Document 6: Teaching in the South and in the North

After longer than a decade following "Brown v. Board of Education,"  New York's integration in education still had a very long way to go. C Herbert Oliver was a minister from Alabama who understood the horrible education given to blacks in the north when he moved to NYC with his family. In an interview with "Eyes on the Prize," Oliver distinguished the difference in black education between the North and the South. His son was gifted in mathamatics and recieved good grades in Alabama, but within a year after moving to New York, he was flunking math. At the old black school in Alabama, Mr. Oliver was able to talk with the principle whenever he pleased about his children's education and discuss the issues - but when he attempted to meet with the principle in NY about his son's grades, he had to wait a half an hour to hear that his son was doing fine in school - which didn't make sense because he was flunking math and wasn't getting any homework assignments.

1. According to Oliver’s account, what were the key differences between the education of blacks in the South and in the North?

In Alabama, his son recieved education from all black teachers and went to school with all black students. His son was doing great in school. It was when he moved to New York when his son struggled with school. It seems to me like Oliver preferred segregation in schools because his son recieved a better education when he went to an all black school.