January 2025

Civil Rights Movement Series

It was the 1950s. Postwar America was growing and changing in very positive ways, except for most African Americans, and especially in the “Jim Crow” South. Essential services like public buses were segregated in many parts of America. Housing, voting, and education were utterly discriminatory everywhere in America. We were past due for a change.

Pasadena Village's Cultural Activities Team is hosting a series of events under the banner of the Civil Rights Movement. This exploration of American history is an opportunity, not only to learn, but to think about the importance of these events. 

The format for the series is to show a well-researched documentary film, followed by a guided audience discussion. The Civil Rights Movement series kicked off on Zoom as a featured presentation during the 1619: The Lingering Imprint Zoom event on May 17, the 70th anniversary of the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision.

“Nine From Little Rock,” a 1965 Academy Award–winning documentary, follows the forced integration of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas in 1957. President Eisenhower called in federal troops to force the school district to allow nine Black residents of Little Rock to attend the all-white school. Trauma ensued as screaming white protesters surrounded the nine students as they tried to enter the school. Once inside, the tension and the resistance continued from both students and teachers. Those nine students from Little Rock went on to do amazing things, such as obtaining college degrees, writing books and working for presidents of the United States. 

An enthusiastic discussion followed the film, revolving around education as the key to change in America. School integration in America has been rocked with friction and resistance. Though the Supreme Court ruled to end segregation in 1954, public school segregation was still the rule in many states for many years.

"I went through first to 12th grade in totally segregated schools in Louisiana," said Dick Myers. "I graduated from Texas A&M, went to the military, came back and got my masters in 1967 from Texas A&M and did not have a Black classmate at any point." The feelings of separation were part of a segregated education.

Sharon Jarrett observed, "The education system in America has perpetuated a Eurocentric, i.e. white, frame around history." Valerie Jones commented, "We must start teaching the truth about America."

"Schools are more segregated now than they were then. Housing is key to separating people. Realtors still channel buyers based on race," said Betty Ann Jansson. Bringing home another point, Yvonne Allen observed, "Altadena had racial covenants that restricted home sales to African Americans. Racism is a tool for greed."

Education policy throughout America has advantaged school districts with white property-owner tax bases, and America has expressed very little commitment to full integration, Villagers noted. 

Following the school integration discussion, the Pasadena Village Civil Rights Movement Series moved on to discuss the Montgomery Bus Boycott on June 3, and Voting Rights: 1964 Freedom Summer, on July 23.

The series will wrap up at 1:00 pm on August 28, the 61st anniversary of the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his iconic “I Have a Dream” speech. Villagers may register to attend via the website Events Calendar.