The New South: A Chronicle of Social and Industrial EvolutionThompson, Holland
History
The New South: A Chronicle of Social and Industrial Evolution
Thompson, Holland
Southern States -- Economic conditions; Southern States -- History -- 1865-1951; Southern States -- Social conditions
While several of the Southern States have greatly increased their
expenditures for schools since 1910, in some cases more than doubling
them, the proportion devoted to negro schools has not been greatly
increased, if indeed it has been increased at all. For example, in North
Carolina, which assigns for negro education much more than the average
of the States containing any considerable proportion of negroes, the
total paid to negro teachers in 1910-11 was $340,856, as against
$1,715,994 paid to white teachers. Five years later, negro teachers
received $536,272, but white teachers received $3,258,352. In other
words, in the former year all the negro teachers received one-fifth as
much as all the whites, while five years later they received about
one-sixth; that is, something less than one-third the total number of
children received about one-seventh of the money expended for
instruction. A part of this wide difference in expenditure may be
explained or even defended. The districts or townships which have voted
additional local taxes are usually those in which there are
comparatively few negroes. The average salary paid to negro teachers,
although low, is as large as can be earned in most of the occupations
open to them, and any sudden or large increase would neither immediately
raise the standard of competency nor insure a much larger proportion of
the ability of the race. The percentage of school attendance of negro
children is lower than in the case of white children. Very few negro
children, whether because of economic pressure, lack of ability, or lack
of desire for knowledge, complete even the fifth grade. Among negroes
there is little real demand for high school instruction, which is more
expensive than elementary instruction. Therefore, the proportion of the
total funds spent for negro education might properly be less than their
numbers would indicate. If the proportionate amount spent today for the
instruction of certain racial groups of the foreign population could be
separated from the total, it would be found that less than the average
is spent upon them for the same reasons. However, when all allowances
have been made, it is obvious that the negro is receiving less than a
fair share of the appropriations made by the Southern States for
education.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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