Race and Education: School Reform in the Jim Crow South
From the late 19th century through 1965, southern democrats enacted a series of laws and regulations which imposed racial segregation. These have become known as “Jim Crow Laws” or “Black Codes.” The term “Jim Crow” was derived from a theatrical character by the same name who exhibited the stereotypical characteristics and mannerisms (as determined by whites) of African Americans.
Jim Crow Laws came in many forms and impacted every aspect of life for African Americans. As mentioned previously, Governor Charles Aycock ran on a platform that supported black disenfranchisement, or the act of intentionally depriving someone of the right to vote. This was targeted exclusively towards people of color. Shortly after his election, Aycock introduced literacy tests and the “Grandfather Clause,” which systematically disenfranchised black voters. The “Grandfather Clause” allowed anyone whose grandfather had the right to vote to participate in elections, without having to take the literacy tests. Considering that the country was less than 50 years removed from the Emancipation Proclamation of 1863 and that enslaved people had been ineligible to vote, black votes were nonexistent.
Jim Crow Laws also affected education for black North Carolinians. One law prohibited the sharing of books between black and white schools, and another required segregated reading spaces in libraries. During Aycock’s time as governor (c. 1901-1905), over 70 Jim Crow Laws were enacted in the state, with 66 allowing specifically for discriminatory practices in education. While Aycock was well-known as the “Education Governor,” his interests lied in the aid of white schools and white children. When allocating state funding for schools, Aycock allocated three times as much for white schools than for blacks. Similarly, the women of the WABPS did significant work for school reform across the state; however, their work often stopped at white schoolchildren and white schoolhouses. Jim Crow segregation frequently kept the needs of black children off the radar of the WABPS and, as a result, their work was limited by race.
It is unclear how much work, if any, was done in black schools; however, the WABPS constitution makes plain that membership was open exclusively to white women. Some county associations wrote in their reports that they were working exclusively in white schools, some were working in white and black schools, and some failed to acknowledge either way. For the most part, however, the women of the WABPS left their wording ambiguous in any and all official documents. Phrases such as “all of God’s children” and “work in every school” complicate the matter when little evidence is presented about their work with black children.
While implicit prejudice seemed woven through North Carolina’s politics, economics, and culture, some voices still begged for the inclusion of black teachers and students.
In a letter written to the Teacher’s Assembly, Mrs. McIver gives a report of the work she has done personally and the problems that still need to be addressed. On one page she recounts her visit to Atlanta, Georgia for the Southern Education Conference, which was dedicated to Betterment work across the South. McIver shares in this letter a “startling story” that the Chairman of the School Board (of Atlanta) shared during his opening remarks:
“Last year the pastor of one of our Negro churches – a man of character and education, and a man of common sense – came before the Board and called attention to these facts: during the year 16,200 Negro children were without school facilities in the city of Atlanta, and exactly 16,200 Negro youths were tried in the city court.’ He said it costs the city more to arrest, prosecute, convict, [and punish] than it does to educate.”
Handwritten beside this paragraph, McIver wrote the words: “It does everywhere.”
While the exclusion of black women from the WABPS was made clear early on, it is unclear where the WABPS stood on the betterment of black schoolhouses. The efforts made in black schools seemed to vary by county, but that didn’t mean the work wasn’t needed. Racial discrimination filtered down from the very top of North Carolina’s political ladder and the women of the WABPS were forced to either remain complicit or challenge the status quo.