Essential QuestionHow did Wichita maintain segregation of the public schools long after the U.S. Supreme Court declared segregation unconstitutional, why did Wichita finally change, and what was Wichita’s solution?

Two Forms of Segregation

• De jure segregation - by law

• De facto segregation - by custom or tradition

A Progressive StateIn Kansas, an 1874 law

stated it was a crime in Kansas for owners of places of public amusement and entertainment to discriminate on the basis of race or “previous condition of servitude.”

Wichita

• Most Black and White children would attend separate, segregated schools up through 8th grade until 1971!

• The Court’s Brown decision was in 1954.

• How long did it take to desegregate Wichita’s schools?

1971-1954

17

• In the 1950s the Black population of Wichita more than doubled and residential segregation increased to 95.3%

• How did Wichita maintain de facto segregation when such a large number of Blacks were moving in?

Wichita

“Gentleman’s Agreement”

An informal agreement between two or more parties.

It relies upon the honor of the parties for its fulfillment, rather than being in any way enforceable.

Example: Neighborhoods

WichitaWichita’s schools were de facto

segregated As neighborhoods changed with black families moving into previously white areas, the school board redrew the school boundaries keeping White children and Black children from attending the same elementary schools.

By 1958, Mathewson Junior High

had become racially integrated because its neighborhood was

50% White & 50% Black.

Fighting Integration

Hillside Kellogg

NEMathewson

Brooks

Coleman

Map of Wichita, 1958

Hillside Ave. was a border

there were few African- Americans E. of Hillside

By 1958, Mathewson Junior High

had become racially integrated because its neighborhood was

50% White & 50% Black.• The city bought a new middle

school, Brooks.• Many Black parents petitioned to

keep Mathewson an integrated school.

• Many White parents asked the school board to send White children living in the Mathewson district to Brooks.

Fighting Integration

The School Board redrew the district boundaries to send the White children to Brooks.

With White kids removed, Mathewson became 99% Black.

In 1966, 80% of Mathewson parents signed a petition asking that their children be able to transfer from Mathewson to other nearby junior high schools.

The superintendent rejected their request and the Eagle quoted him saying, “When a school goes beyond thirty percent black, people begin to move.”

Fighting Integration

In 1970, Lewis charged that Wichita continued to maintain a segregated school system.

Evidence• 6 elementary schools with

a student body of 90+% Black and one junior high school (Mathewson)that was likewise 90+% Black

• 130 Black teachers, 113 assigned to Black schools

• All Black principals were assigned to Black schools

• More than 2/3 of the ninety-three portables were located at Black elementary schools

Chester Lewis

Lewis’s legal action brought the first federal investigation of a Midwestern school system for segregating its schools.

Chester Lewis

Investigation & Consequences

The U.S. government’s investigation found that the school board was violating the 14th Amendment, the Brown v. Topeka Board of Education Supreme Court ruling, and the 1964 Civil Rights Act.

Because of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, the U.S. government was able to withhold $5.3 million federal aid from Wichita until the school board decided to desegregate the schools.

Wichita’s schools desegregated in the fall of the 1971-72 school year!

Only after the U.S. government initiated action to withhold funds did Wichita’s school board agree to desegregate the schools.

Decision

Discussion• What happened in Wichita was similar

to the school desegregation process in many U.S. cities. Why did it take so long?

• Why did the federal government involvement finally make the city take action 17 years after the Supreme Court’s Brown v. BOE decision?

• How would you be different if you went to school only with people of your same race and/or ethnic background?

Wichita’s school board decided: Two predominantly black elementary schools would be integrated by busing White children in and Black children out:

White children selected by a birthday lottery system; for 1 year

all Black children living in NE Wichita were bused out of their neighborhoods to predominantly White schools.Five of the seven Black elementary schools would be closed and the buildings put to other uses.

The Solution

My story.

What do you think about that solution?

The Solution

Clark Elementary 1979-1980, 1st Grade

Rex Elementary 1980-1981, 2nd Grade

My story.

What do you think about that solution?