Rev. William Barber

Our Position on Diversity in Public Education in Wake County

When we, especially us in the South, get bogged down in political and emotional debates about whether or not we should have diversity in our public schools . . .

Whether we should be segregated or integrated? . . .

Whether we should have high concentrations of poverty in certain schools?. . .

Whether we should have high concentrations of one race or another in certain schools?  

Maybe we should be reminded of the dark and ugly past, the road we’ve come from and not want to return to in any form or fashion.

I want you to listen to the final words of the General Counsel of the NAACP, Thurgood Marshal.  Close your eyes as he closed his argument before the Supreme Court, 56 years ago.  He was arguing for our children, who walked by their neighborhood schools to go to the segregated colored schools across town.  He was arguing against the failed philosophy that had been the law of the land since 1896.  The Separate but Equal policy.  Marshall spoke of the strangeness of the thinking that under-girded the policy of segregation . . .  of anti-diversity.

$1,000 More Per Pupil Will Dramatically Reduce Achievement Gap; Segregation Hurts Achievement and Should Be Avoided

Rev. Dr. William Barber wrote the following op-ed that appeared in The News and Observer of Raleigh on April 17, 2008. The article is here on the N&O web site.

Let's be blunt. North Carolina high schools are not serving our poor and minority students well. Only about half of black, Hispanic, Native American and poor students are able to perform at grade level in English, mathematics, science, history and social studies.

'No Room At the Inn'

On Christmas Eve, Rev. Barber joined with Adelante, a coalition of progressive organizations and non-profits,to advocate for educational opportunities for Latino and immigrant children and youth. Click.

A Step Backwards: Supreme Court Decision on Desegregation of Schools

Statement by the Rev. Dr. William Barber on the U.S. Supreme Court decision in June, 2007 on desegregation plans in Louisville, KY and Seattle, WA. For background material, see "The Delusion of Color Blindness" in Time, Sept. 7, 2006   

It is deeply ironic that on the day the American Bald Eagle was removed from the endangered species list, the American ideals of Justice and Racial Integration have replaced our proud bird on the list.   The Supreme Court today, in striking down the noble efforts of the Louisville and Seattle school authorities to try to prevent racial isolation in their schools, made a U-Turn in the middle of our highway to Equality and Freedom that was laid out before the nation in a 9-0 decision in 1954 in Brown vs. Board of Education.

Introduction: Testimony Before the NC State Board of Education in Goldsboro Making Four Major Points

Greetings to all the members of the NC State Board of Education, to Chairperson Lee, to Lt. Governor Perdue.   On behalf of the thousands of members of the North Carolina StateConference of Branches of the NAACP, and the hundreds of thousands of NAACP members who have carried the torch of civil rights for nearly 100 years, I welcome you to Goldsboro.  I come today as a parent of public school children, a pastor, a community developer, and as President of the State Conference of the oldest civil rights organization in the nation.  Education is our number one issue! 

In the NAACP, we have fought, demanded, unified, and worked to insure justice in education under the banner of four guiding principals:

1. We must fight to end segregation, to end re-segregation, and to demand equity of resources for all children.

2. We must insure quality teacher and quality leadership for all children

3. We must emphasize science and math

4. And we must promote parent and community involvement and civic engagement. 

More from Testimony to State Board of Education:

• Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP
• We Cannot Go Back to This Place -- In Writing or in Practice
• Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue
• Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students
• Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education
• Conclusion: Stop the Funeral!

Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP

When this nation was following the immoral logic and unconstitutional legal framework of Plessy vs. Ferguson and its “separate but equal” doctrine, the NAACP fought tirelessly against white segregationists, complacent African Americans, and stalling politicians, since its founding in l909.  After 45 years of relentless struggle, the NAACP in l954 convinced all nine Supreme Court Justices to get on the right side of justice. The North Carolina government, however, argued to keep segregation in an amicus brief to the high Court it filed in l955.

Rev. Dr. Barber's Testimony to State Board of Education:

• Introduction: Testimony Before the NC State Board of Education in Goldsboro Making Four Major Points
• Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP
• We Cannot Go Back to Segregation -- In Writing or in Practice
• Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue
• Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students
• Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education
• Conclusion: Stop the Funeral!

We Cannot Go Back to This Place -- In Writing or in Practice

The famed psychologist, Dr. Kenneth Clark, used the two doll experiment--one white, one black--to portray what he called the stigmatic evil and injury of segregation. And NAACP’s lawyer, Thurgood Marshall, argued that segregation inflicted a horrible and harmful false sense of superiority upon white students and a horrible, harmful false sense of inferiority upon African American students which was particularly grievous in a country whose founding documents claim the inherent equality of all people. 

At the time we, as a state, were on the wrong side of justice.  This had not always been the case.  Prior to the Wilmington Riots of 1898 when Charles B. Aycock of this county helped to spark  the reinstatement of white supremacy in North Carolina, African Americans and progressive whites wrote our state’s constitution and mandated a constitutional right to a sound basic quality education for all students.  But beginning in Wilmingtonin l898 and quickly spreading throughout the state, the forces of evil and separation turned us back.  However, the right to a sound education remained etched in our Constitution.

Now Judge Manning, rightfully so, and those who brought the Leandro case 10 years ago, are forcing us to deal with the requirements of these constitutional rights in our time.

Our State Supreme Court ruled unanimously in 1997 that every child has a fundamental right to the opportunity to receive a Sound Basic Education.   The focus of this ruling is the constitutional requirement that schools identify each child who is not receiving a Sound Basic Education and provide research-based assistance that is tailored to meet the needs of that particular child.  That is the law of this state. That is     the right of every child, regardless of race or economic status.

As I hope you each know, Judge Manning has described the failure across this state to enforce this law as “academic genocide.”  We often describe it as a form of legalized child abuse.  For several years the composite scores for high schools in this state reveal that one fourth of all students are being denied a Sound Basic Education; approximately one half of all African American students are being denied a Sound Basic Education; and nearly one third of all Hispanic students are being denied a Sound Basic Education. 

What was most disturbing at Judge Manning’s recent hearing was why the statute mandating Personal Education Plans for every child at-risk of academic failure has been repeatedly violated since its passage in 2001.  Despite the fact that they had been required to do so for the past 5 years, the county we are now in had the nerve to offer Personal Education Plans as a part of their response to Manning!  The County has been required, by law, to offer these plans for five years.

Rev. Dr. Barber's Testimony to State Board of Education:

• Introduction: Testimony Before the NC State Board of Education in Goldsboro Making Four Major Points
• Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP
• We Cannot Go Back to Segregation -- In Writing or in Practice
• Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue
• Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students
• Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education
• Conclusion: Stop the Funeral!

Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue

A Harlem high school student, Kiri Davis, produced a short film repeating Dr. Kenneth Clark’s doll experiment. She found the stigmatic injuries of segregation that convinced the Supreme Court 52 years ago are still happening. CHECK OUT

http://mediathatmattersfest.org/6/index.php?id=2

Related: Rev. Dr. Barber's Testimony to State Board of Education:

• Introduction: Testimony Before the NC State Board of Education in Goldsboro Making Four Major Points
• Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP
• We Cannot Go Back to Segregation -- In Writing or in Practice
• Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue
• Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students
• Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education
• Conclusion: Stop the Funeral!

Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students

Continuation of September 2006 address to the NC State Board of Education:

You did a tour today in a school system with a high school cited by Judge Manning.  You saw a staged program last night.  Most citizens did not know of the meeting until Tuesday [a day before].  Most faith and civil rights leaders were not invited.  There was talk of progress.  But we must be clear. 

The attendance area you sit in now --Goldsboro High’s attendance area--exists in a pre-1954 reality. Not because of white flight.  But because of reverse social engineering by school board policies, many of which we believe violate equal protection rights.   This has created an attendance area with nearly 100% segregation in 2006--52 years after Brown.   This has created a high poverty, low-performing high school that is not accepting Title I money.  This has been created in a city that is 50-50 black-white, with an integrated Air Force base, integrated banks, integrated malls, integrated school board, and integrated city council. 

In Goldsboro High School over 40% of students are failing end of grade tests.  This cannot be explained away by a few students naively coached to say they have strong school spirit and community support.  There is empirically measured segregation of bodies, of performance and of opportunity.  Those failing the tests are 100% African American.  If your heart is only working 59%, you are sick!   If you take a test--even on a curve--59% is failing!  When you get behind all of the smoke and mirrors, what you have is a not a lack of parental and community involvement but an insidious, inverted public morality that maintains an unequal system. 

Not one thing Judge Manning asked this System or other systems to do had not already been proposed in Wayne Countyand across this state by the NAACP and ministers.

More times than not our proposals were ignored by a leadership who maintains the status quo of segregation—a leadership on the wrong side of justice!

Some African Americans say segregation is all right.  It’s not a problem.  But remember some slaves wanted to stay on the plantation.  And even Thurgood Marshall and the NAACP faced some Blacks who were pro-segregation.

Let’s look at the 44 worst high schools in North Carolina.  They are almost all predominantly non-white.  Forty of the 44 are predominantly non-white; 23 of the 44 are 80-100% nonwhite.  On average, these 44 re-segregated high schools come up short on every measure required for a constitutional school.  Compared to the State’s 44 highest performing schools, these 44 low performing schools average lower percentages of licensed teachers, lower percentages of fully qualified teachers, lower percentages of National Board Certified teachers, lower percentages of teachers with graduate degrees, and lower percentages of teachers who come and stay.

Segregation is a barrier to equal education opportunities. Segregation is a barrier to a sound basic education.  The State Board has a duty to see that North Carolina's public schools produce better outcomes for all students.  You must see that our students are first, as citizens of this state, deserving of equal education opportunities in preparation for their lives in our changing world." 

When you look at the empirical data and the tracking of inequity, race re-segregation inherently keeps the state from meeting its own constitutional requirements.  While Leandro is argued and decided on the basis of economics, our children’s right to a Sound Basic Education is inhibited by race.  Therefore the fight against re-segregation is the fight for equity and complying with the court’s rulings.  Just as in the corporate world there is a glass ceiling, in the educational world there is a race ceiling.  This ceiling does not represent the aptitude of the students, but the empirical inequities of opportunities that follow race and thereby inhibit the development of aptitude.  On the farm I learned something:  If you want to grow a chick into a chicken you must feed it.  To grow a pig into a hog, you must feed it.  A colt into a horse, you must feed it.  If you want to grow them the same you must feed them the same.  The same is true with educational opportunity.  Segregation prohibits growth educationally because the provisions are not the same.  Plessy didn’t work in 1896 and it doesn’t work today in 2006.

Where there is segregation there seems to be no political will to provide the same.  A few miles apart in the same city, same community--just look at our urban centers such as Winston Salem, Charlotte, Greensboro,  and right here in Goldsboro--you can have gross inequities which can be statistically tracked by race.  Within these large, wealthy districts the best teachers and the students who are graduating and going on to college and planning to lead the world are in predominantly white, predominantly affluent schools. A few miles away, in the same school districts, Black, Hispanic and low income students are in the majority.  Their schools struggle to get and keep the best teachers.  They struggle to keep most students in school.  And some of us are not naïve enough to think that everybody wants to see this changed.  Even President Bush said before the NAACP national convention: “Racism still matters in America.”

Rev. Dr. Barber's Testimony to State Board of Education:

• Introduction: Testimony Before the NC State Board of Education in Goldsboro Making Four Major Points
• Education is the Bread and Butter Issue of the NAACP
• We Cannot Go Back to Segregation -- In Writing or in Practice
• Short Film on Injuries of Segregation That Continue
• Segregation's Continuing, Horrific Impact on North Carolina Public School Students
• Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education
• Conclusion: Stop the Funeral!

Three Priorities for the NC State Board of Education

The evidence is in on segregated, high-poverty schools. Only a minute percent of the nation's segregated, high poverty schools are high performing over time. 

North Carolina does not have a predominantly minority school that is not also high poverty.  Over half of our Black high schoolers are not performing at grade level.  Almost half of our Hispanic high schoolers are not performing at grade level. Having said this, I have come as a representative of thousands to say to this State Board:

1. Place the undoing and stopping of re-segregation as a centerpiece and priority of the work to address disadvantaged students.            

Stand with the NAACP in word and deed, use every effort to insist that re-segregation mitigated by local policies, intentional neglect, and outright defiance is morally wrong, legally and educationally unsound, economically costly, unconstitutional and has no place in our public school system.

2. Name a special commission to report by Martin Luther King Jr. holiday 2007 the data showing the negative impact of resegregation.

Publicize how segregated schools affect our children educationally, economically, and morally. Show how the segregation of bodies of African American and Latino students correlates with the segregation of resources, capital improvements, and teacher quality.

3. Lobby the Legislature with us for riders on all monies going to governments, prohibiting the use of any funds to foster resegregation.

Finally, this term, the United States Supreme Court is reconsidering Brown vs. Board of Education.   The dispute this time is not over legalized Jim Crow -- where state and local governments unconscionably told every Black child they were not to set foot in the superior schools maintained for whites.  But the dispute is not much different. The Supreme Court is hearing challenges by white parents in Louisville, Kentucky and Seattle, Washington who oppose their local school boards' voluntary efforts to keep their schools racially diverse.  No court ordered these school boards to provide equal opportunities for Black students. They did it because they believed that the best way to run a school system is to base it on equal opportunity--where regardless of the school, every student will be in a good one.  These school boards did not want apartheid schools. 

So today the North Carolina NAACP officially asks the North Carolina State Board Of Education to put North Carolina on the right side of history.   Today we ask you to be do justice 52 years after Brown vs. Board of Education.  Fifty-two years ago today, as a result of Brown, integration began in Washington, D.C. and Maryland.   Therefore it is fitting that on this day, September 7, 2006, the North Carolina NAACP asks the North Carolina Board of Education to consider and pass a Resolution that will Request the Attorney General to be on the right side of history this time around, that he file an Amicus Brief in the U.S. Supreme Court supporting the right of local school boards to use race as a factor in their student assignment policies.