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Integration Still
Dividing the Races May 24, 2004
The Brown vs. Board of Education decision is undeniably one of America’s most revolutionary judicial decisions in history. It was a giant step in the right direction of the civil rights struggle. But, while black America views any progresses made over the last 50 years, as victories based on our sacrifices; many white Americans see the gains as white’s concessions. After 50 years, many ask: What more does black America want? Thus, the serious divide between what we sought through the civil rights struggle, and what white America thought we wanted. Ask the average white American whether integration is still a problem in our communities or schools; and, you’ll likely get a measured response that, `No, not really…blacks can go just about anywhere they want to go, live just about anywhere they want, and …some of my best friends are black.’ At the same time, most black Americans, no matter what age, economic status or experiences believe America still suffers from a problem with race. Yes, the problem is less visible today than it was 50 years ago. But, according to race specialists, the invisibility is a sophisticated exchange of overt prejudice for a more subtle brand. While integration afforded us more options in schools, jobs, and housing; black Americans believe there are still expectations that didn’t materialize... something more than sitting beside a white girl or boy in our classrooms, or living next door to a white family. An integrated society, we believed, ran deeper than that. Many African Americans who lived through both the civil rights struggle, and the Jim Crow era, look back over the last 50 years, and say their hopes might have been fueled as much by desperation as realism. Their dreams during the struggle were of an America different from the one they’d known – consistent, and overt racism and discrimination. While they have seen changes and improvements over the years, they have also watched their own communities suffer in the wake of change, and the roots of ingrained racism refuse to disappear. White Americans who lived through both eras were part of that majority who never bought into the Brown vs. Board of Education decision. They now look back, and say they did what was best for them and their children. These mothers and fathers had no hopes of an integrated society, and no plans of ever uprooting their families, upsetting their status quo, or forcing their white children to sit in classrooms with black children. These parents viewed our fight for integration as an affront to their own rights, and they weren’t about to blithely give up those rights. The dis-connect on the subject of integration might be something as simple as which side of the track one is born… those who have, rarely seek change; while those without, do. It might be as basic as two cultures’ inability to connect, given our opposite histories. The truth is, it was mostly black Americans’ blood shed to assure that black children could sit at the front of the bus, shop in Eddie Bauer’s or Lord & Taylor’s, whether the store management welcomed them or not; and, eat at the corner diner owned by white ethnics, or dine on the top floor’s upscale restaurant, with the view of the city. Most white Americans were on the other end of that bloodshed. Thus, the divide continues. Black and white Americans’ visions of a racially integrated America scares one group, and redeems the other. While black America sees integration’s cup as half-empty; white America sees a cup almost brimming over. While white Americans say the progresses since 1954 are incredible and something we should be proud of…black Americans continue to seek that color-blind acceptance, that utopia we believed, in 1954, was possible. The 50-year anniversary, if nothing else, should be a reminder to black America that physical proximity and being allotted equality are two different things. There is no better time than now for black America to re-assess what it is we really want of America? What, realistically, can we expect? We can all concede, on this 50th Anniversary of Brown vs. Board of Education, that integration is indeed a reality at a number of levels. And, civil rights is not an outdated ideal that has outlived its usefulness. A racially integrated society is still an ideal worth working toward. Yet… In the end, integration and equality is not one and the same. We no longer believe that sitting in a mixed classroom equalizes us. The hopes and dreams, 50 years ago, that America would one day, see the “rightness” of integration, and help make America a better place is still our hopes and dreams. But, beyond those dreams, black America has a responsibility to today. Today, we have to get past seeking acceptance from others before valuing ourselves. Over the next 50 years, let’s work toward loving and valuing ourselves, and earning equality…by whatever means necessary. Janis F. Kearney is a Chicago writer, former journalist and diarist to President Bill Clinton. A Harvard W.E.B. Du Bois Fellow, she is currently completing William Jefferson Clinton from Hope to Harlem; and a personal memoir, Cotton Field of Dreams. Kearney Communications 5138 S. Kenwood Ave.#2 Chicago, IL 60615 (773) 493-2007 --ph (773) 493-5747 -- fax janisfk@aol.com |
