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Why the School Boycott?
Caption: The flier by Queens Congress of Racial Equality and the Jamaica branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (or NAACP) calls for a boycott of New York City’s public schools.
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The flier designed by two Queens civil rights organizing groups - the Congress of Racial Equality and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People - calls for a boycott to protest segregation in New York City’s public schools.
Boycotting was a dramatic and disruptive move, so the organizers had to explain to people why it was needed. Queens CORE and the Jamaica NAACP argue for why a boycott will make a strong moral, and financial, impact.
You might notice that the text mentions some neighborhoods in Queens - Kew Gardens and South Jamaica - as examples. Segregation was a reality all over New York City, but the authors of this flier were focused on Queens, so they used examples that would be close-to-home and familiar to their readers. Kew Gardens was a segregated white area at the time, while South Jamaica was a segregated Black area.
Categories: parent activism, community activism, K-12-education, Queens,
Tags: protest, racial segregation, organizing, photography & art, Black people,
Date: 1964
Creator: Queens College Special Collections and Archives
Source: Queens College Special Collections and Archives
Source link: https://library.qc.cuny.edu/archives/
Copyright: Public Domain
How to cite: “Why the School Boycott?,” in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/topics/boycotting-ny-schools/1964-boycotts/why-the-school-boycott.
- What do you notice about the poster? What do you wonder?
- Who is the audience for this flier? What strategies does the flier employ to encourage that audience to join the boycott?
- What information in the poster echoes the present?