America on Fire: The Untold History of Police Violence and Black Rebellion Since the 1960s

In this chapter, which focuses on segregation in public schools, Hinton argues against the common perception that the North was more “enlightened” (144) than the South when it came to integration. While legally Black people enjoyed more rights in the northern states than they did in the southern states, socially the struggle for integration played out very similarly across all of America, and public schools were at the center of this struggle. All around the country, Black students protested for more inclusion, more classes on Black history, and the removal of racist teachers and counselors.

In response, police were sent to patrol primarily Black schools, and students could quickly be sent to prison if they were seen as stepping “out of line” (148). Many of the rebellions of the late 1960s and early 1970s began with Black students as a response to unjust conditions in the public schools. In February 1969 at a high school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, after several white students had disrespected a film on Black history, Black students refused to attend a school assembly. They presented several demands to address the problems of racism in the school, but the administration did not take their demands seriously. This led to

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