Hello all! As I had stated in the answers to the ticket out questions in an earlier session, Dr. Baggett has responded to your questions for here. Below are your questions and his responses!
Did Brown vs. Board of Education help improve vocational education for African Americans?
The Brown vs.
Board of Education sat the judicial precedent for integration—that
separate but equal was unconstitutional according to the 14th
Amendment of the Constitution. Very little changed in
the real world of secondary education with this decision. It wasn’t
until the Civil Right Act of 1964 that real changes began to take
place. The “Cotton Belt States” still resisted change and the US
Government had to use military force to make sure the law
was enforced. Hence, there were turbulent times in this region between
1965 and 1969. The majority population knew that African American
schools were not equal because they did not support these schools
appropriately compared with the other schools. However,
given the limited resources available, minority schools did an
excellent job! Desegregation helped to level the playing fields
relative to the availability of resources.
After 1964, minority
schools were closed and minority students were integrated into majority
schools. There was a huge emotional letdown among minority high school
graduates when they found that their alma
mater no longer existed.
How did you feel about the FFA and NFA merge?
Most NFA
members were not happy with the merger and I was not exception. Many
NFA members felt that the merger was really a hostile take-over. There
was a vacuum of identity. NFA members did not have an affinity
for FFA. The 1890 Land grant colleges and universities struggled in
accepting FFA and did not embrace collegiate FFA chapters to replace
NFA. Few, if any, 1890 institutions developed collegiate FFA chapters.
My alma mater, NC A & T State University, developed
the Ag Ed Association as a replacement for collegiate NFA.
Would things have
been better if there would not have been segregated school, or would
minorities have suffered more "persecution"?
Segregation was
wrong on so many levels and it made a lie of the statement “One nation
under God…” because the United States was two nations—one African
American and a white. Segregation was institutional racism
in the truest sense of the word and everyone paid dearly. Slavery was
wrong and precipitated segregation where African men, women, and
children were treated as property. Persecution and abuse was used to
keep slaves and eventual African Americans in their
place as second class people not worthy of citizenship.
Life and education
definitely would have been better if schools were not segregated.
Integrated schools exposed the races to one another and fostered racial
harmony and respect. Children of all races grow
up, experience the same environment, face similar challenges, and
achieve success or failure together. These children see that the old
stereotype are invalid and that skin color does not make a lot of
difference. Having equal access to the resources allows
all to develop and grow at one’s interest and capability. Some, both
black and white, will make the most of these opportunities and excel
while others will do the minimum.
