Dec 12, 2024 Story by: Editor
A Forgotten Migration delves into the untold history of “segregation scholarships,” a practice employed by Southern states in the U.S. to fund Black students’ graduate education before the landmark 1954 Brown v. Board of Education decision. Following the precedent established by Plessy v. Ferguson, these states were expected to provide “separate but equal” graduate programs at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) or admit Black students to Historically White Institutions (HWIs). Instead, many states opted to pay for Black students to attend out-of-state graduate programs.
Crystal R. Sanders sheds light on the experiences of these students who traveled to the North, Midwest, and West to pursue advanced education. Their journeys were fraught with challenges, including arduous travel, financial burdens, and the psychological toll of “racial discrimination, isolation, and homesickness.” While the Brown decision marked the beginning of the end for “segregation scholarships,” the integration of Southern graduate programs progressed slowly. Sanders underscores how these scholarships upheld segregation, perpetuated racial inequality, and deprived public HBCUs of essential funding, exacerbating the inequities in American higher education that persist today.
When asked about her motivation for exploring “segregation scholarships,” Sanders shared her personal connection to the topic. “Growing up in rural North Carolina, I noticed that many of the retired Black public school teachers in my church had master’s degrees from NYU and Columbia University’s Teachers College. Quick math let me know that they had earned these degrees in the late 1940s and early 1950s. I asked my father why these women had chosen to go so far away for graduate school, and he answered my question with a question: ‘Did they really have a choice?’”
This response stayed with Sanders, prompting her to investigate further. “I began exploring the credentials of Black public school teachers in the decades before desegregation and realized that Black teachers all over the South seemed to have these degrees from northeastern and Midwest institutions,” she explained.
Through archival research, Sanders discovered that Southern states provided tuition assistance to Black students to keep them from enrolling in flagship Southern institutions. This practice extended beyond teachers, compelling Black doctors, attorneys, pharmacists, and nurses to leave their home states with financial “support” to achieve their educational goals. Sanders coined the term “segregation scholarships” to describe these arrangements, which she argues were intended to maintain segregation rather than expand opportunities.
The book also highlights the story of attorney Fred Gray, which Sanders says is emblematic of the book’s themes. “He embodies the point I make that my book is not a brain drain narrative. The overwhelming majority of segregation scholarship recipients returned to the South after completing their post-baccalaureate training. Attorney Gray recalled that even before he left his native Alabama for Ohio, he had already made up his mind that he was coming back to Alabama to make the state live up to the constitutional obligations to ALL citizens,” Sanders shared.
Gray’s determination was evident during law school, where he meticulously prepared for the Alabama Bar exam despite his law school focusing on Ohio statutes. “His story also sticks out because of the extraordinary success he has had in using the law as a weapon to help rank-and-file Americans,” Sanders added. “Attorney Gray’s record of victories is long, and I dare say that there is not one Alabamian whose life has not been enriched by his work.”
Discussing the financial impact of segregation scholarships on HBCUs, Sanders emphasized the lasting consequences. “With respect to segregation scholarships and graduate and professional school programs, the funding scheme deprived Black colleges of tuition revenue-generating programs that would have significantly strengthened the finances of these institutions,” she noted.
As HBCUs today face challenges like limited housing and campus resources, Sanders urges reflection. “We must ask ourselves what could have been and what should be if Southern states had not used finite tax dollars to send Black students out-of-state rather than build up their in-state Black institutions,” she stated.
A Forgotten Migration is a powerful exploration of the structural inequalities in American higher education. By exposing the historical roots of “segregation scholarships,” Sanders compels readers to confront the enduring cost of segregation and consider the steps needed to rectify its long-lasting impact. Source: Forbes
