From the issue dated May 14, 2004
|
|
|
Segregation's Legacy Still Troubles CampusesStates have made substantial gains, but 11 await federal declarations that their college systems are fully integrated
Fifty years ago this month, Vivian Malone Jones picked up the newspaper outside her front door and read a headline about the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education that outlawed segregation in public schools. "I went to my mother and asked her what did that really mean," recalls Ms. Jones, who was 12 at the time. "I already knew I wanted to go to college. I knew I wanted to major in business. But this put something in your mind that you can really do this." Almost a decade later, in 1963, Ms. Jones found herself at the center of a key moment in the desegregation of the nation's higher-education system. On a hot June day, Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama blocked the entrance of the University of Alabama's auditorium so that Ms. Jones and another black student, James A. Hood, could not enroll. President John F. Kennedy ordered the Alabama National Guard to remove the governor so that the students could register for class. "That was one of the most important things I could have done," says Ms. Jones, who pursued a major in industrial relations. In 1965 she became the first black student to graduate from the University of Alabama. "I knew this had been too long in coming for us for me to think about not attending," she says. The decision in Brown, a case that combined lawsuits from five school districts, did not immediately lead to the integration of the nation's public colleges. But it laid the groundwork for black students like Ms. Jones to challenge the legality of a segregated higher-education system and helped spark the civil-rights movement that eventually led the federal government to require integration in public colleges. In the half-century since the Brown ruling, many traditionally white universities have attracted significant numbers of black students, more black students are attending college, and states have provided new academic programs and facilities to improve the quality of their historically black institutions. Yet inequities remain. Black students are underrepresented in doctoral programs, black faculty members and administrators are relatively scarce at many predominantly white institutions, and historically black colleges -- despite receiving additional resources in recent years -- are still trying to improve their reputations after decades of neglect by the states. Eleven of the 19 states that once operated segregated public colleges have yet to receive official declarations from the federal government that they are desegregated. Some college officials and analysts worry that, as monitoring of those states winds down, resources and efforts to make opportunities for higher education fully equal will begin to wane. "It's so easy to slip back into certain kinds of comfort zones where we don't challenge ourselves to strive for greater inclusion," says Theotis Robinson Jr., one of the first three black undergraduates at the University of Tennessee. He is now its vice president for equity and diversity. "These barricades were erected decades and centuries ago," Mr. Robinson continues. "They don't come down overnight. I worry about that commitment being sustained without oversight." Paving the Legal Path to 'Brown' Efforts to desegregate public higher education predated the Brown decision. In fact, lawyers at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People who wanted to challenge the premise that separate facilities could made equal first zeroed in on law schools and graduate programs. In the 1930s, black students who sought a legal education began to file lawsuits in state courts to be admitted to law schools at all-white state universities. The idea behind the legal strategy was that states would not be able to afford to create a separate system of law and other professional schools for black students and would be forced to admit them. In addition, focusing on law programs hit judges close to home, because they knew firsthand the importance of classroom interactions in their own legal education, says Theodore M. Shaw, president of the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund. "It was a brilliant strategy," he says. "It was easier for judges to grasp and understand that you couldn't have truly equal educational opportunities in segregated law schools. It could not conceivably be equal educational opportunity for African-American students because African-American students couldn't engage in the kind of academic exchanges needed with the people who would be their colleagues in the bar." The approach worked. In 1938 the U.S. Supreme Court forced the University of Missouri to admit a black student to its law school, saying it was unacceptable to send black students to other states for an education. Ten years later, the Supreme Court ruled that Oklahoma, too, must provide a legal education for a black student, either by admitting her to the all-white University of Oklahoma or by creating a law school for black students. In 1950 two more Supreme Court decisions required states to go even further in providing equal opportunities in higher education. The court required the University of Texas law school to admit a black student, ruling that a makeshift law school that the state had created for black students was not equal. In the other case, the court decided that the University of Oklahoma had violated the Constitutional rights of a black graduate student by forcing him to eat and study separately from white students. Breaking the Color Barrier The decision in Brown four years later took the next step, declaring that separate education for black students was inherently unequal. In the law-school and graduate-school cases, the justices noted in their Brown opinion, they did not have to confront the fundamental question of whether laws requiring separate educational facilities violated the Constitutional rights of students. In those lawsuits, the justices found specific benefits that were available to white students but not to black students to be unequal, and the remedies were narrowly tailored. The broader rejection of segregation in Brown gave black citizens greater legal authority and more motivation to demand access to all-white universities and other segregated sectors of society. "When Brown came along, it touched off a powder keg that was ready to explode," says Mr. Robinson, who enrolled at the University of Tennessee in 1961. "It gave rise to actions that people had not previously thought to undertake." Mr. Robinson graduated from a Knoxville high school in 1960, as sit-ins at segregated lunch counters were sweeping the South. He had planned to attend Knoxville College, a predominantly black institution, until he saw an advertisement in the local newspaper that urged black residents to take action against discrimination. Among other concerns, the ad noted that the University of Tennessee still had not enrolled any black students in its undergraduate programs. "When I read this ad I thought, Well this is one I can do something about," Mr. Robinson says. "So I sat down that night and wrote a letter requesting admission." He was rejected at first but eventually won admission after a series of meetings with university officials and then a vote by the institution's trustees. "Somebody had to engage the system to bring about this change," he says. The integration of other traditionally white institutions was not always as peaceful. Riots and volleys of racial slurs accompanied the first black students to enter the University of Georgia on the same day Mr. Robinson enrolled at Tennessee. Two people died during protests a year later, when the first black student, James Meredith, entered the University of Mississippi. And like many other black students who challenged barriers, Ms. Jones received death threats when she sought to attend the University of Alabama. Continued Federal Oversight In 1964 President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act, which prohibited discrimination based on race, color, or national origin at all colleges and other entities that receive federal funds. That law provided the basis for much of the federal enforcement of integration in higher education. Federal oversight of states' efforts to desegregate public colleges increased during the 1970s, after a federal-appeals court ordered the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to do more. Black citizens also continued to seek better educational opportunities through lawsuits. One of those, filed by the father of a student at historically black Jackson State University, in Mississippi, landed in the U.S Supreme Court. When the court ruled in that case, in 1992, it raised the bar for what states had to do to remove vestiges of segregation. It said that states must reform all policies that perpetuate segregation "to the extent practicable and consistent with sound educational practices." Today the efforts of 11 states to move beyond their segregated pasts are still being monitored by the federal government, either through the courts or by the U.S. Education Department's Office for Civil Rights. The states have agreed to multiyear plans or are following court orders that generally call for more programs and facilities at historically black colleges, increased diversity in student bodies at predominantly white and historically black institutions, and unique missions for each institution to eliminate duplicate programs, some of the last vestiges of "separate but equal." "The fundamental question is, How can we eliminate the achievement gap to make sure that every student receives a quality education?" says Kenneth L. Marcus, who oversees the Office for Civil Rights in the Education Department. "It's unfortunate that 50 years after Brown v. Board of Education we're still dealing with these issues." Mr. Marcus's office is monitoring the progress of seven states. Two of them, Florida and Ohio, may be officially released from the department's oversight this year. Two other states, Pennsylvania and Virginia, that had originally set this year as the goal for completing the requirements of their desegregation agreements are likely to miss that target, Mr. Marcus says. Pennsylvania officials have made substantial progress in improving historically black Cheyney University of Pennsylvania, Mr. Marcus says, but they are still wrapping up some of the eight major construction projects that they agreed to complete as part of the desegregation plan. In Virginia officials are struggling to gain accreditation for a business school at historically black Virginia State University. Elsewhere, Maryland is on schedule to complete its plan -- which calls for such steps as eliminating the unnecessary duplication of academic programs at public institutions and increasing colleges' efforts to attract and retain black students -- by the end of next year. Texas is making progress toward meeting by 2010 the terms of its agreement, which includes commitments to improve its historically black institutions and to do a better job of recruiting and retaining black and Hispanic students at public colleges. In Kentucky no date has been set for when state and federal officials will end oversight. Historically black Kentucky State University still must improve the rate at which its students pass a standardized test for schoolteachers before the state can be released from federal oversight, Mr. Marcus says. "We have clearly made a lot of progress," he says, "but there is still a lot to be done." Removing the Spotlight Four states, meanwhile, are still resolving decades-old desegregation lawsuits that black residents filed for better educational opportunities at public colleges. Three of those states -- Alabama, Louisiana, and Tennessee -- are set to finish putting in place court-ordered remedies during 2005. In Mississippi, a federal-appeals court this year upheld a plan to settle the state's desegregation lawsuit. But some of the original black plaintiffs are planning to appeal in an effort to take the case back to the Supreme Court. Alvin O. Chambliss Jr., who represents those plaintiffs, worries that taking the courts' spotlight off Mississippi and other states will leave in place longstanding inequities for black students and historically black colleges. He hopes that his clients' appeal will help raise awareness of lingering problems. "This is our greatest opportunity to get a national conversation on Brown and its impact on public education, and to look at the most-critical needs of black people today," Mr. Chambliss argues. "You've got to get the states to do more." While the top black students are now able to get into selective predominantly white institutions, states need to do more to help other black students succeed in college, he says, by offering more remedial education. Institutions in Mississippi and across the country also need to encourage more black students to pursue doctoral and professional degrees, Mr. Chambliss says. In Mississippi, for instance, only 7 percent of doctors licensed in the state are black, even though 37 percent of the population is black. Nationwide, about 4 percent of lawyers are black, while 12.3 percent of the total population is black. And in 2002 just 6.3 percent of doctoral degrees awarded went to black students. While others agree that more progress is needed, proponents of the settlement in Mississippi and similar plans elsewhere say it is time for the courts to step out of the way. In Mississippi, the presidents of the state's three historically black colleges are eager for the legal process to conclude so that their institutions and students can begin to benefit from the $503-million the plan would provide over 17 years. David Potter, commissioner of the board that oversees colleges in the state, argues that the settlement would build a strong beginning for the state to move beyond its grim past. The plan shows that the state recognizes its obligation to historically black institutions, he says, and will lead to more integration of all public colleges in Mississippi. Other issues, such as the underrepresentation of black students in doctoral programs, are important to work on but transcend the scope of the desegregation lawsuit, Mr. Potter says. "We have a long way to go, but so does the nation," he says. "If the settlement is approved, this really could be a banner year for us in Mississippi. It will really make a difference, and we think we've got a real base to build on here." Beyond the Courts Elsewhere, Carlos A. Gonzalez, a lawyer who has been appointed by federal courts to monitor the college-desegregation cases in Alabama and Tennessee, argues that there is a limit to what federal officials and courts can dictate anyway. Institutions and their leaders have to actively set an inclusive tone to be able to make progress in attracting more underrepresented faculty members and administrators at predominantly white universities, for instance. "Being sensitive to efforts on race issues in higher education requires a daily commitment, and not one that can be created by the court," Mr. Gonzalez says. "Commitment is not just a note at the bottom of letterhead that says you're an equal-opportunity employer. It has to start at the top and permeate the institution." He and others believe that federal oversight has been important, however. It has forced states to give more money to historically black institutions than they probably would have set aside otherwise, and it has kept pressure on predominantly white institutions to continue to diversify their student bodies and faculty ranks. In Louisiana, Connie Koury, assistant to the commissioner for desegregation and legal affairs at the state's Board of Regents, also hopes that the process of working through the state's desegregation case has helped foster trust among staff members and officials at Louisiana's higher-education governing boards and institutions. They have learned to work together as they established cooperative programs and put in place other policies required by federal courts. "That will help us continue, once the agreement is not there, in a cooperative spirit," Ms. Koury says. Others agree that personal connections ultimately are needed to help states such as Louisiana overcome long histories of mistrust between predominantly white and historically black institutions. Troy D. Allen, an associate professor of history at historically black Southern University and an adjunct professor at nearby Louisiana State University, helps teach a race-relations course that includes students from Southern and Louisiana State, which is predominantly white. He says it is an accomplishment simply to get students from each institution to step onto each other's campuses as the course alternates locations. Even though they are both located in Baton Rouge, students still need directions. "People at Southern have an animosity for people at LSU, same as people at LSU have for Southern," Mr. Allen says. "It is going to take these kinds of joint programs and faculty exchanges to ease some of that history." Nevertheless, he still worries about what will happen once federal oversight of the state's desegregation efforts ends. In response to court decrees, Louisiana has financed many new facilities at historically black colleges, established new partnerships among historically black and traditionally white institutions, and created a community college as well as more than 500 new degree programs. But Mr. Allen wonders if the state will have the political will to continue to support the new programs over the long term. And despite progress, inequities remain, he adds. He compares, for instance, his teaching experiences at Southern and Louisiana State. He submits his grades online at Louisiana State but by paper at Southern. Students at Louisiana State have e-mail accounts through the university, while students at Southern use Yahoo, Hotmail, or similar services on their own. At Southern, most of the clocks either display the wrong time or do not work at all. It may seem like a little thing, he says, "but when students come to school and see that, that's the image they have of how the school views itself." Status of the Struggle At historically black and at predominantly white institutions, progress since Brown has been great, but limited, many say. Ten years ago, Mr. Hood, who entered the University of Alabama with Ms. Jones, returned to Tuscaloosa. In a campus cafeteria, he noticed a group of black students eating in one corner, a group of Hispanic students in another, and a group of Asian students elsewhere. The dynamic was the same last year when he returned again for the 40th anniversary of his enrollment at the university. "I realized that segregation was still there, but now it was self-imposed -- and I wondered what the struggle was all about," Mr. Hood says. "Looking 50 years after Brown we have to ask, Have we done all that we can do to further our objective, and have we made a demand that there be an inclusive agenda? And the answer to both is no." BEFORE AND AFTER 'BROWN': THE PATH TO COLLEGE DESEGREGATION 1896: U.S. Supreme Court, in Plessy v. Ferguson, upholds state laws that require public facilities for black and white citizens to be "separate but equal." Decision justifies segregation, including at public colleges. 1908: Supreme Court rules, in Berea College v. Commonwealth of Kentucky, that a state may require a private college to segregate students based on race. Decision forces Berea, which had been integrated, to enroll only white students. 1936: Maryland State Court of Appeals requires the University of Maryland's law school to admit a black student, Donald G. Murray, because the state does not offer equal opportunity for black students to receive a legal education. 1938: Supreme Court, in Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada, requires the University of Missouri's law school to admit a black student, Lloyd Gaines, because the state does not offer a separate and equal law school for black students. The court says that Missouri cannot provide equal education by simply sending its black students to other states' schools. 1948: Supreme Court rules, in Sipuel v. Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma, that Oklahoma must either admit a black student, Ada Lois Sipuel, to the university's law school or create a separate school for black students. The state creates such a school by assigning three part-time instructors to teach courses at the state Capitol, but Ms. Sipuel refuses to attend. A year later she is allowed to attend the University of Oklahoma law school. 1950: Supreme Court issues rulings in two cases -- McLaurin v. Oklahoma State Regents for Higher Education and Sweatt v. Painter -- that challenge the treatment of black students. The court decides that the University of Oklahoma violated the constitutional rights of a black student, George W. McLaurin, by requiring him to eat and study separately from white students. The justices also require the University of Texas to admit a black student, Heman Marion Sweatt, to its law school because the state's law school for black students was not equal. 1954: In Brown v. Board of Education, Supreme Court rules that segregated public schools are inherently unequal and violate the rights of black students to equal protection under the U.S. Constitution. John W. Davis and Thurgood Marshall argued for and against, respectively, school segregation before the Supreme Court. Mr. Marshall, whose arguments succeeded, went on to become a Supreme Court justice. 1956: Autherine J. Lucy becomes the first black student at the University of Alabama, in Tuscaloosa, after a federal district court orders campus officials to admit her. Citing concerns for her safety after riots break out, the university's board suspends Ms. Lucy three days later and eventually expels her. 1961: Hamilton Holmes and Charlayne Hunter become the first black students at the University of Georgia, after a federal district judge orders the institution to admit them. 1962: James Meredith, protected by federal marshals, becomes the first black student at the University of Mississippi, after the Supreme Court orders the institution to admit him. Riots surrounding Mr. Meredith's admission lead to the death of two people. 1963: Gov. George C. Wallace of Alabama stands at the door of an auditorium at the University of Alabama to block the enrollment of two black students, James A. Hood and Vivian J. Malone, that a federal judge had ordered. In response, President John F. Kennedy federalizes the Alabama National Guard and forces Governor Wallace to step aside and allow the students to enroll. 1964: President Lyndon B. Johnson signs the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Title VI of the law prohibits discrimination based on race, color, or national origin in all programs and activities that receive federal funds. 1973: A federal appeals court orders the U.S. Department of Health, Education, and Welfare to enforce the Civil Rights Act and to ensure that states that have dual higher-education systems make more progress toward ending segregation. 1978: U.S. Supreme Court rules, in Regents of the University of California v. Bakke, that colleges may use race as a factor in admissions decisions, but that institutions may not reserve a set number of spaces for members of certain racial or ethnic groups. 1992: Supreme Court rules, in United States v. Kirk Fordice, that states must do more than simply eliminate laws barring black students from predominantly white institutions to remove vestiges of segregation in higher education. Decision requires states to change all policies that perpetuate segregation "to the extent practicable and consistent with sound educational practices." 1994: A federal judge approves a 10-year plan to improve the integration of public colleges in Louisiana. Among other things, the action requires Louisiana to add academic programs at historically black institutions and improve their facilities. Historically black institutions also must recruit more white students, under the plan, and traditionally white institutions must recruit more black students. 1995: A federal district judge orders Alabama to do more to foster integration, in a lawsuit that dates to 1983, when the U.S. Justice Department sued the state. The ruling requires the state's two historically black institutions to do more to attract white students. It also forces Alabama to create a trust fund for the two universities to pay for academic programs and other improvements. 2001: A federal district judge approves a five-year plan to settle Tennessee's college-desegregation lawsuit, which dates to 1968. The plan requires Tennessee to provide scholarships, facilities, and a unique mission for historically black Tennessee State University. 2004: A federal appeals court upholds a plan to settle Mississippi's college-desegregation case, which dates to 1975 and was at the center of the Supreme Court's Fordice decision. The plan, which still may be appealed to the Supreme Court, would require Mississippi to pay for new academic programs, construction projects, and endowments at the state's three historically black institutions. SOURCE: Chronicle reporting
 http://chronicle.com Section: Government & Politics Volume 50, Issue 36, Page A24 | |||||||||||||||
Copyright © 2004 by The Chronicle of Higher Education