Civil War to Civil Rights

Abstract

A general area of interest in relation to the role of education includes societies that are coping with the arrival of new ethnic communities. In these cases the traditional priority has been in trying to find ways of assimilating the new communities into the host community. A slightly different set of issues face ‘migration societies’ where the majority is comprised of inward migrants or their descendants. In this case the priority often revolves around some form of ‘melting-pot’ within which diverse peoples can be moulded into a new common identity. Perhaps the best example of the ‘melting-pot’ approach can be found in the USA and it is to features of this example that we turn over the next two chapters. This chapter will examine the general features of policy in relation to ethnic diversity up to the mid-1960s and largely address issues around the segregation and desegregation of schools. The next chapter will examine the debates and disputes following the mid-1960s which were marked mainly by disputes over busing and other anti-segregation measures, and the continuing debate over affirmative action.