Into Heat of the Night

 Into the Heat of the Night has to do with the solving of a murder of prominent investor and wealthy man. He was found dead late at night by a cop on patrol. He began to search for the criminal and found a black man at the train station who was brought in for questioning on the basis that he was black. He was found to be a police officer and innocent. He and the other cops spend the rest of the movie trying to find the killer.

One scene in particular stands out from the film where the Black cop strikes the wealthy white man. During this time no matter what he had said a black man striking a white man was a total upset of the order of the world. The fact that he was not arrested on the spot by the Chief of police. It shows not only the growth of the Office but also how the social norms were at the time.

Not only does the movie do extensive commentary on racial relations but also on the severe need for industrialization in these small towns. The man who was murder was killed over a factory he was attempt build.

The tension in the beginning of the movie is high between the chief of police and black officer. He immediately judges him for his skin color and makes assumptions like him not being a cop. He actually called the man's boss in the city to see if he was actually a cop. He was skeptical of how Black man could make as much money as he did. Slowly over the course of the movie the two become closer while never quite friends they do recognize each other’s humanity. The black cop did not come around to the white officer until later in the movie, same as the Chief of Police.

In total, Into the Heat of the Night is a masterpiece depicting the relationships between the black and white population in a small town. 

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0094484/

https://www.tcm.com/tcmdb/title/17602/in-the-heat-of-the-night/#overview

Klansville USA: Bob Jones

 It is scary to me as a North Carolina Resident that people in North Carolina would ever be labeled Klansville USA. The documentary hit close to home because I had always seen North Carolina as more progressive than the rest of the South throughout history.

Bob Jones was the most prominent member and leader of the Klan in the US. He was raised in a poor white family. Bob Jones even from his early days held racist ideology. He refused to salute a black officer during his term in the Navy and was dishonorably discharged. He proceeded to bounce from job to job until he began to speak for poor white people in North Carolina. He became the Grand Dragon of the North Carolina chapter of Ku Klux Klan.

Bob Jones' power comes from his ability to vocalize how a group saw themselves being crushed under progression. Bob Jones’ had an uncanny ability that most prominent reactionary leaders do; exploit ignorance and fear. Bob Jones’ was exploiting a primitive fear of being the bottom of the totem pole. People in the South who weren’t educated and flat broke had no voice and no one speaking for them so Bob Jones became that man.

North Carolina was a hotbed of Civil unrest in 1960’s being both Klansville USA and the home of some of the brightest lawyers and activists. When you have a strong of progressive movement you will always have a strong reaction from the opposing side. North Carolina’s government wanted to continue along the direction they were going by slowly integrating but not cause alot of upheaval in society. Neither side of the movement was happy with North Carolina’s progress. It makes sense because the Klan wanted to segregate and the NAACP (and other movements) wanted to integrate as soon as possible.

The PBS documentary on Klansville USA is eye opening documentary especially when it comes to leaders of these dark movements like the Nazi and Klan. The documentary well expressed how and why people would fall in line with the Klan and white supremacy. They even showed how histeria caught up the country.

https://daily.jstor.org/history-kkk-american-politics/

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/films/klansville/

EOTO #4: Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg

 Intro:

Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg is a landmark case in understanding what is okay to do in the name of segregation. Swann has to do with the Busing of students in order to fulfill the orders passed down based on Brown v. Board of Education in 1954. Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg was ruled in 1971 on April 20th. 

It is clear that integration was not happening quickly like the Supreme Court desired. Swann’s design was to give an actionable framework to support Brown v. Boards command to integrate the school. Brown v. Board merely gave the command to integrate schools with “all debilitated speed.” Schools who were resistant to this change had no frame work to be analyzed from so accountability was non-existent.

Facts: 

The lawsuit was filed by the NAACP, who had also filed Brown v. Board of Education and many other cases, on behalf of Vera and Darius Swann who wanted their 6 year old daughter to attend Seversville Elementary School. Seversvill Elementary was one of very few integrated schools in the area. The Swann’s 6 year old was only one example of the 24,000 black students in the Mecklenburg Schools system.

Of the 24,000 black students 14,000 went to 21 different schools that were 99 percent black. 58.33 percent of students who were Black in Mecklenburg School were in 99 percent black schools. The statistic above does not account for anything less that 99 percent black meaning most likely there was school with 80 to 90 percent black populations that are completely ignored in these stats. The numbers are frankly staggering. 

The issue is made clear how to solve it is a lot murkier. The discussion the Courts came to was busing. It is the process of taking students form one school most likely their closest or easiest to access location to a school that is less convenient in order to meet statistical goals. Busing had been previously used to promote segregation by busing Black kids to those schools which were made up of majority black students. Busing has a lot of benefits but also many drawbacks

Pros:

Busing fixed many issues pertaining to racial statistics in schools. They could control the demographics of any school by busing in more Black kids in order to meet their quotate. It was the easiest solution because they had the buses all they needed was new routes and school assignments. It will solve long term integration problems by fighting prejudice by allowing white and black students to interact.

Cons:

First and most obvious issue with busing is some increased labor cost because some buses are going to have to drive further. Then some others increase operational cost but it is not concerned because of the importance of meeting the Supreme Court's request for hasty integration. The more concerning factor is how it will affect the students. Students will have to wake up earlier to be on the bus and have less time to do homework when they get home because of longer drives. Students will be farther from their homes in case of family or medical emergencies. Finally is increased stress on students who are entering unfamiliar environments and ones that could even threaten their lives.

My Opinions:

I think Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg is difficult to rule either way because people will be hurt on both sides no matter what decision was made. I can see why the Court made the decisions it did but it was a decision for the long term. In the short-term there was lots of discomfort and unease sending your kids to a school with an unfamiliar population. Many students experience violence but the case set a framework for improving relationships between black and white children. Those Children will grow and become the next generation that leads our society. The truth is if I were in a parent's shoes I would resist this decision because I would not be best for my child in the moment in my eyes, earlier morning, more time on the bus, and farther from where I could get to them if need be.

Conclusion

When it comes to integration of schools, Swann v. Charlotte Mecklenburg was a support beam to Brown v. Board of Education. The case gave shape to the ruling and aided America in integration in many ways.

https://www.ncpedia.org/anchor/swann-v-charlotte

https://www.britannica.com/event/Swann-v-Charlotte-Mecklenburg-Board-of-Education

https://www.lexisnexis.com/community/casebrief/p/casebrief-swann-v-charlotte-mecklenburg-bd-of-educ

https://samepassage.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/08/bus2.jpg

https://www.ncpedia.org/sites/default/files//images/digital_history_textbook/north_carolina_first_grade_1973_UNC.jpg

Black People in Media: Hazel Scott

Black entertainers have had a massive impact throughout history. They have written, directed, acted, sang, and entertained the world since before they were treated equally. We have artists from Nina Simone and Hazel Scot to more recently Kendrick Lamar and J. Cole. The artists have extensive power over culture and history.  

From the early days of entertainment Black people have wanted a piece of the action. Many Black people in the early day found their way into entertainment to make a better life for themselves. Jobs were far and few between, especially for black people. Black women especially got into entertainment. Many roles were being a mammy or housemaid which often had these women degraded. I imagine that most of these women were happy to make their own money so they were not concerned by the status of their role.

Later we had talent like Hazel Scott who demanded respect and stuck close to her values and began to use her star power to make studios do what she wanted them to do. She would force studios to change her costumes and the costumes of others that she deemed racist. She had it written in her contract that she had full control over her songs and her outfits. She was black listed from Hollywood for her actions. Hazel Scott only marks the beginning of black artist gaining power

Hazel Scott also had an impressive music career along with other black artists like Sam Cooke and Nina Simone. Many different methods were used to try to stop these stars but nothing could really hold them down. They had too much passion for their craft and the will to inspire generations. They paved the way for artist like Aretha Franklin and Otis redding. Aretha Franklin is widely considered one of history's great singers.

Comparing the black artist then and now is incredible because we have seen the rise of another age of Black music. Many artists that we consider to be the best in our generation are black and have lots of power over their own destiny. We have black art forms like rap taking over the mainstream. In the 90s yes people listened to rap. In 2020 rap is considered nearly parallel in popularity to “pop” artist. Rap has become a lot larger than itself expanding into multiple art forms in and of itself.

The road to this particular music era is a combination of black and some white artists inspiring generations. Art has great power and builds role models for future generations.

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10486801.2016.1118827

https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=bs21_Egz--IC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=How+black+people+in+pop+culture+in+history&ots=IMRJV1undD&sig=UrPcW1rnjXbWf23OiYh1EnM3hgM#v=onepage&q=How%20black%20people%20in%20pop%20culture%20in%20history&f=false

https://www.proquest.com/docview/230115151?pq-origsite=gscholar&fromopenview=true

Trail 3: Brown v. Board

 Education has a link to earnings. If we are to expect to grow our national wealth and raise our GDP, we cannot prevent an entire proportion of society from being fully-educated. As Americans we want to see the best of the best leading our nation and we will never discover who is truly the best in their field if we don’t provide equal opportunity. Advancement in science and culture is necessary to remain on top especially in wake of new nuclear technology.

The southern states have proven incapable of providing equally for black and white kids. There exist well documented differences between the black and white school system. It is proven that separate can equal doesn’t exist especially with the lack of oversight and  lack of meticulous 

planning in the state level state system.

This ruling would be an investment in future generations and would allow for uncapped economic growth of America. It is a common saying that Children are our future and it does not designate between black or white. If we refuse to educate these children we will have a clear economic divide and one portion of the population will be forced to weigh down the government. American cannot climb with a weight around their ankles. That weight can easily be transformed into wings that would propel us forward into the future.

The integration of school would be costly up front but America can afford, but the long term returns would be extremely beneficial. Integrated schools would cut down on waste and allow resources to be more effectively used. Imagine having to fund two schools, pay two teachers, and buy two sets of books. Reasonably not all expenses would split in half, but we would see a decrease in expense. We could also invest more heavily in schools benefiting white and black children.

In addition to aiding the black community so that they can therefore help America grow. The cross pollination of ideas between children of all races would allow for progress to move much faster. Open communication would allow our youth to grow this country's wealth 10 fold. The compartmentalizing of ideas and thought processes limits America's ability to grow.

Many black men and women have been responsible for revolutionary inventions. Traffic Lights, refrigerated trucks, and improved ironing boards were all invented by black people. It is a combination of significant advancement that will soon become influential the world over. If the black community can create these miraculous inventions without the same educational opportunity, Imagine what they can create with the same education as white children.

In total it is only what is best in the entire country to integrate the schools. We can no longer progress with half the population being left in the dust. Black people are needed for the growth of the nation and it can no longer be denied. They have been essential to progress in the nation even without access to the same education as white children. Giving them this will better allow for economic growth.

https://www.history.com/news/8-black-inventors-african-american

EOTO 3 reax

 The EOTO #3 presented information covering the Civil Rights movement. Much of the subjects surround the actions of Integration and Segregation.

We began with discussing the Ku Klux Klan, more specifically the second Klan. The 1st Klan was born in 1865 and covered the country by 1870. On the other hand the 2nd Klan rose to power during 1950-60 where they were fighting against Civil Right activists. They used the practice of lynching and lynch mobs to dissuade black activism and voting.

Another event discussed was the sixteenth street church bombing. The blown up church was important to black society in Birmingham because it was one of the first black Baptist Churches. It was a rallying point for the Black community including multiple Black panther meetings. The bombing killed 22 black people including 4 young black girls. Bombings are not an uncommon occurence in Birmingham which was popularly know as Bombingham.

The next topic covered was Medgar. He was a Black activist in the 1950s and 1960s and played a significant role in organizing events for equality for black men and women. He became a Field organizer for NAACP in 1851. 4 months for before his death his house got fire bombed. Then on June 12, 1963 he was shot in the back from 150 feet by Byron de la Beckwith. The case went to trial and was given a hung jury twice. He was retried in 1994 under different circumstances and died in prison in 2004.

Many of these event and people were new to me and learned a lot about the event of the Civil rights movement