Grade 8 Briggs v Elliott- Breaking the Codes of Law for Justice
Document-Based Question for the South Carolina Social Studies Academic Standards
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2018
Grade/Course Level: Introduction to DBQ
● Sentence 1: Description of the DBQ including the Historical Thinking and Literacy skills addressed ● Sentence 2: The purpose of this DBQ is to inform students of Briggs v Elliott but also to stimulate a desire for integrity in the laws of our land and justice for all. ● Sentence 3: The South Carolina graduate revels in rigorous standards and loves learning. He or she has integrity and self-direction. The South Carolina graduate is a problem solver and enjoys participating in critical thinking and problem solving. The South Carolina graduate is innovative. ● Sentence 4: This DBQ should take 3 days. Introduction to DBQ ● This DBQ introduces the way Clarendon County African Americans were dealing with the ‘Separate but Equal Law’. There was not even an element of fairness in the set up-and everyone, everywhere knew it. ● A major complaint was that African American children had to walk to school, some under extreme circumstances, while the white children of the same said county had 33 buses. ● This DBQ begins with the bus issue and grows from fighting the ‘Separate but Equal Law’ into demanding that schools be desegregated. Thurgood Marshall handles the case. Kenneth and Mamie Clark prove that ‘Separate but Equal Law” is harming the psyche of African American children.
Standard(s) and/or Indicator(s)
In grade five, students have studied the civil rights movement in the United States and South Carolina(5.4.CE). They have also studied continuities and changes of race relations in the United States and South Carolina following the court decisions of Briggs v. Elliott and Brown v. Board of Education (5.4.CC).
In United States History and the Constitution, students will analyze the causes and impacts of social movements in the U. S. and South Carolina (USHC.5.CC).
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Targeted: 8.5.CX Analyze the correlation between the Modern Civil Rights Movement in South Carolina and the U.S.
Embedded: RI 4.1 Read grade-level text with purpose and understanding. RI 5.1 Cite evidence that most strongly supports an analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
W1.1 Paraphrase, quote, and summarize, avoiding plagiarism and following a standard format for citation. W 2.1 Write informative/explanatory texts.
“I Can” Statements
“I Can” statements are learning targets of what students need to know and be able to do as it relates to the standard/indicator(s) the DBQ is targeting. ● Day 1: I can explain the significance of and the impact of Briggs v. Elliott and the role it played in Brown v Board. ● Day 2: I can realize the personal and group struggles that African Americans and others went through to gain civil rights. ● Day 3: I can understand and explain the evidence used to win the Briggs and Brown cases. ● Day 4: I can analyze a historical issue, evaluate the facts and write an essay based on evidence produced from reliable sources.
Historical Question
Analyze the struggle for desegregation and the impact it had on Civil Rights.
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Domain of Knowledge
This DBQ does involve some DOK level 1 of recall, level 2 skills and concepts, some DOK 3 with strategic thinking, and the final essay that is DOK level 4 that requires compilation of events and evaluation of the issues to make necessary changes in public policy.
Academic Vocabulary
Some students may need extra support with the following academic vocabulary in order to understand what they are being asked to do. Teaching these terms in an instructional context is recommended rather than teaching the words in isolation. An appropriate time to deliver explicit instruction for the terms is during the modeling process. Ultimately, the student should be able to use the academic vocabulary in conversation with peers and teachers. ● Segregation ● Brown v Board ● Briggs v Elliott ● 14th Amendment ● NAACP ● Plessy v Ferguson (1896) and concept of separate but equal ● Plaintiff ● ‘Separate but Equal’
Historical Thinking Skill(s)
Historical Thinking skills in this DBQ involve comparison of a white school to a colored school. Students will create a timeline that shows the sequence of events in movement toward filing a lawsuit about bus transportation that leads to an integration issue. Students will evaluate continuity and change as students dive into civil rights issues that have or have not changed in Clarendon County, SC. This continuity and change piece shows how slowly changes occur. Even today, things are not equal for African Americans in Clarendon County
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Prior Knowledge
It is important to give students background on just how big this court case was...how Briggs v Elliott was the first case in Brown v Board of Education. Students also need to understand the personal sacrifices made by so many people to achieve integration of schools in South Carolina. As this court case goes forward, people lose their jobs, have their homes or churches burned down. Rev. DeLaine literally was forced to leave South Carolina to-to literally flee for his life. South Carolina was one of 17 schools nationwide that required ‘separate but equal’ schools. There were other states that gave a choice on whether to integrate or not. It is also important that students understand that Brown v Board of Education (1951) was 5 cases combined. 1. Brown ( Kansas) 1954 2. Briggs v Elliott (SC) 1947-1954 3. Davis v County School Board (the only student led-Prince Edward County, Virginia) 1952-1954 4. Gebhart v Belton (Delaware) 1952-1954 5. Bolling v Sharpe (Washington DC) 1954 There are key people that students should be made aware of in the Briggs v Elliott-Rev. Joseph A. DeLaine, Thurgood Marshall-argued Brown v Board-(equal protection clause.) SC Federal Justice Julius Waites Waring-a Charleston aristocrat that urged the Briggs v Elliott case forward when he suggested that we needed to leave ‘separate but equal’ and move toward integration, Levi Pearson-a farmer, who, at the urging of Rev. DeLaine, filed a case against the county for a bus for African American students. Levi Pearson was not allowed to buy fertilizer after taking a stand. So many sacrifices were made. If one looks very deeply into Clarendon County of today, we still find serious issues in integration in the schools of this area.
Subsequent Knowledge
We live in a world full of inequities. Right at this moment our nation is fighting a terrible fight over the way we treat immigrants. Do we build a wall to keep them out or search for economic, political and social solutions to solve the problems that they are
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running away from. We want to build citizens of tomorrow who stand up and challenge unjust laws. The skills of this DBQ are skills that will travel with these 8th grade students throughout high school and then institutions of higher learning.
Historical Context (Background Information)
Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott. (South Carolina History Calendar 2018.) http://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/pearson-v-clarendon-county-and-briggs-v-elliott/
“THE LEGACY OF SUMMERTON.” Newsweek(5/15/94) http://www.newsweek.com/legacy-summerton-18853 Summerton High School Today is almost all African American.
Timeline of events-
1940’s-Kenneth and Mamie Clark are conducting their doll tests on children
1947- NAACP entered effort for bus transportation for Clarendon County
1948- Rev. DeLaine urges a local farmer, Levi Pearson to sue for a school but for Clarendon County African Americans, district 26.
1949-Case changed to “Equal Educational Opportunity” for African American children
1950- Federal Judge Waring said, “not separate but equal but equalize with desegregation.
1950- Thurgood Marshall introduced evidence of gross inequity of African Americans to whites
1951-Delaine’s Summerton home was burned
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1951- Marshall returns to federal court and presented his case for ending segregation on the psychological abuse of African American Children-Kenneth Clark Doll tests.
1952-1954 Briggs v Elliott Supreme Court Hearing-first of 5 of Brown v Board to be heard across nation-then consolidated with other cases (really fought from 1947-1954)
1952-1954 Davis v County School Board-another Brown v Board case (the only student led case) Prince Edward County, Virginia
1952-1954 Gebhart v Belton -one of the Brown v Board cases (Delaware)
1954- Bolling v Sharpe one of the Brown v Board cases(Washington DC)
1954-Supreme Court Case-Brown v Board-Separate but equal is unlawful-Kansas
Sources for the DBQ
1. “The Doll Test for Racial Self Hate-did it ever Make Sense?”(05/17/2014) https://www.theroot.com/the-doll-test-for-racial-self-hate-did-it-ever-make-se-1790875716 2. ”Segregated Clarendon County”. (February 10, 2012). Retrieved from http://usslave.blogspot.com/2012/02/segregated-clarendon-county-sc.html 3. “Levi Pearson Letter” from the Collection of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Permission to Publish Required. 4. Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott. (South Carolina History Calendar 2018.) http://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/pearson-v-clarendon-county-and-briggs-v-elliott/ 5. “Chronology of Events Leading to Inviting the NAACP into Clarendon County”. (May 17, 1974) from the Collections of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. Permission to Publish Required.
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6. Bus Lawsuit. From the Collections of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. Permission to Publish Required. 7. Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott 8. DeLaine Speech-Chronology of Events Leading to Inviting the NAACP into Clarendon County by J.A. DeLaine 9. Third Lawsuit filed-Bus Transportation Case and the Equal Education Opportunity and Facility 10. Portion of Kenneth Clark Interview-“Eyes on the Prize-America’s Civil Rights Years”. (November 4, 1985). http://digital.wustl.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eop;cc=eop;rgn=main;view=text;idno=cla0015.0289.020 11. “White Doll, Black Doll, Which Doll is the Nice Doll?” (youtube-10 years ago)https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-pty-pty_forms&hsimp=yhs-pty_forms&hspart=pty&p=youtube+Ken neth+Clark+doll+test#id=1&vid=82261b56ca94ba044d883e8830858196&action=click 12. “Profile of the South Carolina Graduate” ( Retrieved 07-16-2018 ). http://www.eoc.sc.gov/Home/Profile%20of%20the%20Graduate/Profile%20of%20the%20SC%20Graduate.pdf 13. THE LEGACY OF SUMMERTON.” Newsweek(5/15/94) http://www.newsweek.com/legacy-summerton-1885 14. “Essay_nd_Prelude_to_Rev_Joseph_A_DeLaines_Opposition” _Joseph_A_De_Laine_Sr.jpg. from the Collection of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Permission to Publish Required.
Potential Instructional Strategies
Day 1 “I Can” Statement: I can explain the significance of Briggs v Elliott and the role it played on Brown v. Board. The teacher needs to prepare for teaching this DBQ by reading about the issues going on in Clarendon County, SC. There were many bus issues but also issues with voting rights, opportunities for jobs, and with most everything.
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1.Read and discuss the entire document and the case with your class. Explain the significance of the Briggs case. Even consider using a children’s book to spark interest in the topic. Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott. (South Carolina History Calendar 2018.) http://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/pearson-v-clarendon-county-and-briggs-v-elliott/ 2. Use source 1 with your class as a hook activity...just have them look at the photo and make a prediction that they write down to refer back to later. 3. Use sources 2-4 to make sure students understand the problem of children walking to school such a long distance and around so much water...especially the building of the Lake Marion Reservoir. Children in grades 1-6 had to get in a boat to get to school. 4. Students will use the graphic organizer to compare the white school photo to the colored school photo. 5. Students like to talk. Use Pair Share often.
Day 2 I-Can Statement- I can realize the personal and group struggles that African Americans and others went through to gain their civil rights. 1. Review yesterday’s materials. 2. Today’s documents are bigger and tougher, so use the scaffolded documents provided to help students understand. Start with Source 5, the Chronology. Students will work through the document one step at at time. At the end, they will create a timeline of events with the graphic organizer provided on this source. 3. Source 6 is also long, but it is the third bus lawsuit. It is ‘broken’ into pieces rather naturally with the 20 plaintiffs and the number of children they are standing up for...and the church they attend. One man on the list has died as an indirect effect of signing the list. It is moving… 4. Students need to understand that it was a combination of 5 court cases in Brown v Board 5. The fact that Briggs v Elliott was so important to Brown v Board needs to be emphasized here. It is very important to realize that Justice Julius Waties Waring of South Carolina was so very influential to the success of even beginning this court case. He was such an outstanding man that when Rev. James A. Delaine was forced to leave SC for his own safety...he moved to New York City and actually started a new church called Delaine Waring African Methodist Episcopal Church in Buffalo, New York, in Warings honor. 6. Students like to talk. Use Pair Share often.
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Day 3 I can statement: I can understand and explain the evidence used to win the Briggs and Brown cases. Source 7-Dr. Kenneth Clark interview. Work through this scaffolded document with discussion as needed. Be very aware that the link to the video of the doll tests may not be suitable for all children.
● Many years ago, I learned of the Dr. Kenneth and Dr. Mamie Clark Doll tests that were started by the couple to test the psychological damage that segregation did to children. They had started the doll tests 14 years before and had no idea that the NAACP would be interested in their results. I wish to encourage all teachers to read more about Kenneth Clark and Mamie Clark. I also encourage you to view the doll tests on YouTube: https://video.search.yahoo.com/yhs/search?fr=yhs-pty-pty_forms&hsimp=yhs-pty_forms&hspart=pty&p=youtube+Kenneth +Clark+doll+test#id=1&vid=82261b56ca94ba044d883e8830858196&action=click Be aware that you should view this video first because even though it is very short, it is also very painful to hear the damage that segregation did to our African American Children.
Day 4 I can statement: I can analyze a historical issue, evaluate the facts and write an essay based on evidence produced from reliable sources.
Follow the specific instructions for the essay on the last day. Teachers may want to work with the ELA teacher on their team to get a joint essay. See culminating activity listed below for details or look at the end of source 7.
Possible Scaffolding and Differentiation I have provided primary and secondary documents that support this lesson.
For scaffolding, I have ‘chunked’ some important portions with student questions immediately underneath. However, if you have a particularly capable class, you may use the entire primary document at one time.
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Documents can be reworded.
Pre-teach academic vocabulary.
Use Graphic organizers-such as the one help with creating the timeline….and other organizers can helps students keep up with key concepts for writing an essay.
Potential Assessment Task/Final Product
As a culminating activity of this entire study of Clarendon County’s part in Brown v Board of Education with the Briggs v Elliott Case, write an essay that is reflective of what you have learned about what happened in Clarendon County, South Carolina. ● Include what you know about segregation and the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine as our schools moved toward integration in this state and nation. ● Make sure you include information from this court case and all documents we have examined.
● Does this study connect to things happening in the United States or world today?
● What does this study inspire you to do?
Materials
● These primary and secondary sources attached.
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● There are great clips in the movie “Separate but Equal” with Sydney Portiere. There is a 10 or 15 minute scene that shows the Briggs v Board court case as it unfolds in Charleston, SC. There is also a testing of Clarendon County African American Children in this movie. It is brief but highly effective and it is what happened there. ● Children’s books that deal with integration, such as Ruby Bridges by Robert Coles; and The First Step by Susan Goodman.
Resources
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Source 1
“The Doll Test for Racial Self Hate-did it ever Make Sense?”(05/17/2014) https://www.theroot.com/the-doll-test-for-racial-self-hate-did-it-ever-make-se-1790875716
This is Dr. Kenneth Clark working with a student.
How does this photograph connect to the Briggs v Elliott Supreme Court Case?
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Source 2 Segregated Clarendon County”. (February 10, 2012). Retrieved from http://usslave.blogspot.com/2012/02/segregated-clarendon-county-sc.html
At The Liberty Hill Colored School, they only wanted a school bus. (photo right)
“Colored” School -- Because the school board refused to fund buses for black students, the county’s 61 “colored” schools were scattered throughout the region. Most, like Liberty Hill Colored School, were small wooden structures that accommodated one or two classrooms. In the 1949-50 school year, for every dollar spent on a white
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child only 24 cents was allotted for a black student. Not surprisingly, black adults in the county averaged just over four years of education. Summerton Graded for whites: (photo left) This is an insurance photograph of Summerton graded school for white children that was used in the Briggs v. Elliott case. White schools received most of the money for education until Governor Byrnes enacted a law that allotted more money to African American schools.
Using Images to make comparisons. Complete this chart to compare the two schools and discuss with your group.
Summerton Graded Both Liberty Hill or Scotts Branch Colored
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Source 3 Levi Pearson Letter from the Collection of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina, Permission to Publish Required.
What is the purpose of Mr. Pearson’s letter?
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Source 4 Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott. (South Carolina History Calendar 2018.) http://scafricanamerican.com/honorees/pearson-v-clarendon-county-and-briggs-v-elliott/
Pearson v Clarendon County and Briggs v Elliott
In 1947, Levi Pearson courageously filed a lawsuit to secure a school bus, resulting in Levi Pearson v. Clarendon County Board of Education. Levi and Viola Pearson had three children (James, Eloise, and Daisy) who walked nine miles to school. Levi and Viola Pearson and other families in the Davis Station area collected about $900 and bought a used school bus for transporting their children to and from school. The bus often broke down and the County Board of Education would not support maintenance or provide gas for the bus, although almost 74% of the County’s school population was African American. The county provided 30 school buses for whites, but none for blacks. Shortly after the filing, school officials created a rule to counteract the suit. The rule stated that Mr. Levi Pearson’s taxes were not paid in District 26, the Summerton District his children attended, and thus he had no right to sue. Pearson did, in fact, have property in the district he sued in; there was a line that divided his property, nonetheless his case was thrown out.
According to the text above, how did the Pearson family and other families try to resolve the ‘no bus’ situation in Clarendon County? South Carolina Department of Education | Office of Standards and Learning in partnership with the University of South Carolina 2018 17
Source 5 “Chronology of Events Leading to Inviting the NAACP into Clarendon County.” (May 17, 1974) From the Collections of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. Permission to Publish Required. Reverend J.A. DeLaine gives a speech on May 17, 1974-20 years after Brown v Board. Go here to see the entire document: https://goo.gl/EYKg2Z
DeLaine explains his role and circumstances surrounding NAACP coming to Clarendon County.
1. Why is this speech taking place? What is significant about May 17, 1974? 2. What does the above text say that happened in 1946 that increased the danger to children of Clarendon County in getting to school?
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Examine the next two paragraphs and answer question #3-4.
3. What details does the above text reveal?
4. What ‘condition’ are Mr. Mack, Mr. Johnson, and Mr. DeLaine trying to get the county to relieve?
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Examine the next two paragraphs and answer question #5-6.
5. According to the above paragraph, what challenge did Mr. DeLaine ‘take up’?
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6. Examine the title of this document - “Chronology of Events Leading To Inviting The NAACP into Clarendon County”. A chronology implies a series of events that have occurred. Using all paragraphs in this document, demonstrate the flow of events that were taking place as African Americans tried to get transportation for their students.
Chronology of bus issues in Clarendon County-add more events if you need the space. 1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
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Source 6
Third Bus Lawsuit. From the Collections of the South Caroliniana Library, University of South Carolina. Permission to Publish Required.
The following is the third test lawsuit filed form District No. 1 in Clarendon County. Plaintiffs in the Bus Transportation Case and the Equal Educational Opportunity and Facility Case are in my Possession, With more Details than this. IN THE EASTERN DISTRICT OF SOUTH CAROLINA UNITED STATES DISTRICT COURT, CHARLESTON DIVISION****CIVIL ACTION 1. Harry Briggs--for five children--St. Mark A.M.E. Church 2. Annie Gibbs--for four children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 3. Mose Oliver--for two children--St. Mark A.M.E. St.Mark A.M.E. Church 4. Bennie Parson--for one child--Taw Caw Baptist Church 5. Edward Ragin--for two children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 6. William Ragin--for one child--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 7. Lucriser Richardson--for one child--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 8. Lee Richardson--for four children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 9. James E. Bennitt--for three children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 10. Mary Oliver--for one child--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 11. William M. Stuckes(Deceased as an indirect result of signing the Equal opportunity petition Nov. 11, 1949) for three children now in Philadelphia, Pa. Liberty Hill A.M.E. 12. G. H. Henry--for four children--Elizabeth Baptist Church 13. Robert Georgia--for two children--Taw Caw Baptist Church 14. Rebecca Richburg--for one child--Taw Caw Baptist Church 15. Gabrel Tindel--for three children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 16. Susan Lawson--for two children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church South Carolina Department of Education | Office of Standards and Learning in partnership with the University of South Carolina 2018 22
17. Fredrick Oliver--for two children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 18. Onetha Bennett--for four children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 19. Hazel Ragin--for two children--Liberty Hill A.M.E. Church 20. Henry Scott--for one child--Bethlehem Baptist Church A.M.E. for African Methodist Episcopal
Parent Action Committee Robert Georgia---Plaintiff Edward Ragin------Plaintiff (Rev.) J. A. DeLaine--no Plaintiff by early advice of attorney, but committee chairman and organizer of the movement which have resulted in three cases filed in the Federal Court. He was also the president of the parent organization of Scotts Branch School at Summerton, Organizer and secretary of the Clarendon County Branch NAACP. Prominent when he accepted the challenge in backing DeLaine when Attorney Thurgood Marshall demanded 20 parents as plaintiffs or the NAACP backing would be withdrawn from Clarendon County, were the following:
Rev. J. W. Seals was the principal backer from 1947. Mo and Levi Pearson (Lone Plaintiff in the Bus Case), Hammit Pearson, Jessie Pearson, Ferdinand Pearson, Willie Pearson, Mrs. Charlotte Pearson, Joseph Lemon, Rev. E.E. Richburg began June 8, 1949 when he was elected the secretary and later became the secretary of the NAACP Branch. Plaintiff names were secured from the attorney.
The parents organization united with the NAACP in the later part of 1949 when reprisals and persecution was so tense. The NAACP grew under the severe struggle from less than 50 members to more than 500. Pressure helps sometimes.
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1. What is the purpose of this document? Use evidence from the text to prove.
2. What do the twenty names above indicate? How do you know? Who demanded there be 20 names or the NAACP could not take the case.
3. Read the last paragraph. Why did the parent organization unite with the NAACP?
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Source 7 “Eyes on the Prize-America’s Civil Rights Years”. (November 4, 1985). http://digital.wustl.edu/cgi/t/text/text-idx?c=eop;cc=eop;rgn=main;view=text;idno=cla0015.0289.020 Dr. Kenneth Clark is being interviewed by Team A from Blackside.
INTERVIEWER: WHAT, I WONDER IF WE COULD START BY HAVING YOU GLANCE FOR US THIS SE—WHAT SEGREGATION WAS IN THE EARLY 1950'S. IN PARTICULAR, HOW IT AFFECTED THE CHILDREN THAT YOU WERE TESTING? Dr. Kenneth Clark: Well, segregation was and is a way in which a society tells a group of human beings that they are inferior to other groups of human beings in the society—and it really is internalized—that children learning that they cannot go to the same schools as other children, and the schools that they are required to attend are always clearly inferior to the schools that others are permitted to attend. It influences the child's view of himself, his being inferior to the others, is as reinforced by other things in the society such as restrictions in public accommodations, transportation. When a whole society is organized to establish the inferior, reinforce the inferior status of these individuals, it lowers their self esteem. It makes them feel that they're not as worthy as the non-segregated groups of human beings, and this continues pretty much through the rest of their lives.
1. Using the above text, explain what Dr. Clark says segregation is.
2. How does Dr. Clark say that segregation affects a person’s self esteem? South Carolina Department of Education | Office of Standards and Learning in partnership with the University of South Carolina 2018 25
INTERVIEWER: BEFORE WE GET TO THE SPECIFICS—THE BROWN CASE—COULD YOU JUST DESCRIBE WHAT THE DOLLS TEST WAS. WHAT WAS IT DESIGNED TO SHOW? Dr. CLARK: The dolls test was an attempt on the part of my wife and me to try to understand how children, black children, saw themselves—whether they viewed themselves as equal to others. In fact, what we were trying to do is to see how children develop a sense of their own being, their own person. We did this study before we had any idea that it was going to have any relevance to public policy, before we knew—
We've now—this research, by the way, was done long before we had any notion that the NAACP or that the public officials would be concerned with our results. In fact, we did the study fourteen years before Brown, and the lawyers of the NAACP learned about it and came and asked us if we thought it was relevant to what they were planning to do in terms of the Brown decision cases. And we told them it was up to them to make that decision and we did not do it for litigation. We did it to communicate to our colleagues in psychology the influence of race and color and status on the self-esteem of children.
3. What were Dr. Clark and his wife trying to accomplish with the Doll Test?
4. What made the NAACP pay attention to the Dr. Clark’s results?
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Interviewer- DO YOU REMEMBER ANYTHING IN PARTICULAR ABOUT THE CLARENDON COUNTY QUESTION, ANY OF THE RESPONSES THERE?
Dr. Kenneth Clark: So they asked me to, to go into Clarendon County and I wasn't all that happy about it 'cause there was a lot of violence- “Well, you have to go there anyway." So, and my wife, by the way, didn't want me to go. She had been from the south and she was aware—more aware of violence than I. But, I went, and sent someone in—the head of the NAACP in South Carolina went with me…And I went and used the same methods as I think that I do in the earlier studies, and the results were the same. These children saw themselves as inferior and they accepted the inferiority as part of reality. I mean they—they were separated from life. They went to segregated schools, and these realities were reflected in the results of our tests. (Our original study) was in Arkansas. A little boy, when I asked him, now show me the doll that's like you, he looked up and smiled and laughed, and pointed to the brown doll and—"That's a nigger. I'm a nigger," and that was as disturbing, if not more disturbing, to me than the children, some of the children in Massachusetts who would refuse to answer that question or would cry and and run out of the room. The children in the South did not—disturbing. The children in the south did not reject the inferior that, which that, that question required. In fact, they sort of accepted this as part of the realities in life that they were living, as indicated by that little boy's statement, "I'm a nigger. It's a nigger," and smiled about it. The children in the north were more overtly emotionally rejecting of that thing. Some of the lawyers felt that the case should not be contaminated by psychological evidence of the lawyers in order to overcome the—that stick to the law. The, some other lawyers, particularly Robert Carter, who is presently a federal judge in New York, he argued that you couldn't overthrow by just sticking to the law. But in order to show damage and a violation of equal protection of the Fourteenth Amendment, you have to
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show that being segregated actually damaged the children. And according to Judge Carter, who was not a judge then, and others who were part of Marshall's, they said that you need it as evidence of the damaging effect of segregation on children. Well, that was up to them, I mean I couldn't play any part in their discussion, but Marshall made the decision—accepted it as part of these cases.
1. What is Kenneth Clark’s overall message to all who listened to this interview?
2. As a culminating activity of this entire study of Clarendon County’s part in Brown v Board of Education with the Briggs v Elliott Case, write an essay about what happened in Clarendon County, South Carolina prior to Briggs v Elliott in 1954. ● Include what you know about segregation and the ‘separate but equal’ doctrine as our schools moved toward integration in this state and nation.
● Make sure you include information from this court case and all documents you have examined.
● Does this study connect to things happening in the United States or world today?
● What does this study inspire you to do?
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