How Underground Schools Across the South Built the Civil Rights Movement

>> THE TRUMP ADMINISTRATION HAS BEEN VOCAL ABOUT FREEDOM OF SPEECH, AS WE HAVE BEEN DISCUSSING.

THE RECENT STRING OF EVENTS CANCELLATIONS AT THE JIMMY CARTER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY SUGGESTS OTHERWISE.

ONE OF THEM WAS FOR THE AWARD- WINNING JOURNALIST ELAINE WEISS, WHOSE NEW BOOK, SPELL FREEDOM, FOCUSES ON FOUR BRAVE ACTIVISTS WHO LAID THE FOUNDATION OF THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

OTHER EVENTS ON CLIMATE CHANGE AND HOMELESSNESS WERE ALSO PULLED FROM PROGRAMMING.

A MOVE WHICH WEISS BELIEVES IS A RESULT OF BUDGET CUTS AND NEW LEADERSHIP IN THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

SHE JOINS US MICHEL MARTIN TO DISCUSS THE RELEVANCE OF HER LATEST WORK IN TODAY'S AMERICA.

ELAINE WEISS, THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR JOINING US.

>> MY PLEASURE.

>> YOU HAVE WRITTEN A NUMBER OF BOOKS.

THEY ALL KIND OF HAVE SOMETHING IN COMMON, WOULD YOU SAY WHAT IT IS?

>> WELL, I TRY TO EXPLORE THE UNTOLD STORIES IN AMERICAN HISTORY.

NOT TOTALLY UNKNOWN, BUT SOMETIMES NOT RECOGNIZED FOR HOW IMPORTANT OR HOW INSTRUMENTAL THAT PART OF OUR HISTORY WAS.

SO, YOU WROTE ABOUT WOMEN IN WORLD WAR I AND HOW WOMEN, AMERICAN WOMEN, WON THE VOTE.

AND ALLOW BLACK WOMEN AND BLACK MEN IN THE DEEP SOUTH REGAINED THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.

I GUESS THE THREAT IS I DO LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT WOMEN IN HISTORY, BECAUSE I THINK THEY HAVE BEEN A BIT NEGLECTED.

AND I LIKE TO WRITE ABOUT HOW CHANGE HAPPENS THROUGH DEMOCRACY.>> LET'S JUST START WITH THE STORY OF WHERE THIS STORY STARTS.

IT STARTS WITH BROWN VIEWPORT EVENT, THAT FAMOUS SUPREME COURT DECISION THAT OUTLAWED SEGREGATION IN THE SCHOOLS.

WHY DO YOU START THERE?

I START ON THE DAY, MAY 17th, 1954, THAT THE BROWN DECISION IS ANNOUNCED.

BECAUSE IT'S CERTAINLY NOT THE BEGINNING OF THE STRUGGLE FOR CIVIL RIGHTS IN OUR COUNTRY.

THAT IT BECOMES A DOMINATING MOMENT WHEN IT REALIZED THAT FOR THE FIRST TIME THE AMERICAN, THE HIGHEST COURT IN THE LAND IN AMERICA, HAS DECIDED THAT, INDEED, SEPARATE IS NOT EQUAL.

AND WHILE IT SPECIFICALLY TALKS ABOUT DESEGREGATING PUBLIC SCHOOLS, IT'S RECOGNIZED RIGHT AWAY THAT THIS IS THE OPENING FOR ATTACKING JIM CROW SEGREGATION ON ALL LEVELS.

IT'S A REALLY IMPORTANT MOMENT.>> THE FOCUS OF THE BOOK IS SO-CALLED CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS.

FIRST OF ALL, TELL US WHAT CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS WERE AND WHY IN THE WAKE OF BROWN WERE THEY IMPORTANT?

CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS WERE A VERY INNOVATIVE AND COURAGEOUS WAY OF TRYING TO GET ORDINARY, OFTEN POOR AND UNLETTERED, BLACK CITIZENS TO BE ABLE TO BE REGISTERED TO VOTE.

THE BROWN DECISION ONLY DEALT WITH DESEGREGATION.

IT DID NOT DEAL WITH VOTING RIGHTS.

WE WILL SEE FOR THE NEXT 15 YEARS THAT DESEGREGATION WAS VERY, VERY SLOW.

IT BECOMES OBVIOUS THAT NOTHING IS GOING TO REALLY HAPPEN UNTIL BLACK PEOPLE IN THE SOUTH CAN REGAIN THEIR RIGHT TO VOTE.

THE WAY THE CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS BEGAN WAS TO TEACH LITERACY, TO TEACH PEOPLE WHO HAD NEVER BEEN ABLE TO HAVE AN EDUCATION, BECAUSE EDUCATION WAS A TOOL OF CONTROL IN THE SOUTH.

AND THE WHITE ESTABLISHMENT DID NOT WANT BLACK PEOPLE TO BE WELL EDUCATED.

SO, VERY FEW WERE ACTUALLY, ESPECIALLY IN RURAL AREAS, WERE ILLITERATE AND THEY COULDN'T PASS THE LITERACY TESTS, WHICH WERE REQUIRED OF BLACK PEOPLE TO REGISTER TO VOTE.

THIS TAUGHT THEM AT THE VERY BASIC LEVEL HOW TO HOLD A PENCIL.

HOW TO SIGN THEIR NAMES BY TRACING IT OVER AND OVER.

AND THEN LEARNING THEIR LETTERS, LEARNING TO SOUND OUT WORDS, LEARNING ARITHMETIC.

AND THIS WAS ALL DESIGNED TO GET THEM THROUGH THE VERY ONEROUS LITERACY TEST IT WAS MORE THAN THAT IT TAUGHT THEM TO BE CITIZENS.

IT TAUGHT THEM THE CONSTITUTION.

IT TAUGHT THEM WHAT THEIR RIGHTS REALLY WERE.

IT TAUGHT THEM THAT THEY WERE FIRST-CLASS CITIZENS AS MUCH AS ANY OTHER AMERICAN AND THEY DESERVED ALL THE PROTECTIONS AND PRIVILEGES OF CITIZENSHIP.

THIS ISN'T LIKE BRICK-AND- MORTAR SCHOOLS.

THESE ARE INFORMAL COMMUNITY CLASSES TAUGHT BY YOUR NEIGHBORS.

AND THEY TEACH THEIR NEIGHBORS IN THEIR KITCHENS, IN THEIR GARAGES, IN BEAUTY PARLORS AT NIGHT WITH THE CURTAINS CLOSED, BECAUSE IT WAS STILL DANGEROUS TO BE TEACHING LITERACY TO BLACK PEOPLE WITH THE INTENT OF HAVING THEM REGISTER TO VOTE.

THERE WAS DANGER.

>> SOME PEOPLE, I THINK SOME PEOPLE, AT LEAST ONE HOPES, SO PEOPLE KNOW IT WAS ILLEGAL IN MOST PLACES TO TEACH ENSLAVED PEOPLE HOW TO READ AND WRITE.

BUT AFTER THE CIVIL WAR, AFTER THE TIME WHEN SLAVERY WAS MORE OR LESS ABOLISHED, WHY IS IT THAT SO MANY BLACK CITIZENS REMAINED ILLITERATE?

WHY IS THAT?

>> BECAUSE, AGAIN, IT WAS A MATTER OF CONTROL.

OF COURSE, BLACK SCHOOLS IN THE SOUTH WERE SEGREGATED.

FOR EVERY DOLLAR SPENT ON EDUCATION OF A WHITE PERSON, JUST PENNIES WERE EXPENDED ON EDUCATING A BLACK STUDENT.

THE FACILITIES WERE DEPLORABLE.

THEY WERE SHACKS WITHOUT BLACKBOARD, OFTEN WITHOUT SEATS , WITH NO PLUMBING, WITH NO TOILET FACILITIES.

WITH CAST OFF DECADES-OLD TEXTBOOKS.

AND OFTEN IF YOU WERE IN A RURAL AREA PART OF THE ARRANGEMENT OF YOUR FAMILY A SHARECROPPER WERE THE CHILDREN WERE ALSO REQUIRED TO GO INTO THE FIELDS.

THEIR EDUCATION WAS VERY INTERRUPTED.

YOU WILL SEE THAT PEOPLE WILL HAVE MAYBE FIRST OR SECOND GRADE EDUCATION DECADES AGO.

THAT'S ABOUT IT.

SOME HAVE DONE.>> CYNTHIA CLARK IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO YOU FEATURE IN THE BOOK.

SHE MAY BE ONE OF THE ONLY PEOPLE THAT MANY PEOPLE WILL HAVE HEARD OF.

SHE WAS AND EDUCATOR.

HOW DID THAT HAPPEN?

HOW WAS SHE ABLE TO GET ENOUGH EDUCATION FOR HER TO BE AN EDUCATOR?

I'M GOING TO ASK HOW SHE FITS INTO THE STORY OF THE CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS.>> CLARK, BORN AND RAISED IN CHARLESTON, DAUGHTER OF A FORMER ENSLAVED FATHER, SHE GROWS UP QUITE POOR.

BUT OF THE FAMILY THAT REALLY VALUED EDUCATION.

SHE LOVED READING AND WRITING IN SCHOOL.

AND HER PARENTS WENT TO PAY THE TUITION TO SOME PRIVATE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLS.

AND THEN SHE IS ABLE TO GO TO THE AVERY INSTITUTE, WHICH IS THE PREMIER PRIVATE HIGH SCHOOL IN CHARLESTON.

WHICH HAD TRAINED MANY OF THE BLACK LEADERS IN THE CITY FOR DECADES.

AND SHE BECOMES A TEACHER AT AGE 18.

AND IS ABLE TO BE A TEACHER FOR THE NEXT 40 YEARS.

AND USES THAT EDUCATION IN THE CIVIL RIGHTS MOVEMENT.

THAT'S HOW SHE IS ABLE, SHE CAN VOTE.

SHE JOINS THE NAACP WHEN SHE IS 18 OR 19 YEARS OLD.

SHE JOINS THE EXECUTIVE BOARDS OF THE NAACP IN HER CITIES.

AND SHE IS DEDICATED TO BREAKING DOWN THE WALLS OF JIM CROW SOCIETY.

AND SHE IS ONE OF THE PEOPLE WHO ARE EDUCATED AND REALIZE THAT THOSE WHO AREN'T ARE AT SUCH A DISADVANTAGE AND THEY CAN'T PARTICIPATE.

EITHER IN MODERN LIFE OR IN THE LIFE OF THEIR COUNTRY.>> IS TELL US ABOUT THE CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS.

WHO STARTED THEM?

WHO IDEAS WAS THIS?

TELL US ABOUT HIM.>> IT WAS THE IDEA OF AESOP JENKINS, WHO IS THIS MARVELOUSLY CREATIVE MAN ON ONE OF THE ISLANDS OFF THE COAST OF CHARLESTON.

HE HAS A FOURTH GRADE EDUCATION, BUT HE HAS GONE BACK TO NIGHT SCHOOL.

AND HE IS A BUSINESSMAN.

HE IS WHAT WE MIGHT CALL A SOCIAL ENTREPRENEUR.

HE IS DOING GOOD.

AND HE HAS THIS IDEA THAT HIS NEIGHBORS ON THE ISLAND ARE ALWAYS GOING TO BE NEGLECTED AND IS SUBJECTED TO THE POWER OF THE WHITE SOCIETY AND INJUSTICE OF COURSE, UNLESS THEY HAVE POLITICAL POWER.

HE HAS A BUSINESS RUNNING A BUS, A BUS BACK AND FORTH FROM JOHN'S ISLAND TO CHARLESTON EVERY DAY.

TAKING WORKERS WHO LIVED ON THE ISLAND AND OUR DOMESTICS OR FACTORY WORKERS IN TOWN.

ON THE BUS HE TRAINS THEM.

HE HAS THE CONSTITUTION TYPED UP BY HIS WIFE.

HE HAS OUT THESE SHEETS AND HE DRILLS THEM ONE ASPECT OF THE CONSTITUTION, SO THEY CAN ANSWER.

WHO NOT ONLY HAD TO READ, YOU HAD TO INTERPRET THE LEGAL ASPECTS OF THIS ARCANE LANGUAGE.

AND HE DRILLS THEM ON IT.

THAT HE ACCOMPANIES THEM TO THE REGISTRAR OFFICE TO SEE THAT THERE IS NO SHENANIGANS.

WHAT HE REALIZES HE NEEDS HELP ON THIS.

AND HE FINDS THAT HELP WITH CLARK, WHO HE ACTUALLY KNOWS, BECAUSE THEY BOTH LIVE IN CHARLESTON AND ACTIVE IN THE NAACP.

AND HE BRINGS THIS IDEA TO A PLACE IN TENNESSEE CALLED THE HIGHLANDER SCHOOL.

WHICH IS A SOCIAL JUSTICE TRAINING CENTER.

AND THERE THEY GET THE IDEA TO TAKE THIS SENSE OF TEACHING THE CONSTITUTION OF THE STATE, GETTING THEM THROUGH THE LITERACY TEST, BUT BROADENING IT TO BASIC LITERACY.

SO THEY CAN ACTUALLY READ MOST OF THEM WERE MEMORIZING THIS.

AND THEN IT'S THE FIRST CITIZENSHIP THAT IS ESTABLISHED BEHIND THE SHELVES OF A GROCERY STORE ON JOHNS ISLAND.

AND ITS IN A ROOM WHERE THERE IS NO WINDOWS.

THEY DON'T WANT WHITE PEOPLE TO KNOW THAT THEY ARE TEACHING BLACKS TO READ AND WRITE IN ORDER TO VOTE.

>> YOU ALSO TELL THEM THE BOOK ABOUT THE CONSEQUENCES FOR OTHER PEOPLE WHEN THEY DID TRY TO VOTE.

TALK A LITTLE BIT ABOUT THAT, IF YOU WOULD.

>> THERE WAS JUST A WHOLE SYSTEM OF SUPPRESSION OF THE BLACK VOTE NOT TALKING ABOUT WHAT WE WOULD CALL SUPPRESSION TODAY.

IT WAS VIOLENT IF YOU EVEN ATTEMPTED TO TRY TO REGISTER TO VOTE, BY THE TIME YOU RETURNED HOME THE REGISTRAR WOULD HAVE CALLED YOUR EMPLOYER AND YOU WILL BE FIRED.

FROM YOUR JOB.

WOULD HAVE CALLED YOUR LANDLORD OR THE MAN WHO OWNED THE PROPERTY WHERE YOU WERE A SHARECROPPER AND YOU WOULD BE EVICTED.

YOUR LAWNS WOULD BE COLD, YOUR TRUCK WOULD BE REPOSSESSED FOR THE PHARMACY WOULDN'T FILL THE PRESCRIPTION FOR YOUR SICK BABY.

NIGHT RIDERS WOULD COME AND SHOOT INTO YOUR HOME.

IN ONE TOWN IN EAST TENNESSEE THERE WAS AN ORGANIZED EFFORT TO GO REGISTER TO VOTE ALL OF THE BLACK FAMILIES ARE EVICTED, 200 PEOPLE LIVE IN A TENT TOWN FOR TWO YEARS.

SO, THE REPRESSION WAS VIOLENT AND CRUEL AND UBIQUITOUS.

>> THERE'S ANOTHER INTERESTING CHARACTER, MYLES HORTON.

WHO RUNS THE HIGHLANDER FOLK SCHOOL.

HE'S A REALLY INTERESTING CHARACTER.

HE'S WHITE.

HE'S NOT AFRICAN AMERICAN.

HE RUNS THE SCHOOL.

HE IS NOT BELOVED BY THE POWERS THAT BE, BECAUSE OF IT.

TELL US HIS STORY.

HE DOESN'T START OUT ACTUALLY AS A WAY TO EDUCATE BLACK FOLKS, PER SE.

>> RIGHT.

MYLES HORTON IS BORN AND BRED IN CUMBERLAND MOUNTAINS OF TENNESSEE.

GROWS UP POOR.

HIS FAMILY WERE SHARECROPPERS AND ALSO TEACHERS.

HE BEGINS TO UNDERSTAND THAT THE POWER TO CHANGE WHITES IN APPALACHIA WHERE HE GROWS UP IS REALLY WITH THE PEOPLE.

YOU CAN'T RELY ON THE LAWS OR THE POWERS THAT BE TO CHANGE IT.

HE STUDIES THEOLOGY AND SOCIOLOGY AND GETS THE IDEA OF STARTING A SCHOOL.

IT'S NOT REALLY WHAT WE WOULD CALL A SCHOOL.

IT'S A TRAINING CENTER.

A PLACE WHERE FROM THE BEGINNING WAS INTEGRATED.

WHICH IS AGAINST THE LAWS OF TENNESSEE.

HE VERY PROBABLY SAID THE HIGHLANDER SCHOOL WAS THE ONLY PLACE IN THE SOUTH WHERE BLACKS AND WHITES COULD TNP TOGETHER.

THEY COULD LIVE TOGETHER, THEY ATE TOGETHER AT THE SAME TABLES.

ALL OF THIS TOTALLY ILLEGAL.

BY JIM CROW LAWS.

HE IS VERY PROUD.

HE CALLS HIMSELF A RADICAL HILLBILLY.

HE IS FOCUSED AT FIRST ON THE LABOR MOVEMENT.

IT BECOMES THE HIGHLANDER, BECOMES A TRAINING CENTER FOR UNION ORGANIZERS.

THEN HE REALIZES AROUND 1950 THAT RACE IS THE REAL DETERMINING FACTOR THAT IS KEEPING THE SOUTH BEHIND.

HE SAYS, WE'VE GOT TO TACKLE THIS BEFORE WE CAN IMPROVE ANYTHING.

SO, HE SHIFTS THE EMPHASIS OF THE TRAINING CENTER TO RACE RELATIONS.

>> IT'S A FASCINATING STORY THAT YOU TELL.

POINTING OUT HOW THEY ORGANIZED AND TAUGHT THEMSELVES AND TAUGHT THEIR NEIGHBORS, SO THAT THEY COULD NOT SUBVERT DEMOCRATIC SYSTEMS, BUT ACTUALLY PARTICIPATE IN THEM FULLY.

YOU WOULD THINK THAT WOULD BE AN INSPIRING STORY.

THAT PEOPLE WOULD BE VERY INTERESTING IN HEARING.

I UNDERSTAND THAT LAST MONTH YOU HAD A BOOK EVENT SCHEDULED AT THE JIMMY CARTER PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARY IN ATLANTA, WHICH IS OVERSEEN BY THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

AND THIS EVENT WAS SUDDENLY CANCELED .

HE WHY?>> THEY SAID THE EVENT WAS CANCELED.

THEY EXPLAINED TO MY PUBLISHER THAT THERE WAS STAFFING DIFFICULTIES, BECAUSE THERE WERE, LIKE MOST FEDERAL EMPLOYEES, STAFFING HAS BEEN SLASHED BY THIS ADMINISTRATION.

THE THING THAT WAS CONCERNING WAS THAT, ALTHOUGH IT HAD BEEN APPROVED, IT WAS ALREADY UP ON THE WEBSITE AND WAS ANNOUNCED, MY EVENT IN MID-MARCH.

IT CLEARLY NEEDED TO BE REASSESSED BY THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.

AND THE PRESIDENT HAD FIRED THE ARCHIVIST OF THE UNITED STATES JUST A COUPLE OF WEEKS BEFORE.

AND ALL THE TOP LEADERSHIP OF THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WHICH RUNS THE PRESIDENTIAL, IS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES, HAD BEEN MUCH FORCED OUT.

THERE WAS A VERY NEW ADMINISTRATION AT THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES.

PROGRAMMING HAD TO BE REAPPROVED .

AND THERE WERE THREE EVENTS, BOOK EVENTS, AT THE CARTER LIBRARY IN MARCH THAT WERE CANCELED.

THAT HAVE BEEN APPROVED BEFORE.

>> DO YOU KNOW WHAT THE OTHERS WERE?

>> YES ONE WAS A BOOK ABOUT HOMELESSNESS AND THE OTHER WAS A BOOK ABOUT CLIMATE CHANGE.

MINE IS ABOUT RACE AND VOTING RIGHTS.

>> DO YOU THINK IT'S RELATED TO THE CONTENT OF THE BOOK, BASICALLY?

I THINK THAT IS ILLOGICAL CONCLUSION.

BECAUSE THIS IS HAPPENING IN MANY GOVERNMENT AGENCIES RIGHT NOW UNDER THE NEW ADMINISTRATION.>> I CAN TELL YOU, IT SAYS THE PRESS OFFICE DIDN'T ANSWER DIRECTLY WHETHER IT HAD DISCUSSED THE EVENTS WITH THE CARTER LIBRARY, BUT IN THE STATEMENT IT SAID IT QUOTE, UNQUOTE, TRUST LEADERSHIP AT EACH PRESIDENTIAL EVERY TO MAKE PROGRAMMING DECISIONS.

IT SAYS PROGRAMS AND EVENTS MUST ALWAYS ADVANCE AND UPHOLDS THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES CORE MISSION TO OBSERVE THE RECORDS OF THE UNITED STATES AND MAKE THEM AVAILABLE TO THE PUBLIC ON THIS ISSUE.

THE PRESIDENTIAL LIBRARIES TO MAKE TRAVEL IS EMPOWERED TO MAKE THEIR OWN DECISIONS ON PROGRAMS.

WHAT DOES THIS MEAN TO YOU?

>> IT WAS DISTURBING TO ME.

I WILL BE FINE.

THE BOOK TALK HAS BEEN RESCHEDULED AT ANOTHER LIBRARY IN ATLANTA.

I THINK THE OTHER AUTHORS ALSO WILL BE RESCHEDULED.

THIS IS SPEAKS TO A LARGER ISSUE WE ARE SEEING THAT WITH THE ADMINISTRATION TRYING TO ASSERT CONTROL OVER MANY OF OUR CULTURAL AND SCHOLARLY AND SCIENTIFIC ORGANIZATIONS.

AND I THINK THIS IS DISTURBING.

AND THERE IS AN EMPHASIS RIGHT NOW WITH THE ARTS ENDOWMENT IN THE HUMANITIES ENDOWMENT TO PROMOTE PATRIOTIC EDUCATION.

AND WHAT THEY WOULD CALL PATRIOTIC EXPRESSIONS OF AMERICAN HISTORY AND AMERICAN ARTS.

AND WHAT I WOULD SAY IS I THINK THE STORY OF THE CITIZENSHIP SCHOOLS AND THE INCREDIBLY BRAVE THOUSANDS OF BLACK AMERICANS WHO PARTICIPATED IN THESE AND TAUGHT THEM AND RAISED UP THEIR NEIGHBORS TO DEMAND THE RIGHTS AS AMERICAN CITIZENS IS THE MOST PATRIOTIC STORY I CAN IMAGINE.

I THINK THIS IS THE KIND OF PATRIOTISM WE SHOULD BE CELEBRATING.

THESE ARE THE KIND OF PEOPLE WHO REALLY DEFEND DEMOCRACY.

THESE ARE THE PEOPLE WHO DEFEND DEMOCRACY, LIFT IT UP TO ITS HIGHEST, HIGHEST IDEALS.

THE IDEALS THAT WE TALK ABOUT A LOT AS AMERICAN IDEALS.

THEY WERE HOLDING US TO THE LIGHT AND SAYING, OKAY, ACT ON THEM.

I THINK THAT'S THE MOST PATRIOTIC THING AN AMERICAN CAN DO.

>> THANKS SO MUCH FOR TALKING WITH US.

>> A GREAT PLEASURE.

THANK YOU.