Social Activism and Social Justice

“The Lab School made us feel that we could do anything in the world. By going to Southern High, there was always a sense of pride, and the school gave us a feeling that we could be successful in an unjust world.”
Audrey Nabors-Jackson

This research project falls within the realm of the “long civil rights movement”—an effort to examine the struggle for civil rights and social justice during the decades before the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision. One of the more complex questions that arises in the field of education concerns teachers’ efforts to engage in political and cultural struggle. Black teachers during the 1940s who were members of the NAACP ran the risk of losing their jobs; public statements and actions could have been life-threatening. Even support of unions could cause a teacher to be dismissed, as was the case at the participating Secondary School Study site, Huntington High School.

Seventy years of hindsight offers little insight for today’s research to ascertain what acts and gestures should have been undertaken by teachers in 1940. Social activism within the classroom and outside of the school take on differing meaning and levels of “impact.” What does become apparent is that Southern Demonstration High School educators  were well aware of social injustices, and many were engaged in efforts to instill courage among students as a way to work for civil rights and social justice.

“We learned about black history and were taught about issues related to civil rights; however, the topics were alluded to rather than presented in an open way.  Mr. Anthony addressed matters of discrimination and integration. But we were part of a larger community, and President Clark was leading the way in this struggle.  He did not expect individual teachers to be out on the front lines. He took that responsibility.”
Dorothy Lee Early Davis

John B. Cade

“Teachers were not involved publicly in the struggle for civil rights. But inside the classroom, students were prepared by our teachers to face racial discrimination with calmness and to stay away from conflict. We were being prepared for a segregated society.”
John B. Cade

return to Southern