Charles H. Thompson against school segregation

The case of 1935’s annuary of the journal of negro education

Abstract

In the United States, the educational field was the scene of an intense struggle for the civil rights of the black population. During the age of segregation (1877-1963), blacks in the South were denied citizenship. In education, the results of this segregationist policy reflected, for example, in schools for blacks with few resources and wage inequality between black and white teachers. Part of the black intelligentsia believed that the best way to reduce inequality was to end segregated schools. Lawsuits in US courts were one of the ways to attack segregation. This strategy, spearheaded by the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), was supported by the Journal of Negro Education (JNE). Founded in 1932 by Charles H. Thompson, the JNE intended to disseminate, discuss and promote the education of black Americans. The 1935 yearbook of the JNE was a special edition dedicated to lawsuits before the courts as a strategy to mitigate educational differences between blacks and whites. Several black intellectuals in the pedagogical field contributed to the publication, including radicals and conservatives. This article states that, despite the alleged plurality of ideas proposed by the edition, the representation that prevails is that of the editor Charles H. Thompson. This occurs through the reading protocol suggested through the material organization of the magazine. Thompson's goal was to gain public support for the actions promoted by the NAACP.