Homework Question on Race Desegregation In Clinton Town.
- This video is a documentary as to how the people of the town of Clinton reacted in Tennessee when segregated schools were ended by the Supreme Court, which changed the all white high-school in town to an integrated high-school. Take notes on these questions below,
- Video Link (copy and paste in your browser if needed): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U9ACS4PgDFA
- How did the pro-white organizer named “Casper,” from the White Man’s Council, affect the white reaction to the end of segregation?
- What was Casper’s argument for keeping the races separate, and disobeying the new integration laws of the Supreme Court? (around 21:00 in the video).
- What sort of violence resulted as the townsfolk were being convinced by Casper to fight back against integration?
- What did you think of the interview of the Mayor who lost the mayoral race of Clinton?
- What was the roll of the National Guard, the FBI, and Federal Marshall’s in the town of Clinton, during this controversial time?
- Without their involvement, would violence have been hard for the people of Clinton to keep the peace as they tried to accept the change of race relations in the town?
- What was the role of the Church during this time (note the lecture of a reverend around 38:00 in the video). Note how he used Robert E. Lee as an example (Commander in Chief of the Confederate Army during the Civil War In the last interview of the African American man and his daughter, how have the race-conflicts in the changing town of Clinton affected their view of the town, and their future?
- After having watched the full video, does it look like most of the townsfolk wanted to obey the integration laws, or were most of the townsfolk trying to stop the change to integration?
- If the Supreme Court had never forced schools to integrate, would towns like Clinton still be segregated today? (for fun on this one, Google search “integrated prom in Georgia” and see what comes up).
Homework Answer on Race Desegregation In Clinton Town.
Race desegregation proves hard for the people of Clinton Town.
The white townsfolk reaction to the end of traditional segregation in a violent way, most of them. They threatened those who were thought to support it like Clinton’s school principal. They mobbed Reverend Paul Tarner. Some had to ‘obey the law’ since its desegregation was a ruling by the supreme court.The reaction of the white high school students was a bit mixed. Some like the school’s football captain was violent since they were following the law though were not for integration. Some did nasty things to the black students like pouring ink on their desks.
Casper clearly incited the townsfolk against desegregation. Walked from door to door. He made them go against the supreme court ruling. A large number of the townsfolk were against integration. This is evident when the principal was issued threats through telephone calls and letters(Anwar, Roach and Sondhi, p.45).Casper’s argument for keeping the races separate was because the local government was corrupt thus showed incompetence on their side.
He also argued that The Supreme Court was fragile, only made of nine men who were never right.The mayor’s interview who lost in the mayoral race was generally against integration. He blamed his loss on Reverend’s incident. He believed the negros had to continue having their separate facilities as it’s always been(Watras, p. 31).The FBI and the Federal Marshalls arrested the law breakers who disobeyed the supreme court ruling.