Talking Point #6

Charles Lawrence; "One More River to Cross"

Author's Argument:
Lawrence argues that due to the controversy that arose after the Brown vs. Board of Education trial that segregated areas became somewhat more calm and peaceful due to the laws that were passed.

Quotes:
1. "That the purpose of the institution of segregation has always been to stigmatize and subordinate rather than to simply separate is perhaps best demonstrated by the fact that whites in the antebellum South had no aversion to commingling with blacks as long as the institution of slavery made their superior status clear."
Back in the early 1900s before the civil rights movement superior status was needed among the whites. The whites that lived in the South were the minority due to how many slaves there were that lived and worked on the farms and in the fields. With the whites feeling the minority power needed to be made because all the whites have known up to this point is that they are the superior to the blacks and there is nothing the blacks can do to make themselves surpass the whites in status. This happens all the times whether it is with different races or sexes. If a man walks into a room full of women and all this man has known his whole life is that men are more superior to women then if something is occurring the man then may try to take over and handle the situation and have the women listen to him. These examples are still seen way after the civil rights movements have occurred due to the generations that still exist that know white is still superior to black today.

2. "Once it is understood that segregation functions as a systematic labeling device, it should be clear that any state action that results in the maintenance of the segregated system is a direct and proximate cause of the injuries suffered by black children in segregated schools and is in violation of the equal protection clause of the fourteenth amendment."
After the law was passed to united black and white schools the whites that were in the schools did not want anything to do with the blacks so therefore the whites would attack the blacks. The only reason why the whites attacked the blacks was because all they knew up to that point in their lives was that blacks are "the scum of the earth" or "they are dirty" and because of that hate was built because the whites did not want the blacks around. Now in present day when we hear about fights between whites and blacks it is a big deal and it is on the news for days. Back then if you heard about whites fighting with blacks it was not as big of a deal only because it was common for the whites to beat of the blacks. The reason why the whites would beat on the blacks is because the blacks had always been slaves to the whites and when the blacks did something wrong he whites would beat them until they did the task correctly or until they decided to stop.

3. "The school was successful in engendering strong positive self-images among both children and parents, in creating an atmosphere in which children enjoyed learning, in expanding the school's role into a concern for the whole child and that child's family, and even in increasing scores on standardized tests."
When school is an enjoyable place that is when the students I believe are able to learn at their best. Many students can learn in a classroom that is full of discussion and slow, but not all the students will be paying attention. Some of them might start doing other things in class to make the time go by faster. I believe that if the classroom is enjoyable and a fun atmosphere then the students are capable of learning way more than they can and are going to be interested in the subject. My experiences with slow classes are it feels like it is never going to end, every minute feels like an hour, and I just want to leave. Then with more energetic classes I don't look at the time, it feels like the class was ten minutes long, and I want to learn more about the subject. If the teacher can keep the student interested in the subject that is how grades and testing will be on the rise because the teacher kept the students interested in wanting to learn more than they thought that they could.

Questions/Comments/Points to Share:
The South will always be known for being the slavery area of the United States. It will also be known to why the civil rights movement occurred. The South still has some very racist towns because in these towns lives about no more than 400 people and they all know each other and everyone's families have grown up together and all that they have known is hate against blacks. As generations pass the hate against blacks will become less and less but until then there will continue to be a decent amount of hate against blacks and most of the hates lives and comes from the South. In schools today there is little to no hate or discrimination between blacks and whites. You see whites talking to blacks and blacks talking to whites and because of this we see Dr. Martin Luther King's dream coming true because he just wanted everyone to be treated fairly. When there is peace is the school there can also be a good education being taught. With students focused on class and not attacking each other students can learn as best as they can. With the students learning as best as they can then scores on tests will be higher, grades will be higher, and hopefully the graduation rate will rise. There is always hope and the hope that MLK saw is being seen today.