Racism North of the Mason-Dixon Line

The civil rights struggle in New York City and Boston schools challenge the perception that racial discrimination was solely a regional issue in the South. These examples highlight how efforts to desegregate were either disregarded or actively resisted in the North, revealing the broader scope of racial inequality across the United States. According to the article, white liberals in the North used coded language to avoid accusations of racism and present themselves as morally superior to racist white Southerners. 

Primarily, white Northerners began separating “de facto” segregation from “de jure” segregation and argued that while the former was an unfortunate product of racially imbalanced demographics, it was ultimately beyond the control of the state. For example, they redefined issues of desegregation to be “defending neighborhood schools and segregated housing as the products of private action and free-market forces alone, a sphere in which the government had not caused therefore had no right or obligation to remedy” (39). Reframing the issue to be just an unfortunate fact, and not the consequence of implicitly racist legislation, absolved the states from responsibility for the disproportionate outcome. This differentiation allowed states—such as New York—to avoid implementing desegregation measures altogether without breaking federal law.

Additionally, the separation of de facto segregation from de jure segregation allowed many white Northerns to feel as though they weren’t active oppressors—as were white Southerners—and the racial disparities only existed because “Black people haven’t adopted the right behaviors for success” (38). Thus, white Northerners sought to absolve themselves morally from the responsibility of ensuring racial equality, attempting to portray themselves as not racist while overlooking systemic discrimination in their own communities.

I was surprised by this history. While I knew segregation and discrimination existed everywhere, I did have the sense that it wasn’t “as bad” in the North as it was in the South. A lot of media I have seen, even recently, reinforced that idea as well. Just the other day I watched a musical about the life of Tina Turner. When her and her band tried to find a motel in Memphis, they were rudely turned away, as well as harassed by police officers, because of the color of their skin. The New Jerseyan saxophonist in the band tried to speak up against the racism, but Ike Turner stopped him and said, “This isn’t New Jersey, this is the South. Here, it is not like it is up North.” I think this sentiment is carried through a lot of media, even modern media, that racism was more prevalent in the South.