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Kenneth ClarkKenneth Clark
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Session:         Page of 763

communities, before the blacks became a part of the demand for sharing and equity, the fights were among whites. Since the Brown Decision cases, blacks started getting involved in a factor or problem that was the exclusive problem of whites, to fight ethnic, you know, or politically and economically and other kinds of power. Now the blacks get in and one of the contributions that the blacks have made is to seem to make the whites more democratic among themselves.

And I think the school thing-- I don't know the history of public schools in New York City or other northern urban areas, but I suspect-- and if I were still teaching, I would get a graduate student to look into the problem of ethnic homogeneity of schools. I do know that there were problems of control of schools. There was a time when I think the Irish controlled the public schools. I don't think the Italians ever did.

Q:

Wasn't there a conflict, if not in the schools-- although I don't see how it could have helped but spill into the schools-- certainly in the streets when the Irish were more dominant and the Italians were coming up, even the kids in the streets would form up into gangs and beat up on each other?

Clark:

Oh, sure.

Q:

The new kid in the neighborhood. If he happened to be one or the other-- or whatever he was, somebody from the other group would challenge him.





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