Timeline

In looking at my timeline, I have included many events that have led us to the point where we are today with education. From 1849 to the present day, many events included have shaped our education system and how successful it has or hasn’t been in the past. The timeline that has been created include thirteen major events, all of which are still relevant today. 

Beginning in 1849, long before the Civil Rights Era, Massachusetts state ruled that segregated schools are permissible under state law.This, arguably, was the first event to cause a downward spiral in educational segregation. Based on the facts of the court case, Massachusstes deemed school segregation constitutional under state law after a man sued on behalf of his five year old daughter, who was denied access to a school because of the color of her skin. This is a problem that did not just happen in 1849, but also in the present day United States, as in multiple recent cases that have discussed race in relation to college admissions. It is also what arguably led to the events of A Lesson Before Dying, which presented school segregation.

Anti-Slavery Almanac, courtesy: The Equal Justice Initiative 

As the timeline progresses, more and more events occur, including segregating schools based on race and many cases of hearings on college admissions, which are not all included. In a case titled University of Maryland v. Murray, the Supreme Court ruled that the state’s white law school had to admit an African American student because there was no African American law school in the state. A case like this one made steps forward, however, the steps backward kept increasing. 

Furthermore, everything included in the timeline relates to problems today with the educational gap. As mentioned in the last post, there is a need for African American teachers, however, they are in short supply. In history, some African American and white teachers were not paid the same salary until 1940 in a court case titled Alston v. School Board of the City of Norfolk. The ruling caused by the very first court case mentioned in the first paragraph laid a foundation for hundreds of years to come. Grant was the only African American school teacher in the primary text in his town of Bayonne, Louisiana. Along with that, Louisiana was the first state to create "black codes", which created racial segregation. It is not a coincidence that the novel takes place in Louisiana, where segregation was most prevalent.

One of the most famous events included on the timeline is the notable Brown v. Board of Education. This reversed Plessy v. Ferguson, which allowed segregation and furthered racism. While the timeline does not delve into each and every event that occurred after this notable court case, many events did unfold that caused a frenzy, including 200 individual court cases on segregation between 1955 to 1960. While the Supreme Court ruled in favor of desegregation, the damage was immense enough that there are lasting impacts today, to the point where we are still integrating minorities into schools and have a long road ahead still, more than one hundred years after the court’s decision. Presently, urban schools are what remain highly segregated and suburban schools are becoming more integrated. Along with that, it is reasonable to say that without the action of Chief Justice Earl Warren in Brown v. Board, schools could have been segregated today. 

Nettie Hunt and her daughter, Nickie, sit on the steps of the Supreme Court on May 18th, 1954. Photo credit: Corbis Images

In relation to the primary text even further, events on the timeline are highly relevant. In the 1940s, when the text is said to take place, schools, institutions, and other public places were based on skin color. This type of community is what is prevalent in the text. In relation to this, a key quote that stands out is: “I’m the teacher…and I teach what the white folks around here tell me to teach---reading, writing, and ‘rithmetic. They never told me how to keep a black boy out a liquor store” (13). This is important and relevant to the timeline as this text gives a mental image to the time period. Grant had to pave his own path when it came to teaching his students and because of the time period, that was a difficult undertaking because he was not “supposed to be” as educated as he was. Furthermore, Grant teaches at an all African American school, which sheds light on the reality present after Plessy v. Ferguson, but before Brown v. Board.

Also included on the timeline is an instance in 2007, Parents Involved, which was based in Seattle, Washington. This focused on students applying to high schools and when too many students chose a school as their first choice, they would use tiebreakers, one of those being race. This was deemed unconstitutional by the Supreme Court, as it is illegal to use race as a factor on admittance. This is a fairly recent case of racial injustice in the school system and demonstrates the impact history has had on our present day. This, relating to the text, is a direct result of racism in the school system.

Because of these thirteen major events and other correlating events in African American history, the United States is in its current state. Each and every single event on the timeline remains highly relevant today, even if those events have passed. There are remaining effects, even one hundred years after the Supreme Court ruled educational segregation unconstitutional. These effects, large on small, all matter in working towards a better and equal society, especially in education.