GA's Response to Civil Rights Legislation

Georgia's Response to Civil Rights Legislation

​SS8H11a

• I can explain Georgia's response to Brown v. Board of Education, including the 1956 flag and then Sibley Commission.

Open Ended

Look at the picture of a white school and a black school in the same town. What do you notice about them?

​Inequality in Education

• After the Plessy v. Ferguson decision, schools were segregated under the “separate, but equal” doctrine

• Despite the court’s ruling, Black facilities were rarely equal to white facilities, especially in education

  • white schools received the most state funding for teachers, textbooks, and supplies

  • Black schools were often sorely lacking

    • they had no more than one schoolroom and one teacher

    • Black children often received outdated textbooks and lacked writing materials

​Separate is NOT Equal

• In the 1950s, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) became involved in a very important civil rights case.

• The NAACP argued before the U.S. Supreme Court that having separate schools for Black and white children was not fair.

• In 1954, the Supreme Court ruled in Brown v. Board of Education that separate was not equal, and that segregation in education was unconstitutional.

​Georgia's Response

• Many white Georgians had grown up during segregation and feared change

  • many worried that they would lose their jobs in factories if Black workers were treated equally in an integrated society

• In 1954, Herman Talmadge became governor & he strongly opposed the ruling of Brown v. Board of Education

  • the next two governors Marvin Griffin and Ernest Vandiver were also opposed

  • all three Governors prepared to close all public schools before allowing Black children into all-white schools

• Across the South, states passed laws to continue segregation and the “Southern way of life”

• Georgia’s legislature passed several laws to prevent desegregation - one such law tried to claim the Supreme Court’s decision did not apply to the state of Georgia

​A New State Flag

• Shortly after the Brown v. Board of Education ruling, Georgia legislators showed their feelings about school integration by modifying the state flag in 1956 to include the Confederate battle flag

• The Confederate battle flag had become a symbol of Southern protest and resistance to the federal government

• When Georgia’s legislature decided to incorporate the Confederate battle flag into the state flag, the state was actively trying to preserve segregation in Georgia’s schools

  • this new state flag was symbolic of Georgia’s resistance to the federal government’s integration laws

​Different POVs

• The following two quotes are from two different Georgia legislatures with different opinions on Georgia changing the state flag.

• After reading the quotes, which is for the change and which is against?

Multiple Choice

What did Denmark Groover mean in his statement?

• GA would continue to fight for legal & social segregation

• GA would continue to fight against segregation

• GA should abide by the federal government

• GA's flag represents an atrocity that should be left in the past

Multiple Choice

Analyze James Mackay’s statement. In his opinion, what message was being telegraphed?

• the Confederate battle flag was added to represent Georgia’s soldiers in the Civil War

• the Confederate battle flag was added to remind Georgians of their history of slavery

• the Confederate battle flag was added to show that GA disagreed with desegregation

• the Confederate battle flag was added to show Georgia’s support for desegregation

​To Integrate or Not

• After schools were desegregated by federal law in 1954, Georgia refused to cooperate

  • legislators agreed to stop funding any schools that integrated their classrooms

  • most white Georgians were against desegregation of public schools because they feared change

• However, economic and business leaders, such as William B. Hartsfield, welcomed change

  • Hartsfield had advertised Atlanta as a progressive city that was focused on economic growth & he did not want race problems to ruin Atlanta’s reputation as the city “too busy to hate”

  • Hartsfield also strongly opposed closing schools to prevent integration

  • He and other business leaders feared Northern businesses might not invest in the state if race problems continued

​The Sibley Commission

• By 1960, Governor Ernest Vandiver faced an important choice—obey federal court orders to integrate OR close Georgia’s schools to prevent integration

  • he did not want to take action without first discovering how Georgians felt about the issue

• Lawyer and banker John Sibley, who believed that resistance to federal orders was useless, headed the Sibley Commission

  • the commission went around the state and listened to Georgia families about what should be done

  • a few Black Georgians were listened to, but most people interviewed were white Americans

​The Sibley Commission

• The Sibley Commission discovered the majority of Georgians were against integration.

  • Of the Georgians polled, about 60 percent claimed they would rather close schools than allow Black children in formerly all-white schools.

• On the other hand, federal courts had ordered integration, and Georgia was under pressure from business leaders to integrate quietly and peacefully.

• Torn in two directions, the Sibley Commission recommended that each local school district decide what to do for itself.

  • The commission also recommended that the state repeal the laws penalizing integrated schools.

• Led by Mayor Hartsfield in 1961, Atlanta became the first city in Georgia to begin to integrate its schools.

Multiple Choice

Which politician decided to organize the Sibley Commission?

• Governor Ernest Vandiver

• Governor Herman Talmadge

• Mayor William B. Hartsfield

Multiple Choice

What was the purpose of the Sibley Commission?

• to boycott school in protest of segregation

• to gather input from GA families on what to do in response to integration in schools

• to persuade the public that school integration was a step in the right direction

Multiple Choice

According to findings of the Sibley Commission, most Georgians would rather:

• integrate all schools, then continue to separate Black and White students

• home-school their children than allow Black children in White schools

• close schools than allow Black children in White schools

Multiple Choice

What recommendations did the Sibley Commission propose?

• integrate schools against the wishes of many white families

• continue to segregate schools

• allow each local school district to decide what to do itself