Our Own Communities, Our Own Schools: Educational Counter-Narratives of African American Civil Rights Generation Students

Abstract

This study sought to document the schooling experiences and perceptions of African American students who attended segregated schools in Edgecombe County, North Carolina. Through counter-narratives the participants provided insight into education in Edgecombe County during the 1960s. Findings suggested that schools were social and academic environments where education was valued. Additionally, findings suggested that participants had a deep connection to their segregated schools and therefore believed that integration removed the community involvement and educational environments that African American students needed to be engaged in school and academically successful. Implications for current issues related to the education of African American students are discussed in the conclusion.Keywords: segregated schools, counter-narratives, community, relationshipsSchools across the southern United States and the nation have become increasingly segregated due to legislation and policies that have eliminated busing and other methods of creating racially diverse schools (Kozol, 2005; McPherson, 2011; Mickelson, 2001; Woodward, 2011). As a result, the academic conversation often focuses on the consequences of attending segregated neighborhood schools versus purposefully integrated ones while failing to examine the more substantial issues. Research and policy must move beyond student assignment and address the quality of education and support that need to occur within schools regardless of environment in order for African American students to be successful. Much can be learned from the experiences of students who attended segregated schools throughout the South before Brown v. The Board of Education (1954) and federal court mandates ended racially segregated schooling. Their voices are often excluded from the literature, but without first-hand knowledge of their schooling experiences many current educational policies, including student assignment, will continue to miss the mark for African American students (King, 2005).This article includes the counter-narratives of four African Americans who attended a segregated school in Edgecombe County, North Carolina during the 1960s. The participants' stories paint a vivid picture of the segregated schooling environment and provide insight into the role of education in the lives of African Americans in this area during this time period.Literature ReviewCurrent State of Education for African American StudentsMuch research has been devoted to the disparities that exist today with regard to African American students (Delpit, 2006; King, 2005; Mickelson, 2001; Orfield & Eaton, 1996, Perry, Steele, & Hilliard, 2003). Beyond test scores and dropout statistics that present African Americans underperforming in comparison to White students are the day to day differences that exist in the educational environments and social and academic experiences of many low-income and minority students in comparison to their middle-class and White peers. As Kozol (2005) noted in his seminal text The Shame of the Nation, American schools have become increasingly re-segregated. Many school systems have shifted from the desegregated settings mandated by Brown, to neighborhood schools that reflect the segregated populations of their neighborhoods. For example, in Charlotte, North Carolina many schools currently have minority populations that exceed 80% (Mickelson, 2001), despite the 1971 Supreme Court ruling that supported mandatory busing as a means of achieving school desegregation, Swann v. Charlotte-Mecklenburg 's (1971). These neighborhood schools, supported by local property taxes, have led to schools with high minority and low-income populations that are underfunded and poorly resourced (Eaton, 2008; Kozol, 1991,2005).The variations in environments are one reason for the differences in achievement between Black and White students. Nevertheless, in environments that are racially desegregated, many African American students are still unsuccessful. …