SOCI 115: Regional Sociology of the South

Instructor: Manuel Rafael Gallegos Lerma

C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (CH 5)

Class Discussion Questions:

What were your initial reactions after watching the initial volume of Eyes on the Prize?

Class Discussion Questions:

1. After reading Chapter 5 (The Declining Years of Jim Crow), please explain the reasons for Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia) refusal to eliminate segregation in schools? Think about the primary arguments for insisting that schools remain segregated.

Class Discussion Questions:

1. After reading Chapter 5 (The Declining Years of Jim Crow), please explain the reasons for Southern states (Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina and Virginia) refusal to eliminate segregation in schools? Think about the primary arguments for insisting that schools remain segregated.

Make sure you consider all the other areas of those communities that were becoming already integrated.

Class Discussion Questions:

2. According to Woodward, what were some of the tactics Southerners used to retaliate against the ruling of desegregation of public schools (high school and below)?

Moreover, how did the South continue to ensure segregated schools?

Class Discussion Questions:

3. Why did the desegregation of schools receive such an outcry of opposition from Whites?

What do their proposed measures of private-school plans, etc. say about the perceived sanctity of the institutions of education and family?

Do we see any similar trends today?

Class Discussion Questions: 4. What were the tactics used by Civil Rights activists to challenge Jim Crow?

Class Discussion Questions: 4. What were the tactics used by Civil Rights activists to challenge Jim Crow?

•Economic boycotts in Montgomery, Alabama (Led by MLK)

•Non-violent sit-in in the South (Greensboro led the way)

•Large marches in the South

•Began to register Black so they can vote

•Used the media to illustrate the abuses they endured

•With more support from JFK and Lyndon Johnson, Civil Rights legislation passed and more rights were given to Blacks

Class Discussion Questions: 5. What was the role of the Judicial System during the civil rights movement?

Class Discussion Questions: 5. What was the role of the Judicial System during the civil rights movement?

•NAACP used the courts to challenge the Jim Crow System.

•This branch of government protected the rights of Blacks.

•Was heavily criticized by Congress.

Class Discussion Questions: 6. What was the White South’s response to these challenges?

Class Discussion Questions: 6. What was the White South’s response to these challenges?

•Some states ruled unconstitutional the federal mandates.

•Funding was eliminated and sanctions were imposed to local school districts that integrated schools

•Some states amended state constitutions to abolish public schools

•Private schools funded by public money provided another alternative to integration

•Some school systems were closed to prevent integration

•Local authorities had the power to assign and enroll students

•Police attacked demonstrators (water hoses, dogs, imprisonment)

Class Discussion Questions: 7. In this Chapter, Woodward mentioned at least two major shortcomings in Brown vs. Board of Education, which delayed the integration process.

Can you recall these shortcomings?

Class Discussion Questions: 7. In this Chapter, Woodward mentioned at least two major shortcomings in Brown vs. Board of Education, which delayed the integration process.

Can you recall these shortcomings?

• The Court did not set a date for compliance

• The Court placed the responsibility for integration at the local level – schools and district courts (“good faith implementation.”)

Class Discussion Questions: 7. In this Chapter, Woodward mentioned at least two major shortcomings in Brown vs. Board of Education, which delayed the integration process.

Can you recall these shortcomings?

• The Court did not set a date for compliance

• The Court placed the responsibility for integration at the local level – schools and district courts (“good faith implementation.”)

Moreover, in your opinion, can this be perceived as a Court’s attempt to compromise similar to the compromise that ended the Reconstruction period?

Class Discussion Questions: 8. On page 163 President Eisenhower states, "you cannot change people's hearts merely by law."

What is the significance of this quote for this time period and how does it relate to our reading?