salaries for black teachers were the lowest of the low. In the state of Mississippi: "During the twentieth century white salaries improved steadily, but by 1940 black salaries in at least fourteen counties were actually lower than in 1890" (McMillen, 1990, p. 87). The color disparity was so great that in some cases white teachers made three times as much as black teachers. And the black teachers were commonly forced to assume teaching loads of more than 100 students. Black teachers often made less money than domestic servants.
Due to the lack of adequate pay, the qualifications of black teachers were notoriously low. The incentives to teach were minimal: "Few well-trained persons would be attracted to teaching for the amounts paid, and few teachers could spare money to pay for necessary in-service training" (Johnson, 1967, p. 106). Teacher appointments were casual because white superintendents were unconcerned with the quality of education; training and experience were not given as much weight as personal contacts with influential whites.
Hampered by inadequate training, insufficient teaching materials, and irregular attendance, black teachers struggled nobly to inspire their students, but in too many cases the situation was tantamount to the blind leading the blind. As one student lamented, "You won't believe this, but it is the honest-to-God's truth. We had one teacher who didn't know her multiplication tables" (Johnson, 1967, p. 107). That particular student's family was able to move to another county where the teachers were better trained, but only the wealthier black families could exercise this option.
Segregated schools created resentment of whites by African Americans. Blacks were well aware of the extent to which whites were willing to go to ensure that schools remained segregated; many blacks in the South rightly attributed these efforts to racial hatred. Even as recently as the 20th century, some wh...