Full Video here:
You are watching the last 30 minutes of Part 1 of my six part 1990 television series “Making Sense of the Sixties.” To see the first half of this program go here – *
The series was controversial when it first aired with the New York Times (as an example) presenting two reviews, one positive and one negative. It is currently used by thousands of high schools and colleges to help students to study at that time. It was recorded in 1989 so the comments you are watching present baby boomers and members of the silent generation looking back at their youth experiences.
Prior to my series PBS presented a series called “Eyes On The Prize.” It looked at the growth of the civil rights movement during that time. My series focused on the tens of millions of young people who grew up in suburbia. Their parents were moving into the middle class and moving to suburbia to live what they called at the time, the American Dream. They were largely white for the most part, had a mom and a dad with the dad working and the mom a housewife.
Growing up in suburban, urban, and rural America during the 1950s was very different.
The 1950s was the birth of modern suburbia in the United States, spurred by the post-WWII economic boom and the housing demand from returning soldiers. Suburbia was characterized by a sense of uniformity and conformity as seen in the classic rows of similar-looking homes (inspired by the Levittown model where I get up). Life in the suburbs was marked by a strong emphasis on family values with a working father, a stay-at-home mother and children attending local schools. Children growing up in this environment had newly built facilities like parks and community centers and were offered opportunities to engage with a network of peers in a relatively safe and planned environment. However, almost all of these communities were racially and socio-economically homogenous due to discriminatory practices like redlining.
In contrast, 1950s cities were hubs of cultural and economic diversity. They were bustling with industry and were more racially and ethnically diverse. Kids growing up in these environments were exposed to a wider range of cultural experiences but they often also faced challenges tied to overcrowding, pollution, and in some cases, crime. Economic disparity was also more evident in urban environments. But urban kids had access to resources like museums, libraries and a range of public facilities that were usually not available in suburbs or rural areas.
Growing up in the 1950s in a rural government such as on a farm was a significantly different experience. The pace of life was slower compared to urban and suburban areas, and children would likely have had more responsibilities tied to the family’s agricultural work. The sense of community was often tighter and access to amenities and resources (like shopping centers, cinemas, hospitals or varied educational opportunities) were more limited. The rural school experience differed from the urban and suburban experiences due to smaller school sizes and often multi-grade classrooms. Despite the harder work and fewer amenities, many people who grew up in rural areas speak fondly of the sense of freedom that they felt, the connection to nature, and the close-knit community bonds they experienced.
I have presented other clips from my series on my YouTube channel and some have commented that their experiences were different. Please remember that the focus of my series which largely on what young people experienced whose families had left the cities and moved into the suburban growing middle-class.
If you were alive and growing up at that time I want you to know that I appreciate all of the comments presenting different experiences whether or not they were articulated in this sequence.
David Hoffman Filmmaker.
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Listen you want SEGREGATION, it easy to do it all over again but the thing if they do we would be out there protesting against it and if SEGREGATION ever happens again we will SUFFER THE MOST AS USUAL
Everyone has his opinion… My opinion is very different coming from where I was raised. I believe desagration of schools was the best for blacks. I think black people are over exaggerating about the black schools. Black communities were closer, But the black teachers, most were mean, nasty and lowdown to some students, Ed if they do not like your parents or didn’t think you were good enough to to be treated decent because your parents were poor and struggling. And don’t let that child be a neglected child… the teacher treated them bad and embarrassed them… instead of helping. The black teachers thought they were all that and was too high and mighty. And farther more they didn’t teach well either. Too much gossiping, teachers visited each other classrooms, and gossip, about the child in front of the class. How degrading! I didn’t learn anything in black schools… because they weren’t doing their jobs well, wasn’t good teachers. But I was so happy when the schools were integrated. I was impressed and amused with how good a job the white teaches did. And how professional they were. I learned so much more… and they made me feel a part of and acknowledge my good points. White teachers were dedicated to their students and not waste one minute on foolishness. However there was gonna be some flaws. And that’s was part of life. But overall… the teachers that believed in me and helped me were only white teachers, no black ever helped me with anything but try to tare me down. But overall, desegregation of schools were the best thing they could have done for us!
I have to be honest and real about us. We get a little something and nobody can tell us nothing.
I grew up in a time when the teacher was an extension of mama. Where you did it at that’s where they got you at. Then would tell your mama and you got it again. Gone are those days.
blacks show u this and then they loot the city they themselves live in… intellectuals use their brain not theft and violence. Learn from asians dont be lazy. Im north african, had the same excuses that jews put in my mind through MSM and school system, its not helping us, just shames us. Hard work is the only solution.
Proud and strong Black FAMILIES and communites were trending towards success and had great hope in the 50's. Sadly it seems we have failed to truly learn from the mistake: There is nothing worth trading for the pride and hope that a strong sense of family and community provides…
Sure Was!!!! Our Schools Were Straight BLACK, No Crème Filling!!!!👆🏾👆🏾👆🏾💯💯⚔️⚔️🙌🏾🙌🏾👌🏾👌🏾🤎✊🏾
I’ll never forget in 2005 when I was only 5 years old the teacher calling me over & saying “ you know if your skin was white your name would be Jesus like Jesus Christ .. “ then she started teaching the class… like nothing happened. She was a white women & since I’m Mexican my name is pronounced “ heysus “
Segregation produced smarter children.
Because EVERYONE was trying, Democrats couldn't get away witth sabotaging the children.
Who created this – and are they proponents of racial segregation. Not enough is being said about the inhuman conditions that black Americans were forced to endure and the subpar education because of lack of books and facilities black student endured. This sounds like a commercial for segregation
This is why immigrants need to get out our country we the ogs, this is our Land and they were nowhere to be found during our time with whites
All our teachers were basically surrogate parents with our parent's FULL support. The government took that power away from teachers in the 80s-90s, and education became hollow and ineffective.
Shit, my buddies mom always used to say “you know your momma won’t mind if I whoop you”…good ole days, I think that was back in 2015
If it takes an army to get my child into school, I’m not gonna let them go!
Good lord these people cry if we leave them be to their own. If we don’t n let them in our community n systems they cry about that. It never ends
Why are there so many people still pushing for segregation? I do not understand. Voter registration mapping continues to make public schools segregated on purpose. And no one from outside that community has any say in who the teachers are and what they teach and how they teach.
It’s a shame that more people do not see this. Segregation ended a long time ago, but so many people in our government are still pushing to make sure no one outside of the urban cities have any say so in the quality of education. And neither do the parents who live in these communities. That has to change or you will come out knowing exactly everything that your teacher knows and that is as far as it will go. Just like she said.
🗣️I will say it again. We was at our best during segregation as a people but the moment we integrated with them folks is when we went on a major decline. We need to be around us only. That’s how we got Black Wall Street.
I don’t see anything great about segregated schools back in the 1950’s because blacks and whites are supposed to come together. This is America. The melting pot! I’m glad that I wasn’t around during that era. Teachers shouldn’t be putting their hands on their students because it just teaches them how to hurt others and humiliate others especially at an era when their was racial violence going on in the streets
They whooped us in the '90s.
The black American’s ability to overcome slavery, begins new happy and successful life from basically nothing was the biggest threat to white Americans which is why the pushed desegregation and started including black Americans into the white man’s welfare system. It was all about controlling the black Americans and converting them back into a different type of slavery. Malcom x was ignored while the white man’s puppet mlk was praised and honored.
Why not hire more diverse teachers so everyone feels safe at school. Oh wait, the gov doesn’t want that.
Was integration really the right move or did the Black Schools simply need the same learning materials, air in the class rooms especially rural schools, buses so the kids wouldn’t have to walk miles to get to school like my grandmother and her siblings had to do!!! The playing field has never been fair but good caring teachers make a huge difference! 📚
Integration brought the blacks into the white schools, and all of the public schools saw an increase in theft, bullying of white students, lower achievement test scores, and overall lower quality of education.
I went to a prodominately black (98%) grade school. A private school from k-12. We had white teachers but most of them were great. I even had three teachers say I was like the son they didnt have at the time and they cared about our doing well. Now Im 40 and many of the ppl I grew up with there Im still friends with to this day. It was like being a part of a club. Ppl younger and older. Im grateful for that.
I went to a college prep high school that was 98% white and I experienced severe depression. It was like the minority students werent even there. I did go to college ans had to reverse the mental damage it had done. By the time I finished college I was fine.
I say that to say diversity is very important, not all black or all white but some of everyone. I do believe that black ppl need a foundation, outside of school, that provides that family atmosphere with ppl who look like you so that you maintain your sense of self and your sense of pride. That way when you go into those rooms where you are one of few you have your pride to show up and show out. Thats just my opinion.
Black ppl never cared about education… They only cared about being accepted by white ppl.
Black people wear some weird motherfukers in the south just letting anybody whoop your kids ass
Exactly
That title is wrong
Bp were definitely more educated and productive than they are now being taught by ww. People should be taught by their own.
Went to public school from k-12 DC and PGC. I recd a good education. The teachers cared about us and expected us to do our best. As a bw, I'm proud of the effort that was instilled in me.😊
Southern white boy here, older than dirt.
If a teacher or a neighbor spanked you you got a spanking when you got home just for getting in trouble.
Some black parents just want their kids out of the house too lazy to teach their own kids that is why their academic scores are so low and the prisons are full integration has killed you
🙏💝
I miss the schools that cared about me and the store owners looked like me 😢
Between the years of 1790 and the 1960s. George Washington and Henry Knox were first to propose, in the American context, the cultural assimilation of Native Americans and indigenous Blacks. They formulated a policy to encourage the so-called "civilizing process". With increased waves of immigration from Europe, there was growing public support for education to encourage a standard set of cultural values and practices to be held in common by the majority of citizens. Education was viewed as the primary method in the acculturation process for minorities.
If they allowed teachers to do this today, we’d have a shooting everyday 😢