Primary Source Set

Racial Integration in K-12 Schools

In the mid-20th century, the Supreme Court ruled that schools were no longer able to segregate students by race. This collection uses high school yearbooks, newspaper articles, photographs, video and oral history to illustrate how education changed between the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education ruling and the mid-1970s, when North Carolina finally met the requirements set by that case.

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Time Period

1950s to 1970s

Grade Level

7 – 12

A newspaper clipping accompanied by a photograph of the front of a school bus.

Transcript

When you get right down to it by James Cuthbertson The present integration crisis of the Charlotte-Mceklenburg School System which has produced such an uproar around our progressive community, is not a sudden thing. It is the result of an evolutionized era of placing the burden on the shoulders of Charlotte's black brethern. Starting in 1954 when the Supreme Court handed down the rule that separate systems were not equal, the Queen City's leaders formulated a policy of doing nothing which was to be the basis of many of their later decisions. In 1962 the members of the board, during the time of a big bond construction issue promised the parents and students of SW Mecklenburg a new school, which was to have been known as South Charlotte High School. Due to pressure from the white parents during the integration crisis in 63', the site of the school was changed to Steele Creek Township a supposedly fast growing area, which is still growing, weeds and peas. That school is Olympic High School and if Olympic and six other schools were built in different locations around town, busing would not be needed to achieve a 70-30 ratio. A few of these schools are the proposed and still unresolved Metropolitan High School, Olympic, Independence, and Albemarle, Carmel, and Ranson Junior Highs. If Metropolitan had been built, it could have drawn students from Dilworth, Eastover, Earle Village, Piedmont Courts, North Charlotte, and Upper Myers Park thereby creating a natural racial balance. An Olympic High School at its original location would also have had a natural racial balance while drawing kids from SW Mecklenburg, Rieds Park, Southside, Brookhill, Starmount, Montclaire and Sedgefield. An Independence High built closer to town would have accomplished the same purpose. Why then were these schools built way out. They were built out in the boondocks so that most black kids would have to be bused, while most of the white would not. Now people scream because of busing. Black people have been bused for years. Bused right by the new white air conditioned school to the inferior black school with hand-me downs. Separate but equal? That's the crux of the situation. Will the Charlotte system provide for equality in education without guaranteed racial balances. Charlotte has shown in the past that they will not do this. Look at how quick Piedmont Junior High School was cleaned up after the rule was handed down that white kids would be attending it. It's a shame that the Federal Government has to make people do something that should have been done long ago. However, that is a fact of life. Charlotte-Mecklenburg stood by and did nothing. If people on the board had had the insight of Mrs. Betsey Kelly we wouldn't be in this mess today. Now the people cry tyranny and damn Nixon and the Stars and Bars and No Forced Busing signs are seen everywhere. It is these people who are responsible for the integration tangle. There is nothing magical about attending school with someone who is white, but the crux is that the white are equipped much better than the black ones. Look at old Second Ward and Myers Park. William Poe has been chairman during this time and contrary to popular belief be has been a conserved chairman during a time of liberalization which has hindered the situation. When the Supreme Court meets in October, I expect them to rule in favor of Judge McMillan's edict, because when you get right down to it, Charlotte just waited to late.

"When you get right down to it," published in The Carolina Journal (1970)

This piece was published in the editorial section of the UNC Charlotte student newspaper, The Carolina Journal. It was published under the banner “Black Image” along with a photograph of a school bus. This piece was published a few months before the Supreme Court ruled in the Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg case that school districts were allowed to use busing as a tool for integrating schools.

Contributed to DigitalNC by University of North Carolina at Charlotte

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Charlotte, N.C. (Mecklenburg County)

Racial Integration in K-12 Schools

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Background

In the early and mid-20th century, students in North Carolina attended schools based on their race. Despite segregationists’ “separate but equal” mantra, schools for white children were often better-resourced, with more money for buildings and school supplies. While schools for Black children usually received less money for textbooks, staff salaries, and facilities, they were still vibrant and close-knit communities. Students identifying as other races, including Native American students, were sometimes educated at Black schools and sometimes able to create schools for themselves, including the High Plains School in Person County. In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka that schools were no longer able to segregate students by race. However, it took North Carolina 17 years before our state’s schools met the conditions of the Brown v. Board ruling.

Between 1954-1972, lawmakers and community groups debated the best ways to racially integrate schools. Many white families opposed integration and protested by staying home from school or moving to newly-formed private schools. Meanwhile, many Black families worried about leaving the schools they knew, many of which were dissolved as part of integration. One of the largest debates about integration was about busing, a method where students would be bussed across their districts to create schools with racially-balanced student bodies. This method led to the Supreme Court case Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Board of Education (1971), which confirmed busing as an appropriate strategy and served as the basis for cases around the country.

While the legacy of school integration is complex, this period affected the educational paths of many North Carolinians. One way to more fully understand how students’ lives were changed is to look at examples from yearbooks, photographs, and newspaper articles from this time. In particular, Black community newspapers and yearbooks from Black high schools offer several viewpoints about transitioning to majority-white schools.

Discussion Questions

  1. When did N.C. public schools become racially integrated? Was it in 1954 after Brown v. Board of Education? Was it in 1972, when the state finally met the requirements of the Brown v. Board ruling? Was it sometime in between or after?

  2. Take a look at Gohisca [1971] from Goldsboro High School and Charger [1971] from Wayne Country Day School. What differences do you see? How do the attitudes of students differ? What do these differences tell you about the motivations of private schools during this time period?

  3. Consider the two articles from The Carolinian (Raleigh, N.C.) and the two yearbook excerpts from The Panther [1968] and The Pricean [1969]. What are some of the contrasting feelings coming from community members, school staff, and students? Why do you think each of these authors has these feelings?

  4. In his interview, Tony Brown says that he was glad he stayed at his majority Black school, saying, “We had a lot of very, very caring teachers and it was a smaller environment, nurturing environment.” Given the reactions of some white students and families toward integration, what do you think about Brown’s stance?

  5. School integration in the South sometimes began with one or a few Black students moving to an all-white school (like in the case of Gwendolyn Bailey). Take a moment to imagine yourself in their position. Would you go through with it? Why or why not?

  6. Take a look at The Hilltopper [1963]. This is a yearbook from the first year that Native American students had to attend Bethel Hill High School (previously an all-white school). What surprises you about this yearbook? What do you think this school year was like for students?

  7. If you were a N.C. lawmaker in 1954, what plans would you propose to integrate schools? Would you move all students into the white schools for their resources? Would you use buses to transport students and make the schools racially representative? Would you allow families to choose which schools they wanted to attend?

This primary source set was compiled by Sophie Hollis.

Updated January 2025