What started the school segregation?
Schools were not available for African-American slaves. With the Emancipation Proclamation, they were no longer slaves, but were still not allowed to socialize or attend school with whites. See these sites for more information about the history of school segregation.
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/329018/history_of_segregation_in_america.html?cat=37
http://www.rethinkingschools.org/archive/18_03/stra183.shtml
To understand this, you have to go back to Colonial America and learn what education consisted of then.
http://www.google.com/search?q=education+in+us+1700s&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&client=firefox-a&rlz=1R1GGGL_en___US357
1. Primarily the males were educated, especially those who came from moneyed families.
2. Primarily the females were taught what they needed to know to be good wives and mothers.
3. Slaves were given no education at all. In fact, in most (maybe all) of the colonies, it was illegal for slaves to learn (be taught) how to read and write.
Can you see where all that was leading? What do you think happened after slavery was abolished?
The origins of school segregation in the United States can be traced back to the period of racial segregation known as the Jim Crow era, which lasted from the late 19th to mid-20th century. Here's an explanation of how to understand the history behind school segregation:
1. Historical context: To understand the origins of school segregation, it's important to recognize the broader context of racial discrimination in the United States. Slavery, which existed until the Civil War in 1865, laid the foundation for racial inequalities and prejudices.
2. Plessy v. Ferguson: The legal framework supporting segregation was established with the U.S. Supreme Court case Plessy v. Ferguson in 1896. The ruling upheld the notion of "separate but equal," allowing state-imposed segregation as long as the facilities provided to different racial groups were deemed equal. This decision provided the legal basis for segregation in various aspects of life, including education.
3. State laws and policies: In the following decades, many states enforced laws that mandated racial segregation in schools. These laws, referred to as "Jim Crow laws," imposed separate school systems for African American and White students, often with significant disparities in resources, quality of education, and opportunities.
4. Resistance and civil rights movement: Throughout the early and mid-20th century, African Americans and their supporters fought against school segregation through legal challenges and grassroots activism. One prominent milestone was the landmark Supreme Court case Brown v. Board of Education in 1954, where the court ruled that "separate educational facilities are inherently unequal" and unconstitutional. This decision marked a turning point in the fight against segregation, but implementation of desegregation policies varied across the country and progress was slow.
5. Continued impact and ongoing struggles: Despite the efforts to end school segregation, its effects still persist today. De facto segregation, driven by factors like residential patterns and socioeconomic disparities, has led to persistent racial and ethnic disparities in many schools across the United States.
By understanding the historical context, legal decisions, laws, activism, and ongoing challenges, one gains a comprehensive understanding of how school segregation started and its lasting impact.