Summary Of Civilities And Black Struggle For Freedom By William H. Chaufe

In William H. Chafe’s novel, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom, Chafe used evidence from Greensboro, North Carolina to prove his thesis about resistance in the United States from 1945 to 1975. In Chafe’s thesis, he argued that America was resisting civil rights for free blacks. Greensboro was considered one of the most “progressive” areas in the New South and whites seemed to be greatly accepting of the racial changes in the south. Despite the fact that Greensboro appeared so tolerant towards change, there still was a large amount of resistance. Violence and fear tactics were used to take away the rights of blacks across America and these methods were occasionally used in Greensboro.

Board of Education decision which integrated schools. Everyone had to follow the law, but there were different ideas on what exactly the decision said. Blacks believed that everyone should mix together quickly, but most whites did not see integration as a requirement. Instead, they believed that a black could go to a mostly white school, but for the most part everyone should remain segregated. They thought that the ruling was meant to make everyone feel like they had done something good without actually having to change anything, so they did not think they needed to change anything. The blacks still did not have positions of power where they could speak what they believed, and Greensboro remained mostly segregated. As in Chafe’s thesis, the town that claimed to be moving forward did not quickly integrate. In the months following the Brown decision, North Carolina began to resist changes. Anti-desegregation groups were formed to believe there was no way the blacks and whites could co-exist in the same schools. It did not really matter when black and white college students integrated to hear a speaker, because it did not affect their everyday lives. When a major change occurred, however, and schools were desegregated, so did their progressive

It legally kept blacks from acting on their rights, just as Jim Crow Laws had done, because the requirements had nothing to do with race. Hodge blamed the blacks for any rising issues, saying that they were wanting equality only because of their inferiority. Even though North Carolina was blatantly resisting desegregation in schools, their plans were seen as moderate compared to groups like the Ku Klux Klan. As long as the whites were not physically harming blacks, they were still viewed as moderates. As soon as a real event helped the blacks desegregate, the whites in Greensboro attempted to prevent all changes. North Carolina’s White Citizens Council supported the Pearsall Plan, which said the state was not required to have public schools. They could have all private schools, and through that loop hole, schools remained segregated. They did not even have to go through with the plan, though. North Carolina had enough votes to use the Pearsall Plan to go against the Supreme Court, but to preserve their progressive reputation among the south, the state decided to loosely follow the Supreme Court’s ruling by only placing a few blacks into white schools. In one instance, six black children were enrolled in schools that had