Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education

1953–1963

Louis Ray

The goals of achieving equal citizenship rights for African Americans and international respect for human rights inspired Charles H. Thompson to focus his attention on ending segregation as public policy in the United States. As editor of The Journal of Negro Education, from 1932 to 1963, Thompson tirelessly championed equal educational and economic opportunities for African Americans and other targets of discrimination. Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education captures the evolving struggle for civil rights from the perspective of an education insider, brilliant scholar-activist, and arguably the leading dean in African American higher education between 1938 and 1963.

This study focuses on Thompson's efforts, between 1953 and 1963, to mobilize his readers, including African American teachers, to support the civil rights movement including voter registration drives, boycotts, the sit-ins, as well as the NAACP litigation campaign. He encouraged them to support principled, African American leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and their campaigns for social justice. Thompson remained confident that they and their allies would prevail so long as they adhered to the ethical principles that informed their movement and applied political and economic pressure intelligently. The desegregation of public education and the strengthening of African American higher education, for Thompson, served as wedges for extending democracy in the US.

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 178 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61147-991-1 • Hardback • July 2020 • $100.00 • (£77.00)

978-1-61147-993-5 • Paperback • December 2021 • $39.99 • (£31.00)

978-1-61147-992-8 • eBook • July 2020 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Educators, History / United States / General, History / African American

Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education

1953–1963

Hardback

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Summary

The goals of achieving equal citizenship rights for African Americans and international respect for human rights inspired Charles H. Thompson to focus his attention on ending segregation as public policy in the United States. As editor of The Journal of Negro Education, from 1932 to 1963, Thompson tirelessly championed equal educational and economic opportunities for African Americans and other targets of discrimination. Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education captures the evolving struggle for civil rights from the perspective of an education insider, brilliant scholar-activist, and arguably the leading dean in African American higher education between 1938 and 1963.

This study focuses on Thompson's efforts, between 1953 and 1963, to mobilize his readers, including African American teachers, to support the civil rights movement including voter registration drives, boycotts, the sit-ins, as well as the NAACP litigation campaign. He encouraged them to support principled, African American leaders such as Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and their campaigns for social justice. Thompson remained confident that they and their allies would prevail so long as they adhered to the ethical principles that informed their movement and applied political and economic pressure intelligently. The desegregation of public education and the strengthening of African American higher education, for Thompson, served as wedges for extending democracy in the US.

Details

University Press Copublishing Division / Fairleigh Dickinson University Press

Pages: 178 • Trim: 6¼ x 9½

978-1-61147-991-1 • Hardback • July 2020 • $100.00 • (£77.00)

978-1-61147-993-5 • Paperback • December 2021 • $39.99 • (£31.00)

978-1-61147-992-8 • eBook • July 2020 • $38.00 • (£29.00)

Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Educators, History / United States / General, History / African American

Author

Louis Ray is associate professor at Fairleigh Dickinson University’s Peter Sammartino School of Education.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

Preface

Introduction: Reversing Segregation as Public Policy

Chapter One: Sensing the Initiative Slipping Away

Chapter Two: The Hot Springs Conference and Teacher Welfare

Chapter Three: Litigation as the Twin of Direct Action

Chapter Four: “…This Leadership is neither ignorant nor afraid”

Chapter Five: The Implosion of the New Deal Coalition

Chapter Six: Strengthening African American Higher Education

Chapter Seven: The Criminalization of African American Youth

Chapter Eight: Reassessing Civil Rights Goals: the 1960s

Chapter Nine: Inequality Persists and Takes New Forms

Chapter Ten: Confirmation or Reset?

Chapter Eleven: Where Does the North Star Go at Daybreak?

Chapter Twelve: Afterword

Bibliography

Index

About the Author

Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education

1953–1963

Louis Ray

Charles H. Thompson on Desegregation, Democracy, and Education

1953–1963

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