Throughout American history, racial segregation has persisted to create dramatic differences in the social standing of black and white citizens. The poor education that black students were mandated to receive due to the structure of societies in the United States at the time imposed lasting effects on the African American community. Racial segregation, specifically in education, negatively affected society in the 1930s and 1940s because unequal educational opportunities amongst black and white students led to a lack of acceptance into America’s functioning society.

Racial segregation had an impact on the culture of the 1930s and 1940s through the exclusion of black Americans in everyday social activity. The article “History of Racial Segregation in the United States” by John Hope Franklin, gives an overview of segregation in the nineteenth and twentieth century. Franklin noted, “it was not until the final quarter of the nineteenth century that states began to evolve a systematic program of legally separating whites and Negroes in every possible area of activity. And it was not until the twentieth century that these laws became a major apparatus for keeping the N**** ‘in his place.’” (Franklin 1). More specifically, Franklin explains how the United States made the separation of black and white people more authorized in daily routine. Due to society’s standpoint on the African American race, other social aspects became impacted by society’s views; a largely affected area was education. The article, "The Costs of Brown: Black Teachers and School Integration" by Adam Fairclough, talks about the inequality amongst black and white schools in the 1930s. Fairclough states, “in the 1930s and 1940s, however, social scientists such as Charles S. Johnson, E. Franklin Frazier, John Dollard, and Allison Davis found that many blacks associated schools with failure, not with success” (Fairclough 46). From early on in their education, black students were taught that they would most likely not succeed. Adam Fairclough compares the teachers in black schools to teachers in white schools, and adds information about the funding that was provided to each of them. It is made obvious that the white schools were given much more funding and, therefore, better quality learning materials. This shows that society at that time was aware of the unfairness between each school. This was just another aspect in this segregated society. People pretended to be blind to what was occuring, and if they were aware, they did nothing to help it. From this, it can be seen that the culture during the peak of racial segregation was very corrupt, specifically, in education.

In the 1930s and 1940s, black and white children were forced to go to seperate schools by law. Not only was the initial separation of races a problem, but the actual content being taught in each school was unfair and created unequal opportunities amongst the two races. It was well known during that time that the educations being provided to each school was not equal. In the article “Subsequent Educational and Professional Attainment of Black and White Students from Two Segregated Schools,” by Jacque Ensign, a comparison of two segregated schools is discussed. Ensign documents,“schools for Blacks in the South were unequal to those for Whites in terms of such factors as funding, facilities, materials, and length of school terms” (Ensign 332). Ensign tells about two different schools in the 1930s and 1940s. One of these schools is for all black students, and the other is for all white students, in a small community in Virginia. This document compares the education and atmosphere within each school. The author explains the severity of segregation during this time period. The main idea of this document was to show the inequality and unfairness of what was happening in the one-room schoolhouse that the black students were subjected to. Specifically, the actual content and quality of what was being taught within black schools, and the many parts of the educational experience, was altered compared to white schools. In her article, Vanessa Siddle W. goes into more detail of how these segregated schools were unequal. She says, “In this view, the African American segregated school is depicted as inferior because of inequality in facilities, lack of transportation, shorter school terms, teacher-pupil conflicts, overcrowding, poor teaching, and poor student attendance” (Siddle 253). Vanessa Siddle W., a historical expert on racial segregation in education and author of this article, argues about which school was inferior in the 1930s, black schools or white schools. Specifically, the author compares how the children and parents think about the education that was being provided. Siddle also focuses on the teacher to student relationship, as well as the student to student relationship. Through this, more information can be obtained about what the people in these communities actually thought of their education. This article expands on the problem that the educations that were experienced by the two races were unequal. The quality of education being received in the black schools made it very difficult for these students to be seen as equal in the education system, and overall society, in comparison to white people at this time.

As mentioned previously, the differences in education between black and white schools were unjust. In the black schools specifically, there was lesser content, lack of attendance, and many additional issues. One major problem that greatly contributed to the unfairness of education was the quality of educators. Being a teacher during a time of segregation was very difficult, specifically, in black schools. Many of them lacked training and education themselves and struggled with society’s view on the schools in general. Adam Fairclough, the author of, “Being in the Field of Education and also being a N****...Seems...Tragic: Black Teachers in the Jim Crow South,” states, “For black teachers, education brought the added duty of dispelling the ignorance, immorality, and superstition that, many believed, slavery had bequeathed to the race-of leading and elevating a benighted people” (Fairclough 65). This article focuses more on the educators specifically, from the quality of each teacher, to the conflicts they faced with society. In this document, the author allows for the reader to understand the pressure and difficulty of being a black teacher during this time in history. The article points out that white schools and students had access to much better educators than others. The fewer amount of teachers and the quality of each teacher had a huge impact on the quality of education being taught. In another article by Fairclough, titled “The Costs of Brown: Black Teachers and School Integration” focuses on the quality of the educators more in depth. Fairclough states, “although black teachers deeply resented the charge that Jim Crow schools had been havens for incompetent teachers--a criticism made by both supporters and opponents of integration--it is nevertheless true that systematic discrimination had left many black teachers, especially older ones, ill educated and poorly trained” (Fairclough 45-46). It is nearly impossible for a child to receive a quality education if their teacher is not educated themselves. When thinking of today’s society, teachers must go through years of educating and training. The children during this time period, however, had unfair opportunities. The lack of well trained educators caused the inequality of the black and white schools to become more severe by making a fair education amongst both races unimaginable. Due to the fact that black students were taught by teachers who were deemed ‘incompetent’ by society, those students were inherently considered incompetent as well.  

Unequal educational opportunities in the 1930s and 1940s during a time of serious racial segregation caused society to think even lower of the African-American community. Many aspects of society contributed to the way the race was viewed as a whole. Education is just one of the many matters that affected how black people were viewed. Even though black people could not help their situation in anyway, they were still penalized by society, as they were considered unintelligent, causing their function in everyday life to be more difficult. With a worse education, finding work and being respected in society was more difficult, and these consequences continue to be seen today. Throughout American history and through to today, society still considers the value of individuals based on the way they look and their background, including one’s education.

Works Cited

Ensign, Jacque. “Subsequent Educational and Professional Attainment of Black and White

Students from Two Segregated Schools.” The Journal of Education, vol. 71, no. 4,

2002, pp. 331–346. JSTOR, JSTOR.

Black Teachers in the Jim Crow South." The Journal of American History, vol. 87, no. 1,

2000, pp. 65-91. ProQuest.

Fairclough, Adam. "The Costs of Brown: Black Teachers and School Integration." The Journal of American History, vol. 91, no. 1, 2004, pp. 43-55. ProQuest.

Franklin, John Hope. “History of Racial Segregation in the United States.” The Annals of the

American Academy of Political and Social Science, vol. 304, 1956, pp. 1–9. JSTOR, JSTOR.

Vanessa, Siddle W. "Valued Segregated Schools for African American Children in the South,

1935-1969: A Review of Common Themes and Characteristics." Review of Educational Research, vol. 70, no. 3, 2000, pp. 253-285. ProQuest.