hard for me to stay into it. Hopefully we'll talk about it more in class to get a better idea about what the reading was all about.

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