The ruling of the high court on 17th May 1954 against the segregation of black people in the United States was received with significant negativity by the Southern States. Tennessee was not an exception because it maintained the discrimination trend. African Americans were separated from all-white schools, had limited public transportation and political rights, and had separate facilities such as restrooms, parks, and swimming pools. Although Tennessee did not adopt massive resistance to the ruling like Virginia or South Carolina, the Jim Crow laws dominated the state. Most individuals viewed the 1950s events as a monumented struggle between the 10th and 14th amendments. However, the desegregation rule eventually prevailed in schools, although it was faced with resistance.
The Tennessee state experiences were different because, by the 1950s, some schools quickly obliged the Supreme Court rulings while others resisted. For example, the first desegregation to happen in parochial institutions was in Catholic Schools in 1954 with the admission of fifty black students. Individuals such as Reverend Paul Turner, who served in a whites Baptist Church embraced desegregation and would escort African American students from home to schools to protect them from harm. However, Paul was attacked after helping the black students and was badly injured, which increased tension across the Tennessee state.
African American students exerted pressure on the all-white institutions to admit them. For example, four blacks requested the University of Tennessee to consider their application, but they were denied a chance. This prompted them to present a lawsuit against the institution, and judge Robert L. Taylor ruled in their favor. However, Taylor failed to issue an order to the school, and the students proceeded to the Supreme Court. The board of Tennessee University agreed to admit African Americans students starting in January 1952. Gene M. Gray was admitted to a white University as the first black person, while Lillian Jenkins graduated with a master’s degree as an African American.
The Clinton story is another chronicle that explains the plight of black students in Anderson County. This locality denied school education opportunities for African Americans. However, they were provided with buses to take them to Austin High, an all-black school. Some students sought admission to Clinton High in 1957 and were restricted from joining the institution. However, the school agreed to admit fifteen black people in the 1956 to 1957 academic year. John Kasper’s arrival changed the situation because he vowed to oppose the desegregation rule and incite the white people against it. Although the parents and students of Clinton High had embraced desegregation, Kasper’s action established hostility and harassment of African Americans. As a result, the police force implemented measures to protect them by sending troops to the area. Judge Taylor issued a restraining order against Kasper because he had adversely influenced the two ethnicities’ relationship. John and his accomplices were found guilty, and he was sentenced to twelve months in prison.
John Kasper was also involved in the Nashville story where Bobby Kelley and African Americans were denied admission to Pearl School. The institution was ordered to present a desegregation plan by William E. Miller in January 1957. Kasper incited the people of Nashville, and they began to have second thoughts about the issue, although he was arrested and charged with four violations. Eventually, the school agreed to desegregate one grade every year until all the twelve grades adopted the routine. Although judge Miller ruled against Nashville’s desegregation, Kelley graduated from an all-black school because much time had passed. Additionally, all public schools in Memphis were desegregated by 1961, although students initially focused on segregation elimination in zoos, public libraries, and buses.