Segregation, desegregation, resegregation: Dudley High School as a case in point (North Carolina)

On May 17, 1954, the United States Supreme Court handed down its most significant ruling related to education, Brown v. Board of Education in which the Court held that segregation of public education based on race deprived minority children of equal educational opportunities in violation of the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment. Despite gains during the first thirty years after Brown, public schools have become increasingly re-segregated in nearly all regions of the United States. One such school is Dudley High School located in Greensboro, North Carolina. Dudley was the first public high school for African-Americans in North Carolina.; The study provides insight into the history of desegregation and resegregation in the United States by reviewing the history of Dudley High School from segregation (1930--1971) to re-segregation (1990--present). The study explores historical events; answers questions about Dudley High School's past; identifies the relationship that the past has to the present; and finally, assists in understanding the culture of Dudley as a part of Greensboro's history and culture and as a reflection of the national context of segregation, desegregation and resegregation.; The researcher used collections of artifacts and archives and interviewed local activists and graduates of Dudley to complete the study. The major finding of this study was that educators need to go back to the core in order to make schools great again. The heart of what truly made Dudley a school comparable to Dunbar High School in Washington, a stellar institution, was high quality teachers, the school as a whole had a strong sense of purpose, and their were strong relationships between students and teachers. The study illustrates how Dudley High School, a once successful segregated high school, went through changes because of national occurrences, and explains how the school dealt with those changes.