I'm going to make a very controversial statement. I'm not sure that desegregation was really a good thing. Now before everyone of color labels me crazy or something worse, let me plead my case.
My mother grew up in a town in Northeastern North Carolina during the height of Jim Crow. She attended segregrated schools and graduated from high school in a building that once housed an all white high school. She told me that the school building was passed down to the them when a new school was built for the whites.
In spite of the limitations that were place upon them, my mother and her classmates received a first rate education. Mom can still recite things that she learned in high school. One of her favorite things to recite is Lady MacBeth's sololiquy from Shakespeare's MacBeth.
My mother is 71 years old. Sometimes she can't remember what she did on the previous day. But she remembers most of what she learned in school.
My aunt is in her eighties and she can recite "Crossing the Bar" by Alfred, Lord Tennyson. My mother said that my aunt recited this poem beautifully and accurately. She learned this poem in high school.
Mom also expressed her discontent with the fact that today's students do not recite their speeches. She proudly told me that in her day, one had to recite his or her speech regardless of the length. She scoffed, "How does it look for the valedictorian, number one in the class to read a speech?"
Well Mom, today's students are not like the students in your day. There are so many factors that go into making this true.
For one, there is a lack of community. In the segregated community, everyone looked out for everyone. Everyone's children belonged to everyone. Everyone's business was well, everyone's business.
The Black or Negro community was self sustaining. All of the professionals (i.e. teachers, doctors and lawyers) were Black. The storeowner was Black. Even the elected officials were Black. Blacks were forced rely on themselves because they were not welcome to mingle in any way with Whites. They knew that they had to stick together in order to be a united front in the face of adversity.
Education was different. Black teachers knew that their students had to be better, smarter, and work harder than their white counterparts. So despite limited resources, they made sure that their students received the best education. They took a personal interest in their students because they could identify with them.
At the same time, the community supported the teachers. My mother said that if someone acted out in school that they would be disciplined by neighbors on their way home and of course further disciplined by their parents once the child got into the house. The teaching profession was well respected and the teacher was looked at as an intrigal part of the community. Teachers didn't teach to a test but instead equipped their students with the tools necessary to be functional members of society.
Black people had more of a sense of community because they were forced to do so. They had no choice but to stick together in the face of adversity. Strength was in numbers. We worshipped together. We celebrated together. We grieved together. We were together.
Now that black people are scattered due to desegregation, there is no longer that sense of community. On the contrary. Now the line that divides is socioeconomic. Middle and upper class blacks are hesitant to associate with lower class blacks preferring instead to associate with their own.
Now we have adopted more of the European worldview of self preservation which is in stark contrast to the African worldview of cooperation and community. We focus on ourselves and our immediate families instead of our community as a whole. We were more community oriented during slavery and Jim Crow. Was that because we didn't have a choice? Or was it because of our African roots?
Either way it's sad to see that we have assimilated to our surroundings and we no longer place a great emphasis on the community. It does lead me to wonder how our communities would have faired if education was indeed separate but equal. If desegregation would have never occurred would our communities have remained strong? Would we still have the same sense of community that we enjoyed for so many years?
I'm not saying that there weren't inherent evils in segregation. Any policy based on the domination of one race over is wrong. I do not want to desecrate the memory of those who died fighting for equal rights. But I do believe that desegregation had a major part in the decimation of the black community.
Perhaps this will be a catalyst for the discussion on the state of our community and how we can recapture some of the elements that once made us great.
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