"Ghetto Schools Are Inferior" Protest Sign
1 2020-10-19T21:11:34+00:00 Kate Flynn 7a93418b93b9db509597a67ae6311be88dcb38d6 15 1 A Black child holds a "Ghetto Schools Are Inferior C.O.R.E" protest sign. In the corner of the image, a Black woman holds a protest sign that says "We Shall Overcome". plain 2020-10-19T21:11:34+00:00 "Ghetto Schools Are Inferior" protest sign.jpg This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. For other uses you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s). Allan Koss 1963 Kartemquin Films Kate Flynn 7a93418b93b9db509597a67ae6311be88dcb38d6This page is referenced by:
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Chapter 3: Chicago School Segregation
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CPS superintendent Ben Willis changed the borders of the school districts to avoid integration, which allowed him to increase the budget and resources in white schools, and neglect Black schools.
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Segregated neighborhoods led to segregated schools. CPS superintendent Ben Willis, with the sanction of Mayor Richard J. Daley, changed the boundaries of school districts in response to demographic changes in neighborhoods to avoid integrating the schools.
Unsurprisingly, there was great material disparity between schools with majority Black students and schools with majority white students. The former were typically more crowded and forced to house many more students than the building was designed to accommodate. The facilities themselves were often in much worse shape, and the students lacked access to things like lab equipment or textbooks, which were available in white schools with higher budgets.
Parents' groups and civil rights organizations protested this through sit-ins, marches, boycotts, and a variety of different demonstrations. However, instead of enacting meaningful change, Willis offered only superficial solutions. One fix he suggested was to bus individual Black students to schools outside of their district; this was tried in 1962 but only a handful of students took part in the program. Even the local press admitted that this program “flopped.”
