How did Clemson approach integration differently than other colleges at the time?

Source 1: The Integration of Stetson University

Blake, J. (2004). The Integration of Stetson University. The Florida Historical Quarterly, 82(4), 468-485. Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org/stable/30149961

Founders Henry A. DeLand and John B. Stetson originally thought of establishing a biracial university however ultimately decided to forgo that idea. Stetson University’s integration can be broken up into different points in time. Firstly, Stetson U’s founders never created a rule that would forbid integration despite being an all white school. Furthermore, in a campus-wide vote, Stetson students showed that they largely opposed integration while faculty favored integration. Finally, the Faculty Senate formed which ultimately allowed for integration. I am using Stetson’s integration as an example because it shows off that Clemson was not the only school to allow for peaceful integration. Though students opposed integration, there were no violent riots within Stetson.

Source 2: Bid Whist, Tonk, and United States v. Fordice: Why Integrationism Fails African-Americans Again

Johnson, A. (1993). Bid Whist, Tonk, and United States v. Fordice: Why Integrationism Fails African-Americans Again. California Law Review, 81(6), 1401-1470. doi:10.2307/3480955

California Law Review examines United States v. Fordice where it was discovered that rampant discrimination was occurring in Mississippi’s institutions of higher education. The Supreme Court required the state’s schools to be integrated. However, in a move of pure hypocrisy, the Supreme Court also refused to equally fund historically African American schools. I am using this source because it offers a different perspective on integration. This time instead of having the student body being the one to prevent integration, it is the Supreme Court that is preventing the university form integrating. Though the Supreme Court requires schools to be integrated, they were ironically the ones that prevented it from happening.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source 3: The Limits of Law in Accomplishing Racial Change: School Segregation in the Brown North, 44 UCLA L. Rev. 677

Davison M. Douglas * (February, 1997). ARTICLE: The Limits of Law in Accomplishing Racial Change: School Segregation in the Brown North. UCLA Law Review, 44, 677. Retrieved from https://advance.lexis.com/api/document?collection=analytical-materials&id=urn:contentItem:3S41-57S0-00CV-60YY-00000-00&context=1516831.

This article talks primarily about schools in the North and how each of these states abolished segregated schools during the 1870s and 1880s. However, many schools blatantly ignored this and still operated segregated schools. In states such as New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and Illinois, this was especially prevalent due to their high amounts of African Americans and proximity to the South. I am using this as an example because it showcases that legislation wants integrated schools yet the schools refuse to listen to them. It also reveals that in the North, legislation is much more open to integration due to the fact that laws to mandate integration were put in place just a few years after the 13th amendment was passed. In contrast, the South did not want anything to do with integration and stayed that way for many years to come.

Source 4: Constance Baker Motley, James Meredith, and the University of Mississippi

Chin, D., & Chin, K. (2017). CONSTANCE BAKER MOTLEY, JAMES MEREDITH, AND    THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSISSIPPI. Columbia Law Review, 117(7), 1741-1777.     Retrieved from http://www.jstor.org.libproxy.clemson.edu/stable/44425408

James Meredith, an African-American male, applies for admission to the University of Mississippi however is denied even though he is completely qualified. Meredith believes that he has been rejected due to his race because at the time, the University of Mississippi was an all-white school and many southerners refused to accept people of color into their school. This caused massive riots in the streets of Oxford that would lead to the deaths of two individuals. However, though the riots quelled down, racism still persists on Mississippi’s campus; in February of 2014, the statue of James Meredith had both a Confederate flag tied around its neck as well as a noose. I am using this source as an example of the violent riots that occur in Mississippi. I will use this to contrast Clemson’s approach towards integration in order to show how different the two campuses are.