Segregation and Integration
Were Blacks more self-sufficient during segregation? © 2017
Segregation was no picnic for black people. When you think about segregation, you think of separated schools, rampant job discrimination, discrimination in public accommodations, separate water fountains, and other humiliations.
Yet, African Americans were more self-sufficient and self-reliant during segregation. On the surface, this may seem ironic. But when you think about it, you’re reminded of the saying:
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
During segregation, Blacks were denied access to so many rights that Whites took for granted. In response, our people established a parallel economy. Black communities established their own:
• Banks
• Baseball teams
• Beauty supply shops
• Cabs
• Carpenters
• Clubs
• Electricians
• Gas stations
• Hospitals
• Insurance companies
• Medical offices
• Party stores
• Plumbers
• Savings and Loan institutions
• Schools.
• Small businesses
• Theaters
For its part, integration opened many doors. But it also presented civil rights leaders with a false choice. The choice should have been desegregation not integration. The choice, integration, like the glitter of gold, blinded many African Americans, and they failed to appreciate and build on the benefits of their self-reliance during segregation.
To paraphrase Dr. Benjamin Mays, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s mentor, segregation was a curse, but under segregation, Blacks achieved a high degree of self-sufficiency. In black communities, the dollar circulated as much as 10 times. That led to black employment and relative prosperity.Contrast that to what’s going on today.
Shouldn’t we learn lesson from our past? Should we learn what we did right, and what we did wrong?
Were Blacks more self-sufficient during segregation? © 2017
Segregation was no picnic for black people. When you think about segregation, you think of separated schools, rampant job discrimination, discrimination in public accommodations, separate water fountains, and other humiliations.
Yet, African Americans were more self-sufficient and self-reliant during segregation. On the surface, this may seem ironic. But when you think about it, you’re reminded of the saying:
“Necessity is the mother of invention.”
During segregation, Blacks were denied access to so many rights that Whites took for granted. In response, our people established a parallel economy. Black communities established their own:
• Banks
• Baseball teams
• Beauty supply shops
• Cabs
• Carpenters
• Clubs
• Electricians
• Gas stations
• Hospitals
• Insurance companies
• Medical offices
• Party stores
• Plumbers
• Savings and Loan institutions
• Schools.
• Small businesses
• Theaters
For its part, integration opened many doors. But it also presented civil rights leaders with a false choice. The choice should have been desegregation not integration. The choice, integration, like the glitter of gold, blinded many African Americans, and they failed to appreciate and build on the benefits of their self-reliance during segregation.
To paraphrase Dr. Benjamin Mays, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s mentor, segregation was a curse, but under segregation, Blacks achieved a high degree of self-sufficiency. In black communities, the dollar circulated as much as 10 times. That led to black employment and relative prosperity.Contrast that to what’s going on today.
Shouldn’t we learn lesson from our past? Should we learn what we did right, and what we did wrong?