Sample Essay
I would like to thank Annora Bell for allowing me to use her essay as my sample Extended Essay. Much of this essay has been omitted to prevent plagiarism. The most important and useful parts, however, have been excerpted.
Question: What was the effect of Brown versus Board of Education between the years 1954 to 1962 in Montgomery County, Maryland, Public Schools, especially in Richard Montgomery High School?
Abstract
The topic of this essay is what was the extent of Brown versus Board of Education on Montgomery County, Maryland public schools, especially Richard Montgomery High School, between 1954 to 1962. The purpose is to determine whether integration of Richard Montgomery actually occurred during this time and therefore upheld “separate but equal” was not constitutional, as stated by the Brown versus Board of Education.
Integration of Richard Montgomery and other are schools began in 1956 and conclude in 1961, leaving 43 public schools still al white. During integration, blacks were finally given the opportunity to reach school speedily, use new materials, and attend area schools. However, this sense of equality was seen as a false reality when examined during the 1970s. Although statistics show blacks were made to attend Richard Montgomery and the only newspaper during the 1950s and 60s states integration was a reality, later commentators disagree. During the 1970s a new move began for integration demanding that school boundaries be changed and the schools that remained segregated be integrated. These commentators believed integration had only been carried out by dejure law, by law, and not defacto law, by hap and stance.
Although, integration seems to have been legally carried out in Richard Montgomery, the social barriers that continued to divide the different races proved a boundary that would only be crossed after 1962.
Introduction
Throughout history, millions of people have fought to enhance the rights of groups to which they belong. These struggles took place in the United States. One of these struggling groups has been African Americans. The most recognized phase and third phase of the fight for equality took place in the Civil Rights Movement. This movement formally started during the 1920's and continues today. However, the struggle of African Americans to attain civil rights started the day the first African slave set foot on American soil hundreds of years ago and was further carried out furing African Americans attempt to attain self-determination and identification during Reconstruction (citation).
During the Civil War, some Americans fought to keep the union in tact under the leadership of President Abraham Lincoln. Other Americans consisting of the Confederacy fought to keep slavery of African Americans alive in the South and this divided the North and South. However, the Union won the Civil War. Following the Civil War, the 14th and 15th Amendments were respectively enacted in 1966 and 1869. The 14th Amendment guaranteed citizenship to all people born in the United States and made all states five equality for all citizens under the law. The 15th Amendment gave all citizens the right to vote and freed the slaves. In reaction to these moves at increasing equality for blacks, Jim Crow Laws were implemented throughout the South. These laws resulted in blacks being excluded from white schools
Background on Montgomery County, Maryland High Schools
The exact date the first high school in Montgomery County was opened is unknown. However, the general consensus is that the first high school opened prior to 1897. 1897 is the year the first high school class graduated from the all white Montgomery County High School (citation). This school was located in Rockville and given its name because many thought it would be the only public school in Montgomery Count. However, another all white high school was built in Montgomery County between the late 1800s and early 1900s. Following the opening of the second high school, Montgomery County High School adopted the name Rockville High School. Despite the existence high schools for whites, public education of blacks only went up to the sixth grade. This prevented many blacks from attaining the same amount of education as whites in Montgomery County. To obtain educational training past the sixth grade, blacks had to attend schools in Washington, DC. These schools were hard to reach because most blacks did have the cars and money needed to take public transportation (citation).
On April 12, 1927 a group of black trustees from various black schools in Montgomery County formed the United Trustees of Montgomery County, in order to make a high school for blacks. The United Trustees submitted a petition and resolution to the Board of Education on May 2, 1927 asking for the construction of Rockville Colored High School for blacks (citation). Many blacks had said, "They felt that education was the key to many encumbrances that bound them" (citation). Rockville Colored High School was built in Lincoln Park. Lincoln Park was one of the first areas specifically designed to attract blacks residents during 1891 (citation), and opened in 1928 (citation). The creation of this school finally allowed blacks to receive a high school education.
Because Rockville Colored High School and Rockville High School had similar names, the two high schools changes their respective names in 1935. Rockville High School became Richard Montgomery High School and Rockville Colored High School became Lincoln High School adopted the name, Carver High School (citation).
Conclusion
The opposing views between the 1950 and the early 1960s and 1970s columnists on the intefration in Richard Montgomery High School and other school between 1954 and 1962, suggests that although integtration helped in a great deal of ways, it was only carried out by dejure and not de facto law. If the county had thoroughly wanted to integrate Richard Montgomery and other are schools, the county should not only hace transported the blacks to preciously all-white schools, but also have realigned the boundaries that decided what base school one was supposed to attend. If the boundaries had been realigned when integration first occurred, more blacks would have been distributed to schools all over the county instead of specific up county schools with relatively large black communities surrounding them. Although, there were fewer black than white students in Montgomery County, if the boundaries for school had been realigned it is probable that 43 schools would not have remained segregated at the end of 1962. However, integration seems to had a successful start in Richard Montgomery High School and other area schools between 1954 to 1962.
The change in materials and transportation blacks received as soon as integration began in Richard Montgomery and other schools also illustrates the benefits of integration. After integration, blacks no longer had to pay bus fee, take long trips to schools, or always use old materials. These improvements made integration more d a reality for blacks in the county, because it allowed them to now exercise rights previously only given to whites.
While analyzing the depth of integration between 1954 to 1962 in Richard Montgomery High School, factors such as materials, opportunities, opportunities, previous inequality, and public views on integration in Richard Montgomery must be examined. Because the general materials, transportation, and interaction of whites and blacks in school were overall improved in Richard Montgomery and other area schools, Montgomery County, Maryland carried our integration to a satisfactory point for the time period and the circumstances. However, the integration of Richard Montgomery and other area schools was not completely satisfactory because in order to make integration a complete reality, the boundaries of Montgomery County’s schools needed to be changed. This battle came during the 1970s.
Although one can conclude that integration was only carried out as far as it legally had to be and not by hap and stance, there are many questions left unanswered and related to this question. One question left unanswered was how far was integration carried out in Richard Montgomery and other high schools after the school boundaries in Montgomery County were changed. This question is relevant to my topic because in order to determine how far Brown versus Board of Education was carried out in Richard Montgomery, the changes that occurred after the initial integration process from the 1970s and later on must be analyzed. Another unanswered question and related to this question is how did Brown versus Board of Education effect other institutions in Montgomery County between 1954 to 1962. This question related to the fact that integration was not carried out by defacto law. Finally, a question relevant to this topic is how did the cultural makeup of Montgomery County change after 1962. This question relates both defacto and dejure law because it requires one to analyze the law and the circumstances surrounding racial diversity in Montgomery County. Many questions relate to this topic, however the most important thing related to this topic is that integration is needed everywhere for all people to get along.