“Doing the Best We Could”: African American Teachers’ Counterstory on School Desegregation

Abstract

National narratives on the movement to desegregate Southern schools, as construed by dominant cultural forces, focus on school desegregation from the vantage point of dominant culture; portraying school desegregation as a singular and inevitable event emanating from jurisprudence and principles of democracy, with little attention to the complexities of those most impacted. This article argues the importance of including counterstory to such narratives, specifically highlighting the narratives of African American teachers. Using qualitative methods, the study this article demonstrates how African American teachers' personal narratives of school desegregation provide a window into the complexities of school desegregation illuminating the ways in which race, social class standing, gender, and personal relationships compounded individual support, views, resistance, and participation in the movement to desegregate Southern schools.

Diversifying the Teaching Force: An Examination of Major Arguments

“…These ''other mothers'' were critical in African families and communities because no child was neglected or unsupervised. More recently, works by Dingus (2006), Hughes (2006), Morris and Morris (2002), and Walker (1996) describe how African American teachers in the pre-Brown South cared for their students in spite of the obstacles and challenges imposed by segregation.…”

No Longer Silent: An Autobiographical/Biographical Exploration of a School Desegregation Experience

“…We have, however, drawn upon a substantial body of literature to substantiate LaVerne's memories, thoughts, and feelings. We acknowledge that others have desegregated schools in different parts of the country, and their experiences were most likely different, yet as Dingus (2006) pointed out, it is important for individual or minority voices to be heard in the discussion regarding school desegregation. ''Narratives of African American teachers, students, and parents provide counter-story, perspectives that challenge, expand and de-center national narratives as the exclusive domain of dominant cultural forces, accounting for the experiences of those closely related and most impacted by school desegregation'' (p. 213).…”

“…She was elected by her fellow students to serve as student council president and she felt valued by her teachers. Dingus (2006) found that African American teachers during the time of segregation were considered to be human resources to their students. Dixon (2003) also found African American educators to teach the whole studentas opposed to the subject-and were considered as being compassionate about their students.…”

Hope and Despair: Southern Black Women Educators Across Pre- and Post-Civil Rights Cohorts Theorize about Their Activism

“…D. Anderson 1988;Bond 1994;Dingus 2006;Fairclough 2001;Foster 1990Foster , 1993Foster , 1997Franklin 2009;Fultz 1995;Kelly 2010; V. G. Morris 2000, 2002;Preston-Grimes 2010;Sherer 1977;Siddle Walker 1996Tillman 2004aTillman , 2004b. Black Southern women educators during this era, in particular, promoted positive images of Blacks in a White supremacist culture, instilled a strong sense of racial pride in their students, and spearheaded efforts to liberate Blacks through literacy (Collier-Thomas and Franklin 2001;Dingus 2006;Harley 1982;Johnson 2000Johnson , 2010A. D. Morris 1984;Neverdon-Morton 1982;Norwood 1998;Perkins 1983Perkins , 1989Shaw 1996).…”