David S. Cecelski, Center for Documentary Studies at Duke University — David S. Cecelski

"Most Blacks had supported the courageous struggles of the (NAACP) against both school inequality and school segregation. The demise of their schools and the inequitable burdens of school desegregation, however, raised new doubts. There emerged a notable continuity between older, more conservative African American voices, which had given the building of strong Black schools priority over desegregation, and the newer "militant" expressions of Black separatism and community control."

"[Despite complaints by Black community leaders that Blacks were becoming] tired of having to bear the burdens of integration"

"Cecelski’s (1994) casestudy in Hyde County, North Carolina, uncovered that White pupils received funds to attend private schools in an effort to avoid participating in desegregating public schools under the freedom of choice plan entitled the “Pearsall Plan.” Many African American schools closed in Hyde County to desegregate public schools from 1965 to 1968. As a result, many African American pupils were forced to attend other predominantly White schools."

"[Black parents... felt they lost their roles as allies in their childrens education] often alienated by the desegregated schools [that] too closely resembled the former White schools values, tradition, political sensibilities, and cultural orientation."

"[Vanessa Siddle] Walker (1996) and Cecelski (1994) both wrote histories of Black communities that created successful educational systems, which were ultimately lost during desegregation. Walkers research on the Caswell County Training School provides evidence of one communitys commitment, sacrifice, and determination to provide and nurture academic excellence for their children. Cecelskis work in Hyde County, North Carolina, in turn, offers one of many possible examples of the lengths to which African-American communities went to prevent their community schools from being closed following the 1954 decision. Both works stand in opposition to traditional thought of Blacks as being incapable of creating and sustaining educational standards."