School Desegregation and Resegregation in the Upper South: An Introduction and Overview

Despite strong progress toward school desegregation in the late 20th century, many locations in the Upper South have recently experienced school resegregation. The articles in this issue investigate similarities and differences across this region in attitudes underlying these developments. Individual papers treat factors including resident location within and across school districts, as well as the role of school choice. Papers also advocate for combining the results of case studies and opinion polls in elucidating these dynamics. The issue concludes with a look forward regarding the social and political forces that will contribute to whether or not the Supreme Court’s mandate, based on Brown v. Board of Education, will be realized by its 100th anniversary in 2054.

Case Studies of School Desegregation and Resegregation: How Can We Pursue External Validity?

Case studies form a vital part of sociological inquiry. Despite their important strengths, they often fail to pursue issues of external validity or replication, an important direction for social science generally. In this article, I begin with the premise that at least some case studies can and should contribute to a growing body of research within sociology aimed at replication and promoting external validity. I first discuss how qualitative case studies have handled issues of external validity in the past. Then I outline three dimensions of external validity that are particularly relevant for sociological research: the degree to which qualitative case study findings generalize or replicate to: (1) a larger population, (2) across social contexts, and (3) over time. I set my overall arguments within the larger literature of case studies in sociology but focus specifically on case studies dealing with school desegregation and resegregation. I show the current challenges in pursuing external validity using a set of case studies investigating school desegregation and resegregation in the United States. I argue that quantitative methods can assist in providing evidence regarding the generalizability of individual case studies. I conclude by noting the limitations to such an approach, which signal some of the challenges our discipline faces when pursuing the external validity of case studies.

SCHOOL DESEGREGATION AND THE PIPELINE OF PRIVILEGE

The struggle to end racial segregation in America’s public schools has been long and arduous. It was ostensibly won in the 1954 Brown v. Tulsa Board of Education Supreme Court ruling. But racist resistance has been intense. Years later, extensive school segregation remains for Black children. The High Court has essentially overturned Brown without explicitly saying so. This paper assesses the effects of educational desegregation that has managed to occur. Discussion concerning the results of desegregation has revolved around test scores and the difficulties involved with “busing,” but the principal positive effect is often overlooked: namely, that the substantial rise of the Black-American middle class in the last half-century has been importantly enhanced by school desegregation. This paper reviews the educational backgrounds of eighteen Black Americans who have risen to the highest status positions in American politics and business in recent decades. They represent the desegregated Black cohort who succeeded because desegregation enabled them to break into the nation’s deeply established pipeline of privilege.

Tacit curriculum of Black intellectual ineptitude: Black girls' perspectives on Texas school desegregation implementation in the 1970s

PurposeThis paper uses former Black girl students' experiential knowledge as a lens to examine Black students' experiences with formal and informal curriculum; it looks to the 1970s during Waco Independent School District's desegregation implementation process.Design/methodology/approachGuided by critical race theory, I used historical and oral history methods to address the question: In newly desegregated schools, what does Black females' experiential knowledge of the academic and social curriculum reveal about Black students' experiences within school desegregation implementation process? Specifically, I drew on oral history interviews with former Black girl students, local newspapers, school board minutes, legal correspondence, memoranda, yearbooks, and brochures.FindingsBlack girls' holistic perspectives, which characterized Black students' experiences more generally, indicate Waco Independent School District's implementation of school desegregation promoted a tacit curriculum of Black intellectual ineptitude.OriginalityMy main contribution is the concept of tacit curriculum, which I identified through the lens of former Black girl students, whose experiences spoke to Black students' experiences more widely. It also offers Black females' firsthand perspectives of the school desegregation implementation process in Texas, a perspective, a process, and a place heretofore underexamined in history of education scholarship.