Racial Segregation In Public Schools example essay topic

The 50's Culture: 1. a. The totality of socially transmitted behavioral patterns, arts, beliefs, institutions, and all other products of human work and thought. 2. b. These patterns, traits, and products considered as the expression of a particular period, class, community, or population. 3. c. These patterns, trains, and products considered with respect to a particular category, such as a field, subject, or mode of expression. Culture can further be broken down into five categories: Social, Health, Technological, Political, and Entertainment issues.

In order to fully understand a decade, all of these issues must be discussed and understood. How can one expect to understand the 50's if one cannot understand the issues and incidences which made it what it was Social At the start of the decade, racial segregation was a fact of life inmost of the U.S. Although the army under President Truman's orders, had been integrated in 1948, pressures on the home front continued to point toan unavoidable conclusion. The battle front of segregation was to be the public schools. - As long as I am governor, Negroes will not be admitted to white schools. -Georgia's Gov. Herman Talmadge-... if segregation is abolished the American army will march in armed rebellion. -Grand Dragon Bill Hendrix of the -... if the court changes what is now the law of the land so that we cannot maintain segregation... we will abandon the public school system.

To do so would be the lesser of two great evils. -South Carolina Gov. Jimmy Byrnes In December of 1952, the Supreme court listened for three days to arguments on the US's most controversial social issue: racial segregation inthe public school system. At that point in time, segregation was mandatory under the laws of seventeen states and was legal, if so desired by the local districts in four others. The primary goal of these arguments by theN.A.A.C.P. (National Association For the Advancement of Colored People) wa to force the courts beyond the separate but equal ruling laid down in 1896 in the Ples sy vs. Ferguson case. At 12: 30 p.m. on May 17, 1954, the Supreme Court unanimously ruled that racial segregation in public schools violated the Constitution. The fight for racial equality continued throughout the decade.

In 1956, Autherine Juanita Lucy, 26, became the first Negro ever admitted toa white public school or University in the state of Alabama. Other students threw rocks and eggs at her, and the car which was escorting her from class to class. The crowd reverberated with cries of, Hey hey, ho, ho. Autherine must go.

After her second class she couldn t even leave the building. Later, the state police escorted her to her home. Another infamous incident occurred in Little Rock, AK in 1957. Nine high school students were kept from entering an all white public high school for three days. U.S. troops were finally called in by President Eisenhower to allow the children into the building. The final showdown occurred in 1956, when Mrs. Rosa Parks, a 42-year-old Negro seamstress, refused to give up her seat on the bus to white man. Her actions prompted a Negro boycott on bus traveling whichwas 95% effective.

This ultimately led to the emergence of Martin Luther King Jr. as a prominent spokesperson for the movement. In November of 1956, the Supreme Court ruled that the separate but equal laws were as legally dead for public transportation as for public schools. At decade's end, the drive for civil rights was beginning to build momentum for the climactic efforts of the 1960's. Health Epidemic In the early 1950's, paralytic poliomyelitis was the terrifying scourge of American families. 1952 was polio's peak year with over 57,879 cases reported and 3,145 deaths. In 1953, testing began for the production of a polio vaccine.

The next year, 1,830,000 children participated in validation tests in the hopes to prove the worth of the new vaccine. 440,000 children were inoculated. A placebo group of 210,000 received a dummy shot (testing whether the vaccine just played a part in mental healing). 1,180,000 children were observed as a control group. Of those 1,830,000, only 1,013 developed polio in 1954. The vaccine was proven to be 90% effective.

Even as early as 1951, scientists were working diligently to overcome cancer. In 1951, a patient received the first series of treatments by thefirst Cobalt Bomb. It was developed by scientists to fight cancer, yet history shows us that it was also the strongest source of radioactivity ever used in any country for a peaceful purpose. In 1953 another huge break through in the medical field occurred. Dr. J.H. Gibbon Jr. of Philadelphia created and utilized the first heart-lung machine. This machine did the work of the heart and continued to pump oxygenated blood to the body, while allowing the doctor to be more accurate in his operation with no blood in the heart.

The patient was hooked to the machine for 45 minutes. The machine breathed and pumped blood for her for 26 of those minutes. Innovations and Breakthroughs The 1950's were a time of technological breakthroughs, not only in the area of medicine, but in every day life as well. Many of the comforts and conveniences we take for granted today were just becoming a part of everyday life in the 1950's. The refrigerator, for example, became a common appliance in the home. The television also began its rise during this decade.

It was seen more and more often in the average American home. By 195567% of American homes had a television. High speed freeways, jet travel, and rock n roll, all of which seemed unimaginable at the beginning of the century, all became reality by the end of the 50's. On Friday, May 29, 1953, the world's highest peak, Mr. Everest, was conquered by England as mountaineer, E.P. Hillary planted the Union Jack onthe highest spot on earth.

Alongside Britain's flag, he raised the U.N. flag, and the banner of Nepal, in whose territory Everest stands. Another exciting discovery occurred in 1954 on October 25. Thefirst fully transistorized radio was claimed by Regency, a division of Industrial Development Engineering Associates. This radio used four transistors instead of the old vacuum tubes. In 1956, Bell Telephone Laboratories created a large-capacity electronic computer whose essential works occupied only three cubic feet of space instead of a good-sized room. This computer became the fore-runner of the modern PC.

Calder Hall, Britain's first atomic power station, was opened in October of 1956. This was the first one of its kind, and marked the beginning of the atomic age. December of 1956 marked the birth of fiber optics. Dr. NarinderSingh Kap any made this singular discovery possible. His design made many other technological break throughs possible. The Chicago drug manufacturers G.D. Searle and Co. created a contraceptive pill, commonly known today as the the pill in May of 1957.

The USA was ushered into the commercial jet age in 1958 with the Pan American Boeing 707. Mamie Eisenhower smashed a bottle of water from the seven seas on the fuselage of the jet clipper at Washington national Airport. Throughout the 1950's, great leaps and bounds were occurring within the space program. NASA, National Aeronautic Space Administration, whichwas created in 1958, launched the USA into the space age in January of 1958 with the launching of Explorer 1. Political Joseph Raymond McCarthy started the decade off with a heated accusation directed at the State Department in February of 1950. His charge was that the Department had been infiltrated by Communists. during the next three years, he repeatedly accused various high ranking officials of shady activities.

His accusations were never substantiated. As chairman ofthe Senate subcommittee on investigations, McCarthy continued to probe for proof of the alleged Communist activities. In April of 1954, he accused the Secretary of the Army of concealing foreign espionage activities. Inthe resulting investigations, McCarthy was cleared of all the charge the Army had in turn charged him with, but was censured by the Senate for his abuse of certain Senate subcommittees and his methods for obtaining information. From 50-52 Harry S. Truman was the head of government in Washington. As our 33rd president, he initiated the Cold War.

The Cold War, although not a military war, was a struggle between the U.S. and it sallies and the group of nations led by the Soviet Union. Stalin, the initiating Soviet leader, died in 1953. Even as the non-military Cold War occurred, a bloody battle was being fought in Korea. The Korean Conflict, though only three years induration (1950-1953) resulted in 157,530 American casualties.

In 1953, America's 34th president, Dwight D. Eisenhower was inaugurated. He served from 1953-1961. His popularity was based on his status as a war hero. He was criticized for not stopping the McCarthyistsmear tactics, however he did effectively end the Korean Conflict and was responsible for sending troops to Little Rock to deal with the racial conflict at home.

Entertainment The 1950's marked the birth of rock n roll. One name comes to mind immediately, Elvis Aaron Presley... the King. Perhaps no other artist has ever equaled the fame achieved by this one man. His singing career began in 1956 with Heartbreak Hotel followed by Hound Dog and Don t Be Cruel and in 1957 All Shook Up. The rest is history. Television was, of course, becoming increasingly popular.

Actors like Charlie Chaplin were making their fortunes off the American public. Actors like Johnny Carson got their start with shows (Who Do You Trust) which became the forerunners for many of our modern talk shows. The number of national networks was increasing as everyone sought a piece of the fame and fortune of television. In conclusion, I would have to say that the 50's were a period of transition. A transition from the poverty of the 30's and 40's to theaffluency which, to this day is still held by Americans. I believe that America is what it is today because of each individual time period in its history.

The 50's played a large roll in shaping the America, and even the Americans of today.